You can now convert Avios INTO Accor Live Limitless hotel points – but should you?

In terms of HfP content, the new partnership between Qatar Airways and Avios is the gift that keeps on giving.

Because you can now transfer your Avios from BA Executive Club to Qatar Privilege Club (at 1:1, instantly, for free, in either direction, as many times as you want), a lot of new earning and spending opportunities are available.

Today I want to look at the impact on Accor Live Limitess, the Novotel / Sofitel / Ibis / Mercure / Raffles / Pullman / Fairmont etc hotel loyalty programme.

For the first time, you can now convert Avios INTO hotel loyalty points.

Accor Live Limitless is unique amongst hotel programmes in having partnerships with a lot of airlines (but not British Airways or Virgin Atlantic) to convert airlines miles into Accor Live Limitless points. This HfP article looks at which airlines let you convert your miles into Accor points.

Qatar Privilege Club is one of these airline programmes. You can see the details here.

How do you convert Avios into Accor Live Limitless points?

If you haven’t already linked your British Airways Executive Club account to a Qatar Privilege Club account, you need to follow our step by step guide here.

Once your accounts are linked, you move the required number of Avios from British Airways to Qatar Airways and then send them to Accor Live Limitless via this page of the Qatar website.

What is the conversion rate?

The ratio is 4.5 : 1, with a minimum of 4,500 Avios getting you 1,000 Accor points.

There is a transfer cap of 100,000 Avios per year.

Is this a good deal?

Not really.

Accor Live Limitless is a 100% revenue based programme. There is no reward chart. The number of points needed for a free night is the cost of that room divided by 2 Eurocents.

A room costing the equivalent of €204 will be 10,200 Accor Live Limitless points, for example.

As an Accor point is redeemable for 2 Eurocents of free hotel room, it means that:

• 4,500 Avios gets you

• 1,000 Accor Live Limitless points which gets you

• €20 (£16.75) of free hotel stays

This is VERY weak at under 0.4p per Avios. Remember that you can get 0.8p per Avios by redeeming them for Nectar points and spending them in Sainsbury’s, Argos or on eBay, so this should be your minimum redemption value.

Why might you want to do this?

That said, there are a couple of reasons why this conversion may make sense.

It keeps your Accor Live Limitless points alive

Accor has tough expiry rules. If there is no activity on your account for 12 months, you lose all of your points. If you don’t have any Accor stays lined up, this is an easy way of extending the life of your points without leaving your desk.

You can top up your Accor Live Limitless account

You need at least 2,000 Accor points to cash out for hotel credit, and there are varying thresholds to transfer into other airline currencies. You could use an Avios transfer to top up a small balance to 2,000 Accor points.

The maths isn’t attractive, to be honest, but it depends on the relative value you place on the currencies.

Do NOT under any scenario use Accor as a way of converting Avios into other airline miles. The number are horrible. For example:

• 9,000 Avios would get you

• 2,000 Accor Live Limitless points which would get you

• 1,000 Flying Blue miles

This is shockingly bad.

You can use Avios for an Accor Experiences package

Accor has been building up its ‘Accor Experiences’ packages over the past year, including a partnership with the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, down by the Accor office.

These redemptions can be a more valuable use of points than redeeming for a hotel room, which means that you would be getting better value for your Avios.

Some upcoming London ‘Accor Experiences’ events were covered in this HfP article.

For example, 2,000 Accor points gets you two tickets plus lounge access to the OneRepublic convert at the Eventim Apollo on 25th April. You might see this as a decent use of 9,000 Avios.

Full details of the Qatar Airways ‘Avios to Accor’ conversion deal – and the detailed instructions on how to do it – are on the Qatar Airways site here.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (March 2023)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Successfully apply for either of the Barclaycard Avios credit cards by 2nd April 2023 and you will be entered into a free draw to win ONE MILLION AVIOS! Full details are on the application forms here (free) and here (paid). This competition is exclusive to Head for Points readers. T&C apply.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Until 30th March 2023, the sign up bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to 120,000 Membership Rewards points – click here. The bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to 60,000 Membership Rewards points – click here. T&C apply, see the application forms for details.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.