Accor Hotels has a global sale for 50% off hotel stays booked by November 25 for stays from December 11, 2011 through February 12, 2012. The discount is 50% for A|Club members and 40% if you are not a member. You can join A|Club and get the 50% discount when you book.

These rates are prepaid at time of booking, no changes allowed and no refunds for cancellation.

The good news is Accor Hotels provides a pdf link with participating hotels ordered geographically.

Accor Hotels is the largest global hotel chain outside the USA and the most comprehensive hotel chain for France and Europe. Brazil and North Africa are two other areas where Accor offers more hotels than any other major hotel chain for earning loyalty points with your travel. China, Indonesia and Thailand are other countries where you will find Accor properties outpace most other hotel chains.

Here is a Loyalty Traveler post from September 2011 where I give an overview of A|Club loyalty program and Accor Hotel brand descriptions. Since then Accor A|Club has added Orbis Hotels, a small brand in Poland.

Accor Super Sale 50% off rates - Book by Nov 25, 2011.

A|Club loyalty program for French chain Accor Hotels has a couple of ongoing offers for free elite status and free points for Facebook Jackpot contest.

A|Club complimentary Gold elite could be yours with promotion code AMEXSING10 when you register as a new member of the A|Club program. Funny thing is this offer is the first time I recall a non-IHG promotion listed on PriorityClubInsider.com.

A|Club Jackpot Facebook game for free 500 points and chance to win 25,000 or 1,000,000 points

Promotion: October 6 – November 15, 2011

You can pick up some instant points after enrolling for Accor A|Club Gold elite through the Accor A|Club Jackpot Days sweepstakes on Facebook.

The first 25,000 players automatically win 500 points. At time of this post there are 18,195 Facebook page “likes” so I assume at least another 7,000 people can win an instant 500 points.

You can play the game once each week, based on the time and day you first play, through November 15, 2011. There are ten 25,000 point prizes at pre-set time slots during the game period and the first person to play after the 25K time slot wins the prize.

One million A|Club points worth 20,000 Euros in hotel stay credit will be awarded to one entrant from the game within three weeks after the game ends.

Accor A-Club Jackpot Days October 6 - November 15, 2011

Double points for any weekend stay with a Friday, Saturday or Sunday night from October 10 to December 18, 2011 booked on Jackpot Days page or any official Accor or Accor hotel brand online channel between October 6 and November 15.

Accor A-Club 2x points for weekend stays October 10-December 18, 2011

Related Loyalty Traveler posts: Le Club Accor Hotels Loyalty Program - Basics Sep 18, 2011

Accor Hotels had a global press conference September 13, 2011 to announce a new strategic plan for rebranding a large portion of its economy and midscale segment hotels among the 4,200+ hotels in the French based chain. A new hotel loyalty program name with Le Club Accorhotels replaces A|Club.

The major change in the Accor brands structure is the creation of an Ibis Mega Brand with over 1,500 hotels by rebranding midscale all seasons to Ibis Styles and the Etap brand becomes Ibis Budget.

• Ibis
• Ibis Styles (currently all seasons)
• Ibis Budget (currently Etap)

Accor Hotels has global reach with over 15 brands from economy (etap, Formule 1, Motel 6) to its flagship luxury brand Sofitel Hotels.

The Accor Hotels chain is proportionally far heavier in the economy hotel market segment with about 2,200 hotels in brands like etap, Formule 1, Hotel F1 and Motel 6. The two upscale hotel brands of Novotel and Mercure at 1,100 hotels are far larger than the global Hyatt chain at under 500 properties and match the total hotel presence of Starwood Hotels.

Sofitel was divided up into separate brands when Accor added Pullman Hotels and MGallery Hotels and these upper upscale and luxury brands hold about 220 hotels.

Le Club Accorhotels, formerly A|Club is the loyalty program for Accor Hotels that excludes several hotel brands from the economy segment of the Accor family. Only about 2,300 hotels participate in the loyalty program and more than 1,700 hotels in Motel 6, Etap and Formule 1 are excluded from A|Club for earning points.

It remains to be seen what the loyalty program changes might be, if any.

Etap hotels are not currently included in A|Club points earning. The Ibis Budget hotel brand could be added to Le Club Accorhotels and increase the earning potential for members by 400 hotels globally. No word on that aspect of the loyalty program came out of the press conference.

Moderator StarFlyerGold of the FlyerTalk Accor forum  states Le Club will launch beginning 2012.

A|Club Loyalty Program Basics

A|Club operates differently from other points-based major hotel loyalty programs. The earning side is similar in that members earn points based on hotel spend at the rate of 2 points/1€ at Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Novotel, Suite Novotel, Mercure and Adagio Hotels. Ibis and all seasons earn 1 point/1€. Global and property specific promotions offer bonus points for member stays just like other loyalty programs.

A|Club Earn Rate

2 points per EUR

• Sofitel,
• Pullman,
• MGallery,
• Novotel,
• Suite Novotel,
• Mercure,
• Adagio Hotels

1 point per EUR

• Ibis
• all seasons (to be rebranded Ibis Styles)

The different aspect of A|Club is the redemption side of points. Points can be exchanged for hotel cash vouchers to redeem for hotel stays. Hotels are not divided into hotel redemption categories, the system used in most major hotel loyalty programs.

2,000 A|Club points can be exchanged for one US$60 voucher or in a variety of other currencies.

• 2,000 points = US$60
• 2,000 points = 60 AUD (Australia) =US$62.18
• 2,000 points = 30 GBP (UK) = US$47.36
• 2,000 points = 40 EUR =US$55.19
• 2,000 points = 90 BRL (Brazil) = US$51.95

There is room for currency leverage when traveling with Accor Hotels. Even with a hotel currency exchange rate somewhat lower than a credit charge rate, I’d think the 60AUD voucher would be worth more than the 30GBP voucher.

The past two years A|Club has run a summer special allowing redemption of A|Club cash certificates for payment at Motel 6.

Redeeming a voucher at a Motel 6 is not going to earn loyalty points, however, when redeeming a loyalty hotel voucher at a Motel 6 you are getting the same US$60 cash discount that you would get when redeeming the voucher for a paid room at the Sofitel Chicago.

Sofitel Chicago

Accor Hotels Brands

• Sofitel (120 luxury segement hotels)
• Pullman (60 hotels in upper upscale market)
• MGallery (40 hotels in upper upscale market)
• Novotel (400 hotels in upscale market)
• Suite Novotel (30 hotels in upscale market)
• Mercure and Grand Mercure (700+ hotels in upscale market)
• Adagio (33 extended-stay apartment hotels)
• Ibis (900+ hotels in midscale market)
• Ibis styles (formerly all seasons brand – 140 hotels in midscale market with about 30 in Australia)
• Ibis budget (formerly etap – 430 hotels in economy market)
• Formule 1 (360 economy hotels with 80 outside France)
• Hotel F1 (260 budget hotels in France)
• Motel 6 and Studio 6 (1,100+ economy hotels in U.S. and Canada)

Loyalty Traveler Analysis

What changes will be made to A|Club as it becomes Le Club Accorhotels remains to be seen. Potentially the number of properties available to members for earning loyalty points could increase. The multifaceted loyalty programs among Accorhotels could be consolidated. No details have emerged in the strategic plan for the evolution of Le Club Accorhotels.

Motel 6 still  remains mostly neglected as an Accor family brand in the loyalty program. Remember that pets stay free in Motel 6 and a US$60 A|Club voucher is worth as much at a Motel 6 as a Sofitel Hotel.

Story Update: Sep 19 – This morning I just saw the Bloomberg News story from September 13 stating Accor is interested in selling Motel 6/Studio 6 brand.

Stays at Sofitel and Novotel in USA and Canada from September 1 to October 1, 2011 earn triple Accor A|Club points. A 2-night minimum stay between Sep 15-21 earns an additional 3,000 points bonus. Accor A|Club 3x Points Birthday Promotion Link.

The regular earn rate for A|Club members is 2 points/1 EUR so this bonus offer should work out to be a little over 4.25 points/US$1 and slightly more for the higher value Canadian dollar.

You can redeem 2,000 A|Club points for US$60 hotel voucher or 40EUR voucher.

Assume you spend $250 for a two night stay during the week of Sep 15 to 21 and you will earn over 4,000 points that can be used for US$120 Accor hotel vouchers. That is nearly a 50% rebate on a $250 hotel stay.

Of course most of the Sofitel properties are in the upper upscale to luxury range and the nightly cost will likely be much higher than US$125 per night. Sofitel San Francisco Bay has cheap weekend rates and many of the Novotel properties in Canada are less expensive hotels than the Sofitel Hotels.

Participating Accor Novotel and Sofitel Hotels:

• Novotel Montreal Aeroport
• Novotel Montreal Centre
• Novotel New York Times Square
• Novotel Ottawa
• Novotel Toronto Centre
• Novotel Toronto Mississauga Cntr
• Novotel Toronto North York
• Novotel Toronto Vaughan
• Sofitel Chicago Water Tower
• Sofitel Los Angeles
• Sofitel Miami
• Sofitel Minneapolis
• Sofitel Montreal Golden Mile
• Sofitel New York
• Sofitel Philadelphia
• Sofitel San Francisco Bay
• Sofitel Washington DC Lafayette Square

Accor Hotels has a 50% off Super Sale for over 1,000 hotels on bookings made by June 22 for stays from July 8 –September 4, 2011. Particpating Hotels link. These sale rates earn A|Club points.

There are some real bargain rates for hotels I checked in Frankfurt and Prague, Florence, Italy and Dublin, Ireland. All these cities revealed weekend rates in the range of US$50 to $100 per night.

July 9, 2011 sample Super Sale rates

• Mercure Hotel Kaiserhof Frankfurt City Center = US$50
• Novotel Franfurt City = US$57
• M Gallery Hotel Savigny Frankfurt City = US$71
• Novotel Praha Wenceslas Square, Prague = US$89
• M Galley Hotel Century Old Town Prague = US $93
• Ibis Dublin Red Cow Junction, Dublin, Ireland = US $57
• Novotel Firenze Nord Aeroporto, Florence, Italy = US $86
• M Gallery Hotel Cerretani Firenze, Florence, Italy = US $129

Accor 50% Sale Terms & Conditions:

• Book June 14 to June 22.
• Stay July 8 to Sep 4.
• Sale rates in UK do not apply  for stays until July 17.
• Sale rates end for Paris August 22.
• Rates are prepaid and nonrefundable and do not allow changes.  

Loyalty Traveler aside note: I always wondered why place names are not the same in English as the name used in the country where the city is located like Praha and Prague or Firenze and Florence? This has puzzled me from the time I lived in Deutschland (Germany) as a 9-year old.

Accor Hotels tutorial for Americans

Accor Hotels has around 4,329 hotels worldwide making it a larger chain than Hilton or Marriott and on par with InterContinental Hotels Group. Travelers in Europe and particularly France will find Accor Hotels the most prevalent chain in many cities with over 2,400 hotels across the continent.

Accor Hotels is the largest hotel chain in Europe with a range of hotel brands from luxury segment to budget.

• Sofitel Hotels is Accor’s luxury brand.
• The upscale brands are Pullman Hotels and M Gallery.
• Novotel and Mercure are midscale market segment hotels (think Four Points, Courtyard, Hilton Garden Inn).
• Economy hotel brands are Ibis Hotels and All Seasons. 
• Accor has around 2,000 budget brand hotels with ETAP and Formule 1 in Europe and Motel 6 in the U.S. Many of the budget hotels in Europe in the ETAP brand and Formule 1 are less than US$40 per night making these hotels affordable overnighters for couples and families needing a place to simply sleep in a bed.

Accor A|Club hotel loyalty program

2,300 hotels in the Accor brands of Sofitel, Pullman, M Gallery, Novotel, Novotel Suites, Mercure, Adagio, Ibis and All Seasons participate in A-Club hotel loyalty program. The Accor budget market segment brands do not participate in A-Club loyalty program.

General A|Club membership is free, although there are paid memberships with Accor Favorite Guest and Ibis la carte for additional benefits.

A|Club Points Value

A-Club is a points-based loyalty program, however, A-Club points have a fixed value.

2,000 A|Club points = US$60 or 40EUR

Leveraging A|Club for hotel room points requires the member to find bonus points promotions when paying for rooms. Most brands earn points at the rate of 2 points per Euro.

Ibis and All Seasons earn 1 point per Euro. In France only Ibis stays Friday to Sunday nights earn points.

A|Club Elite Status

A|Club has elite status levels with the following qualification levels and bonus points:

• Silver = 10 nights or earn 2,500 A|Club points. Earns 50% bonus points.
• Gold = 30 nights or earn 10,000 A|Club points. Earns 75% bonus points.
• Platinum = 60 nights or earn 25,000 A|Club points. Earns 100% bonus points.

The advantage of A|Club is the ability to redeem points for vouchers to pay for room stays. This allows members to effectively redeem points for vouchers and discount room rates while earning more points and elite credit on paid stays.

A|Club in the Americas

Only about 7% of A|Club hotel loyalty program members live in the U.S., while about 50% of all A-Club members live in Europe where most Accor brand hotels are located.

Latin America with nearly 200 Accor brand hotels has 21% of A|Club global members; the second largest regional membership base for A|Club.

Brazil is another country where A|Club is a useful loyalty program membership. You won’t find many of the U.S. hotel chain properties in Brazil, although every hotel chain is building and rebranding hotels like crazy in advance of the major sporting events of World Cup 2014 and the Summer Olympics 2016 hosted by Brazil.

Links: Accor Hotels 50% off Super Sale at 1,000 Hotels

PDF of Participating Accor Hotels (No hotels in USA are participating)

Loyalty Traveler Request for Reader Assistance:

Please leave tips on A|Club and Accor Hotels to help Loyalty Traveler build a better knowledge base on this program that is unfamiliar to most Americans.

If you are involved in Accor Hotels PR or management, I’d love to hook up with someone from Accor Hotels to arrange a hotel brand tour. TBEX Prague (Praha) is happening November 2011. Let’s talk.

Sofitel Chicago

Accor Hotels current offer of 3 nights for the price of 2 nights is a straight 33% discount based on the best unrestricted rate, aka BAR, for 3 nights at a participating hotel. Book April 12 to May 16 for hotel stays 12 April to 30 May inclusive. This promotion does not use artificially high rates to get the 3-for-2 deal, so the overall 3-night rate is a good deal. Primary drawback is these rates are prepaid and nonrefundable.

Accor Hotels 3-nights for the price of 2-nights special rate offer.

• Rate is 33% off best unrestricted rate (BAR).
• Book April 12 – May 16, 2011.
• Stay April 12 – May 30, 2011.
• Prepaid and nonrefundable.

All Seasons Grenoble Centre Gare, France US$82/night 4/27-4/30 including unlimited breakfast and free wi-fi.

There are some good deals for USA too with Sofitel Chicago as low as $121 this weekend.

Sofitel Chicago

Accor Hotels are the largest chain of hotels in Europe with more than 2,000 hotels in brands like Mercure, Novotel, Sofitel, M Gallery, Pullman, Ibis and a variety of budget hotels that can be lower than US$40 per night. Another 800 hotels for international travel around the globe are located outside of North America and Europe. The variety of Accor brands provides hotel market segments from basic budget to luxury resorts for hotel rooms across the hotel budget spectrum.

Accor Hotel locations and global distribution map.

Accor Hotels has regional special rate offers all the time. They just generally are not applicable to the USA, and even if they are there are only six cities in the USA with Sofitel Hotels. The other 1,100+ Accor Hotels in the USA are in the Motel 6 brand. And Motel 6 rarely participates in Accor global promotions.

I refer to Motel 6 as the bastard American brandchild of French-based Accor Hotels.

Bottom-line: There are some good deals in this sale at 33% off for a three night stay at Accor Hotels over the next six weeks. Just be sure to use it or lose it in this prepaid, nonrefundable sale.

Accor is celebrating its 10^th anniversary in 2011 with 10 months of prizes for 10 hotel stays and one round the world trip each month. March is the first month of this 10th anniversary year promotion running through December 31.

Accor Hotels 10^th Anniversary World Tour Giveaway link.

Accor Hotel brands include Sofitel, Pullman, M Gallery, Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel, Suite Novotel, Ibis, All Seasons, Hotel F1, Formule1, Adagio, Etap, Hotels Barriere, Orbis Hotels. Accor Hotels has more global hotel properties outside the USA than any other major global chain.

Motel 6 is nearly 25% of Accor’s global hotel portfolio, but generally is the neglected stepchild of Accor Hotels and rarely participates in Accor Hotels global promotions and specials.

To Participate in 10^th Anniversary World Tour Giveaway:

• Make a reservation online at an Accor Hotel
• Stay at the hotel in the month prior to the monthly drawing.
• Alternatively there is a free postal entry method (see promotion rules).

Ten phases of the Accor 10^th Anniversary Game

The Game comprises of ten separate phases:

• First phase: from 1 March 2011 to 31 March 2011 midnight
• Second phase: from 1 April 2011 to 30 April 2011 midnight
• Third phase: from 1 May 2011 to 31 May 2011 midnight
• Fourth phase: from 1 June 2011 to 30 June 2011 midnight
• Fifth phase: from 1 July 2011 to 31 July 2011 midnight
• Sixth phase: from 1 August 2011 to 31 August 2011 midnight
• Seventh phase: from 1 September 2011 to 30 September 2011 midnight
• Eighth phase: from 1 October 2011 to 31 October 2011 midnight
• Ninth phase: from 1 November 2011 to 30 November 2011 midnight
• Tenth phase: from 1 December 2011 to 31 December 2011 midnight

Dates and times are based on Paris (UTC+01:00) time zone.

World Tour Prize:

ten (10) identical world tours for two persons with a market value from 3000 Euros onwards, with each comprising plane tickets in economy class with first departure from one of the following ten stop-over cities nearest to the winner’s place of residence:

• Paris (France)
• London (Great Britain)
• New-York (United States of America)
• Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
• Madrid (Spain)
• Bangkok (Thailand)
• Beijing (People’s Republic of China)
• Sydney (Australia)
• Berlin (Germany)
• Rome (Italy).

The duration of each world tour varies between 30 and 40 days depending on the place of departure. The ten stop-over cities visited during this world tour are Paris (France), London (Great Britain), New-York (United States of America), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Madrid (Spain), Bangkok (Thailand), Beijing (People’s Republic of China), Sydney (Australia), Berlin (Germany), Rome (Italy).

The stop-over order in these cities will be determined by the Organiser Company. This world tour comprises plane tickets in economy class, transfer to the departure airport that is nearest to the winner’s place of residence and lodging. Transfers between the airports and the lodging places are not included in the prize. Lodgings include only the room nights. The number of room nights of stay at each stop-over as fixed by the Organiser Company varies between two and four. Hotels for the lodging will be selected by the Organiser Company depending on the availability. Any extras consumed by the winner will be to his/her charge. The list of participating hotels for each of the ten cities is identical to the list given hereinbelow for the prizes pertaining to the won hotel stays.

One Hundred (100) stays for two persons for four nights in one of the following ten stop-over cities:

• Paris (France)
• London (Great Britain)
• New-York (United States of America)
• Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
• Madrid (Spain)
• Bangkok (Thailand)
• Beijing (People’s Republic of China)
• Sydney (Australia)
• Berlin (Germany)
• Rome (Italy).

The winners will choose their destinations and their dates (taking into account the availability as indicated in these rules) and ACCOR will be responsible for selecting a hotel depending on the developments in these availabilities).

Drawings for Winners

• Draw of lots of the participants in the first phase on 13 April 2011
• Draw of lots of the participants in the second phase on 11 May 2011
• Draw of lots of the participants in the third phase on 15 June 2011
• Draw of lots of the participants in the fourth phase on 13 July 2011
• Draw of lots of the participants in the fifth phase on 10 August 2011
• Draw of lots of the participants in the sixth phase on 14 September 2011
• Draw of lots of the participants in the seventh phase on 12 October 2011
• Draw of lots of the participants in the eighth phase on 16 November 2011
• Draw of lots of the participants in the ninth phase on 14 December 2011
• Draw of lots of the participants in the tenth phase on 11 January 2012

Eleven winners will be named at each draw of lots and the winning order will determine the awarding of the prizes at stake.

Good Luck.

Accor has 50% off hotel rooms at participating hotels from October 29 – November 1, 2010, but it looks to me like anyone can book these special rates now for hotel stays from December 12 to February 12, 2011.

Kayak.com shows these 50% discount rates for Accor brand hotels I checked. This makes price comparison shopping easy with other chains.

Singapore has the Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel at US$86 per night. Whether this is a good deal depends on how much you desire the Clarke Quay or Orchard Road part of the city to be in the thick of things. I have enjoyed my time outside the city center in the communities around downtown when visiting Singapore.

I wanted to see where the hotel is located and the Accor Hotels website has a map link, but the Accor Hotels website map function shows me the entire world rather than the island of Singapore. I didn’t want to navigate my way across the globe to street level Singapore.

Accor Singapore Mercure Grand Roxy Hotel 50% off rate at US$86

Budapest for under $50 per night at your choice of more than 10 Accor brand hotels like Mercure, Ibis and Novotel.

Accor Hotels 50% off sale puts a dozen Budapest Hotels under $50

You can even splurge for the authentic 5-star luxury class Sofitel Budapest Chain Bridge cheap room at US$117 per night for a hotel on the banks of the Danube and this is not even the 50% off rate. This rate has chocolate perks too.

Sofitel Budapest 5-star Luxury Hotel - Accor Hotels US$117 per night December 2010

Accor is a French hotel company and Paris is loaded with Accor brand hotels. These 50% rates are a way to greatly reduce the cost of a winter hotel stay in the City of Light.

Pullman Hotels, along with Sofitel Hotels, is a luxury market segment brand of Accor Hotels. The Pullman Rive Gauche Paris is participating in the Accor 50% off sale bringing the rate down to $127 per night for a 4-night stay January 15-19, 2011.

Paris Rive Gauche Pullman Hotel 50% off Accor Sale US$127 per night January 15-19, 2011

Thanks to Lucky for posting about this high-value, very limited time offer.

Last September 2009 A|Club celebrated its first birthday as a hotel loyalty club program. There was a big party with free gifts. Party crashers from around the world ravaged Accor A|Club’s first birthday celebration last year by coming to the party and walking away with a 40€/$60USD A|Club gift without bothering to stick around Accor Hotels and give the guest of honor anything in return.

In September 2009 A|Club celebrated its first birthday by giving new member enrollees a 2,000 points bonus. The points were immediately deposited into the new member’s account. The new member then could immediately redeem 2,000 points for a 40€/$60USD A-Club gift voucher good at thousands of A|Club hotels worldwide. My wife even received a 500 points birthday bonus when her birthday came around a couple of weeks later in September and she was suddenly A|Club Silver elite for having accumulated 2,500 points.

A|Club party organizers have come up with a more subdued celebration this year. New members this year will receive 1,000 bonus points upon completion of first hotel stay by December 19, 2010.

This year’s 2010 party requires existing members to enter information by September 19, 2010 and build a three part birthday cake online based on the individual’s selection of Accor and A|Club prize choices.

356 winners will be chosen in 12 random drawings from among the entrants for those prizes. The drawings will occur October 22, 2010.

a)      Bonus points (25 gifts) – up to 100,000 bonus points (5 prizes); double points for stays in one month (10 prizes – winner must choose month for points doubling within six months of prize); triple points for stays in two weeks (10 prizes).

b)      A|Club advantages (215 gifts) – status upgrade (200 winners will be promoted to next higher elite status in A|Club); double airline miles for points (5 winners will be allowed to receive double miles for up to 10,000 A|Club points into 20,000 miles); 10 A|Club vouchers (400€/$600USD) valid for six months. 

c)       Win a free weekend for two in the region of the world you choose (116 gifts)

1. North America (9 prizes)
2. South America (19 prizes)
3. Asia (14 prizes)
4. Europe (58 prizes)
5. Middle East/Africa (11 prizes)
6. Pacific region (5 prizes)  

Accor Hotels is the largest hotel chain in Europe by far. Anyone planning to spend much time in Europe, particularly France, should seriously look at A|Club and possibly A|Club Favorite Guest, a paid membership loyalty program with room rate discounts and other benefits.

Accor Hotels have triple the rooms at around 250,000 rooms in Europe than the second place hotel chain (Best Western 87,000 rooms) and third place (InterContinental Hotels Group 86,000 rooms).

Accor Hotels A|Club Elite Benefits

Related Loyalty Traveler Post: Sep 13, 2009 – A|Club program

A|Club 2010 2^nd Birthday Party Game

Accor Hotels has Crazy Prices, a limited time offer for 50% off hotel rates at 800 hotels in countries around the world with the notable exception of the USA. These discount rates are for bookings between June 10-16, 2010 for hotel stays from July 8 through September 6, 2010. A-Club members can book rooms as of June 8.

These discount room rates are prepaid, no changes, no cancellations, no refunds.

There are some great deals. Accor Participating Hotels link.

Accor Hotels is the largest hotel chain and loyalty program in the world that I do not write about frequently. Accor is the fifth largest hotel chain in the world by number of hotels. In the USA the name Accor is most associated with the Motel 6 brand, however, this economy hotel brand has severely limited participation in A-Club, the Accor Hotels global loyalty program. The Accor brands dominant around the world are Novotel, Mercure, and Ibis. Sofitel, Pullman, and M-Gallery are the upper-upscale brands of Accor. There are several economy brands in Accor including Etap, Formule1, and Motel 6 that do not participate in A-Club program.

Here is a Loyalty Traveler post from September 2009 describing Accor Hotels and A-Club.

A-Club loyalty program points redemption is basically a cash rebate. The leverage opportunities with A-Club come from hotels offering bonus points for stays. Redemption is 2,000 points for a 40€ or $60 credit. The dollar value Accor voucher is certainly the better deal these days.

Update June 9 – Motel 6 limited time offer for using A-Club points vouchers: A-Club Reward US$60 vouchers are valid at over 1,000 Motel 6 hotels in North America for a limited time from June 1 through  October 31, 2010.

I just enrolled my wife in Accor Hotels A-Club.  New members joining A-Club by September 30, 2009 will receive 2,000 A-Club enrollment points as a special offer celebrating the 1^st birthday of A-Club. The 2,000 points may then be redeemed for a US$60 A-Club voucher. A-Club Enrollment link.

Accor Hotels, based in France, has more properties globally than either Marriott or Hilton. The chain currently ranks number 5 in the world for most hotels. There are more Accor brand hotels outside the USA than any other global chain.

Americans may recognize Accor Hotels as the parent company of Motel 6. The Motel 6 brand is Accor Hotels largest brand by hotels, however, Motel 6 is not even a participating hotel brand in Accor A-Club.

(Thanks jumpdogjump for posting link in comment section below for limited time promotion offer allowing A-Club vouchers to be used at Motel 6 through October 31.  http://www.a-club.com/en/index-offer-detail.html?promoId=887&promoDir=promo.)

Accor Hotels high-end hotel brands are Sofitel, Pullman, and M-Gallery. Mercure, and Novotel are mid-scale to upscale brands, ranking in the top 20 hotel brands in the world based on rooms.

In the United States there are eight Sofitel Hotels where you can use the $60 A-Club voucher.

Sample low rates for Saturday, September 19 are shown below, except Sofitel Philadelphia unavailable for this date. Philadelphia rate is based on November 10 search.

                Sofitel Minneapolis (suburb) $95

                Sofitel Los Angeles (city center) $265

                Sofitel New York (city center) $385

                Sofitel Miami (airport) $105

                Sofitel Chicago Water Tower (city center) $245

                Sofitel San Francisco Bay (near airport in Redwood City) $130

                Sofitel Washington D.C. Lafayette Square (city center) $210

                Sofitel Philadelphia (city center) $220 for Nov 10, 2009

A-Club is a monetary based hotel loyalty program. Points have cash value. 2,000 points may be redeemed for a cash equivalent voucher worth 40 Euros or US$60. Simply redeem your points for a cash voucher you can redeem at check-out to pay a portion of the bill.

Unfortunately, I already belong to A-Club. My wife wasn’t a member until today.

I checked the rates for our local Sofitel San Francisco Bay in Redwood City. I saw rates as low as $95 per night for November.

Redwood City is the home of the global headquarters for Oracle Corporation software company.

Signing Kelley up for A-Club should allow us to spend the night at the Sofitel Hotel San Francisco bay for $50 all-in after tax. That certainly beats Motel 6!

The Loyalty traveler column for the September 2009 issue of InsideFlyer covered Accor A-Club. Here is the A-Club column.

Accor Hotels A|Club for the global traveler

Hilton, IHG, and Marriott hotels are not everywhere you may need to be for international travel. Accor Hotels, one of the global top 5 hotel chains, has more hotels worldwide than Marriott or Hilton, and more hotels outside the US than IHG.

Accor Hotels’ 4,000 properties far outnumber the branded hotels of any other major global chain in regions outside of North America. Brazil, for example, has 133 Accor brand hotels while IHG, Hilton, and Marriott combined have 10 hotels.

Accor Hotels’ A-Club loyalty program represents over 2,100 hotels in 8 brands. Sofitel, MGallery and Pullman are upscale brands. Novotel, Mercure, and Suitehotel are midscale. Ibis and allseasons are economy segment. A loyalty program this large is too big to ignore; especially for the global traveler. Membership in A-Club is free.

Link: A-Club Enrollment link.

A separate, fee-based (270€ per year) Accor loyalty program, A-Club Favorite Guest, offers hotel rate discounts, additional hotel benefits, and accelerated A-Club points earning of 3.5 points per 1€.

Link http://www.a-club.com/en/subscription-program-description.html

Accor is a sizeable hotel chain, however, 40% of the Accor global portfolio are budget brand hotels, including Motel 6 (US/Canada), Etap (Europe), Formule 1 (global), and Hotel F1 (France). These brands do not participate in Accor’s A|Club loyalty program.

Earning and Redeeming A|Club Points

A|Club base-level members earn 2 points per 1€, except 1 point per 1€ for Ibis and allseasons hotels. 2,000 A|Club points may be exchanged for a 40€ hotel certificate or US$60 certificate valid for unrestricted use at over 2,000 Accor hotels worldwide in Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel, allseasons, Ibis, and Accor Thalassa properties. Accor certificates are also valid for ClubMed resorts.

4,000 A|Club points may also be exchanged for 2,000 miles with several airline partners, but this exchange is less favorable than hotel stay rewards.

A|Club Elite status

A|Club elite status is earned by either total nights or reaching point thresholds in a 12 month period. All A|Club points earned count as elite points. Hotel spending, bonus points, and partner activity all count for reaching elite status just as with IHG Priority Club.

Silver elite status requires 10 nights or 2,500 points and earns 50% elite bonus points; 3 points per 1€. Gold elite requires 30 nights or 10,000 points and earns 75% elite bonus points; 3.5 points per 1€ . Platinum elite requires 60 nights or 25,000 points and earns 100% elite bonus points; 4 points per 1€.

The basic way to get more value out of A|Club is the same as with other major hotel loyalty programs – attain elite status and use loyalty promotions to increase the points earned per € in spending. A platinum member staying at a hotel during a triple points promotion can potentially earn 8 points per 1€.

Accor and A|Club Promotions

Accor has experienced the same economic downturn as other major hotel chains. A myriad of summer promotions offered 50% off rates, 2x and 3x points, and free nights on multi-night stays. Most of the summer promotions ended in August. Look for new loyalty promotions for September stays at http://www.a-club.com/en/offers-list.html.

Accor Advantage Plus for Residents of Asia

Accor Advantage Plus is a loyalty program exclusively for residents of Asia with attributes of A|Club and Favorite Guest. A US$200 annual membership fee provides instant A|Club Silver elite status, a free night certificate, hotel rate discounts of 10%, and hotel food & beverage discounts from 15% to 50%. A unique feature is a free supplementary card granting member hotel discounts to a partner. There are over 340 Accor hotels in the Asia-Pacific region including 50 Sofitel Hotels. Advantage Plus members may earn and redeem A|Club points worldwide. 

http://www.accorhotels-asia.com/advplus/default.aspx