Accor loyalty program: How to enjoy free hotel stays with credit card reward points?

You have the option to convert your credit card reward points into Accor Live Limitless (ALL) loyalty program points, which can be redeemed for complimentary hotel stays, perfect for your family vacations.

Do you prefer to take one or a couple of family vacations every year? If yes, then hotel loyalty programs can offer you good benefits in terms of features and value. In India, various hotel chains like Marriott, Accor, ITC, Taj, etc. offer hotel loyalty programs.

Let us explore one such program, Accor Live Limitless (ALL) by Accor. We will discuss what is the ALL program and how credit card reward points can help you enjoy free hotel stays at Accor hotels during your family vacations.

What is the Accor group?

Accor is one of the world’s largest hospitality groups, with a portfolio of more than 45 hotel brands across various categories, from luxury to economy. It has 5,500+ hotels spread across 110+ countries. As of June 2024, Accor has 62 hotels across India, most of them under the Novotel and Ibis brands. It will open 30 new hotels with about 5,500 rooms in India in the next 3 to 5 years.

What is the ALL loyalty program?

The Accor Live Limitless (ALL) is the hotel loyalty program that Accor offers its members. ALL membership is free, i.e. there is neither a joining fee nor an annual renewal fee. All members get various benefits depending on their status level. On joining, your status level is Classic. During the calendar year, depending on the number of nights stayed or the amount spent, you can move higher from Classic to Diamond status level. The higher your status level, the higher the benefits you are entitled to.

Status level: Number of nights stay required and the status level benefits

There can be some variations in some benefits based on the hotel brand.

How to enjoy free stays at Accor hotels with credit card reward points?

We have discussed the ALL loyalty program, the various status levels, the criteria for each status level, and the benefits for various status levels. Now, let us understand how you can use credit card reward points to enjoy free stays at Accor hotels.

As of June 2024, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank allow you to transfer your credit card reward points to the Accor ALL loyalty program. The credit card reward points can be transferred to the ALL loyalty program in a ratio specified by the bank.

For example, HDFC Bank has fixed the transfer of Infinia and Diners Club Black credit card reward points to ALL loyalty programs in the 2:1 ratio. It means, two Infinia credit card reward points are equal to one ALL reward point. Similarly, Axis Bank has fixed the transfer of Atlas credit card reward points to ALL loyalty programs in the 1:2 ratio. It means, one Atlas Edge Mile is equal to two All reward points. Please note, the bank may change the transfer ratio from time to time.

Once you transfer the credit card reward points to the ALL loyalty program, they show up as ALL reward points in your ALL account.

The following calculation will give you the value of each ALL reward point:

2000 ALL reward points = 40 Euros

1 Euro = 90.24 Indian Rupees (as on 9th June 2024)

Therefore, 2,000 ALL reward points = 40 X 90.24 = 3,609.6 Indian Rupees

1 ALL reward point = Rs. 1.80

The ALL reward points can then be used for booking hotel stays at Accor properties across the globe. The various hotel brands offered by Accor are bifurcated into four categories. Some of these include the following.

Various hotel brands offered by Accor in various categories

In India, most of the hotels are under the Ibis and Novotel brands.

When staying at Accor properties, you can ask for the food bill for any meals at the property restaurant to be added to your room charges. You can then use ALL reward points (converted from credit card reward points) to pay for meals while settling the room charges bill. Thus, while on a family vacation at an Accor hotel, your credit card reward points can pay for the room accommodation as well as food bills. Apart from these, any other hotel service charges that can be added to the room charges can be paid for with Accor reward points converted from credit card reward points.

Credit card reward points are versatile

Credit card reward points can be used for various benefits. They can be redeemed for statement credit, paying for purchases, redeeming for gift vouchers, transferring to airline frequent flyer programs (FFPs) and hotel loyalty programs, and even donating to charity. A higher value per reward point is usually derived by transferring them to FFPs and hotel loyalty programs. However, it all depends on your needs. While some people are happy with cashbacks/statement credit, some use them to enjoy vacations with free flights and hotel stays, and some are happy to donate them for charitable purposes.

Gopal Gidwani is a freelance personal finance content writer with 15+ years of experience. He can be reached at LinkedIn.