You can now use Accor’s Suite Night Upgrades online, guaranteed when booking

One of the side effects of our stay at Fairmont Royal Pavilion Barbados last year – a stay which netted me Accor Live Limitless Diamond status from a standing start, due to reduced thresholds in 2021 – was that I received eight Suite Night Upgrades.

I had written these off as useless, since the need to ring Accor’s call centre to discuss options every time you wanted to use one was more than I could cope with. However, Suite Night Upgrades are now bookable online and it’s even possible I may use a couple.

You can learn all about Suite Night Upgrades on this page of the Accor website.

(One thing I didn’t realise until I read the scheme rules for this article is that the expiry date for Suite Night Upgrades is the booking date, not the stay date. Whilst my upgrade vouchers expire on 31st December 2022, any rooms I book for 2023 by that date will still qualify.)

How do you earn Accor Suite Night Upgrades?

Suite Night Upgrades kick in when you hit Platinum status in Accor Live Limitless, which means earning 14,000 status points or completing 60 qualifying nights.

Platinum is the third status tier, above Silver and Gold but below Diamond. To earn 14,000 status points you would need to have €5,600 of eligible spend in a calendar year.

Accor counts spend from two rooms towards ‘eligible spend’. If you tend to book two rooms when you travel then you will find Accor status easier to earn than with competing schemes.

As well as the standard Platinum benefits of lounge access and 75% bonus points on all stays, you receive two Suite Night Upgrades.

Additional Suite Night Upgrades are earned for every additional 4,000 status points you earn, up to a maximum of 12 per year.

How do you use Suite Night Upgrades?

The good news is that they can now be used online. The brand that take part are Raffles, Faena, Delano, Sofitel Legend, Fairmont, SLS, SO/, Sofitel, MGallery, 21c, Mondrian, Pullman, Swissôtel, Mövenpick and Grand Mercure.

Hotels are allowed to opt out but few do. Sofitel St James is the only UK hotel which is not included.

What is the price based on?

Here’s the tricky bit. You are not upgrading from the cheapest possible room. You are upgrading from a room that is only 1-2 levels below the suite you are trying to book. In reality, I didn’t find that it made a huge amount of difference to what you paid compared to booking the lowest cost option.

Here are some examples:

Sofitel London Heathrow (top photo) on 7th June for one night

• Junior Suite – £238 (usually £355)
• Prestige Suite – £261 (usually £418)
• Cheapest standard room – £220

The hotel website is here.

This is pretty decent given that the suites include lounge access and can sleep four.

Fairmont Windsor Park (photo above) on 8th July for two nights

• One Bed King Suite – £905 (usually £1,228) for two nights
• Cheapest standard room – £711 for two nights

The hotel website is here.

Raffles The Palm Dubai (photo below) on 21st May for seven nights

• Duplex Suite – £1,979 (usually £2,897) for seven nights
• Cheapest standard room – £1,765 for seven nights

The hotel website is here.

These are decent deals in my book, because you are locking in the suite upgrade at the time you book. You are not crossing your fingers and hoping for an upgrade on arrival. This is especially important if you have kids and must have a room which sleeps three or four people.

Is there any small print?

The only key snag I can see is that you can only upgrade one room per night.

I’d personally prefer to be able to book two rooms this way, in case we need to keep the family split due to room capacity.

As I mentioned above, hidden in the small print is the positive news that you can use a Suite Night Upgrade after it has expired as long as you book whilst it is still in date

Conclusion

Overall, I’m impressed by the ability to use Accor Suite Night Upgrades online. It’s a simple process and the ability to lock in your upgrade on the day you book – for what is generally a modest premium over the cost of a standard room – can be very valuable.

You can find out more about Suite Night Upgrades on this page of the Accor website.

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Accor Live Limitless update – April 2024:

Earn bonus Accor points: Accor is not currently running a global promotion

New to Accor Live Limitless?  Read our review of Accor Live Limitless here and our article on points expiry rules here. Our analysis of what Accor Live Limitless points are worth is here.

Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from Accor and the other major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.