Accor news: a double points offer plus a Flying Blue transfer bonus

UPDATE – SEPTEMBER 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.  We produce a monthly summary of the top hotel bonus point offers – please click HERE or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ menu above.

Our comprehensive review of the Accor Live Limitless scheme is here.

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Two bits of Accor Live Limitless news today – another bonus points offer, and a transfer bonus for anyone who picks up Flying Blue miles.

The transfer rate into Flying Blue has also been hugely improved.

Let’s take a look. Accor Live Limitless is the loyalty scheme for Novotel, Ibis, Mercure, Sofitel, Fairmont, Raffles etc.

Earn double Accor Live Limitless points

Accor is launching a new ‘double points’ deal, on the back of a couple of triple points deals recently.

Here are the key points:

• you MUST register before you book by clicking here

• you must book by 6th January

• you must stay by 28th February

• your stay must be in a participating country (primarily Europe, the UK is included)

• you can earn the bonus up to three times

Staying before 31st January?

If your stay will take place by 31st January, this is NOT the best offer.

You should register for this deal here – nominally for members of JAL Mileage Club – which offers triple points. This deal requires you to book by 31st December.

The JAL offer is also valid globally, unlike the new ‘double points’ offer.

If you are going for the double points offer, you need to register here.

You can now transfer Accor points to Flying Blue at 1:1 – with a 15% bonus on top

It is now three years since Accor Live Limitless and Flying Blue, the loyalty scheme for Air France and KLM, launched a special partnership.

Here’s a graphical overview:

As you can see:

• When you stay at Accor hotels, you will earn 1 Flying Blue airline mile per €1 – on top of the Accor points you would usually earn

• When you fly with Air France or KLM, you will earn 1 Accor hotel point per €2 – on top of the Flying Blue miles you would usually earn

This offer has become less attractive to HfP readers in recent months since Qatar Airways launched a very similar partnership. Most of our readers would prefer to earn bonus Avios (albeit in a Qatar Airways Privilege Club account) from their Accor stays compared to Flying Blue points.

You can also transfer Flying Blue miles into Accor points

You have always been able to transfer Accor Live Limitless points into Flying Blue miles at the rate of:

• 2,000 Accor points = 1,000 Flying Blue miles

You can also transfer the other way:

• 4,000 Flying Blue miles = 1,000 Accor points

These rates are clearly a bit ‘off’, and you would have lost a huge amount of value if you had moved Accor points to Flying Blue and then moved them back again.

Accor has now massively improved the transfer rate into Flying Blue. Effective immediately:

• 2,000 Accor points = 2,000 Flying Blue miles

Even better, you will receive a 15% bonus on transfers from Accor Live Limitless to Flying Blue before 15th December. Note that the bonus miles could take up to six weeks to arrive.

Is this good value?

Not hugely, which is amusing given that the transfer rate has just been improved by 100%.

Accor Live Limitless has revenue-based redemptions. 1 Accor point gets you 2 Eurocents off your next hotel room booking.

This means that, at a 1:1 transfer rate, you are effectively ‘paying’ 2 Eurocents per Flying Blue mile. This is too expensive and it would make more sense to use your Accor points for a hotel stay.

With the 15% transfer bonus, 1 Accor point gets you 1.15 Flying Blue miles until 15th December. This means that you are ‘paying’ 1.74 Eurocents (1.5p) per Flying Blue mile.

I wouldn’t even pay that, to be honest. However, if you have 2,000 Accor points which may go to waste and you are an active Flying Blue collector, this is about as good a transfer deal as you are ever likely to see.

You can see the offer on this page of the Flying Blue website.

PS. The 15% bonus applies to transfers in both directions. 4,000 Flying Blue miles will get you 1,150 Accor points if you make the transfer by 15th December. This would get you €23 off a future Accor hotel stay and may be an option for using up any unwanted Flying Blue points. You can top up your Flying Blue account with a 1:1 transfer from American Express Membership Rewards.

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Accor Live Limitless update – September 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.