Free Wall Street Journal digital subscription for Accor Platinum and Diamond members

If you have elite status (Platinum or higher) in Accor Live Limitless – the loyalty scheme for ibis, Novotel, Raffles, Sofitel, Mercure etc hotels – you may be aware that you can choose an annual gift.

Historically, these gift have been fairly useless.

In fact, I have never bothered to redeem one despite having been Platinum or Diamond for the last four years.

Historically your options were:

• a (non-specified) charitable donation, which is what you should do if you don’t find any of the other options interesting

• 15 10 cm x 15 cm photo prints, delivered to your door

• 6 months access to pressreader, giving you access to various newspapers and magazines

• 15% off an online purchase at Parisian department store Printemps

None of them are hugely valuable. pressreader arguably has some use if you are travelling but it’s a bit fiddly because of the number of titles on it and nowhere near as user friendly as having access to a dedicated newspaper or magazine app.

Recently, however, Accor has added something new. I don’t know how long it has been there but I only spotted it recently:

• a one-year digital subscription to The Wall Street Journal plus Investor’s Business Daily and Barron’s

Whilst I’m sure there are other discounted routes available, the WSJ website charges £195 per year for a digital subscription, discounted to £96 for the first year. If you are paying for a WSJ subscription then getting Accor Live Limitless Platinum status suddenly has some value.

To claim your subscription, you need to log in to your Accor account and go to the ‘Your loyalty account’ page. You will then see this box:

Click through and you will see the list of gifts available.

Select ‘Wall Street Journal’ and an activation code appears on screen. I recommend copying and pasting this somewhere just in case.

You can then click through and register with the WSJ, or upgrade an existing registered account.

Importantly, your credit card details are not taken.

You won’t be quietly charged at the end of your 12 month subscription. It will simply expire if you don’t actively choose to renew it. I assume that it is possible to roll it over for another year using your 2026 Platinum or Diamond member gift, assuming that the partnership continues.