In the past, I’ve written guides about how to redeem points with some major hotel loyalty programs, like Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy, and World of Hyatt.
Accor Live Limitless (ALL) is a major hotel program that I don’t write about much, and in this post, I thought it would be interesting to talk about redeeming points with the French hotel group. After all, Accor is an absolutely massive brand (especially outside the United States), with over 5,000 properties spread across a staggering 50+ brands.
Accor is unique among the major hotel loyalty programs, as it’s the only program that’s strictly revenue based. So there’s not much of a trick to maximizing these points, but it’s still worth understanding how the program works.
In this post:
Redeeming Accor Live Limitless points for hotel stays
The best way to redeem Accor points is for hotel stays, and the math is very simple. Every 1,000 Accor points gets you €20 (~$21) toward the cost of an Accor stay. In other words, each point is worth exactly two cents, in euro.
You can redeem points to just partially pay for a hotel stay. While you can redeem just 1,000 points, for everything above that, you need to redeem in increments of 2,000 points (meaning every 2,000 points gets you €40).
There really is a ton of flexibility in terms of when you can redeem. You can redeem your points online when making a hotel booking, by phone, or even on-property. You can also redeem toward room rate, or even toward incidentals, whether it’s a meal or spa treatment.
As you can see, this couldn’t be much more straightforward. On a per-point basis, Accor points are actually extremely valuable, more valuable than any other major hotel points currency, based on my valuations.
The catch is that earnings rates with the program are also lower. For example, below are how many points you earn per €10 spent at various Accor brands. As you can see, at most brands you earn 25x points per €10 spent, the equivalent of 2.5 points per €1, or a return of 5% (since each point gets you two cents toward hotel costs).
This makes the math on redemptions very easy. Just redeem Accor points as you earn them, because your points aren’t earning any interest, while cash can. There’s no reason to hoard Accor points, but rather just view it as a rebate program.
Now, it’s generally a best practice to redeem Accor points at properties with lower points earning rates. That’s because you don’t earn points for the portion of the stay you’re redeeming for. So you should redeem at properties with the lowest opportunity cost in terms of points earning rates.
Accor also has one of the stricter expiration policies, as points expire after 12 months of inactivity.
The other ways to redeem Accor Live Limitless points
In the interest of being thorough, I should mention there are other ways that you can redeem Accor Live Limitless points. That being said, these will almost never represent a good value, unless you’re certain you absolutely have no plans to stay at an Accor property again.
For example, you can convert Accor points into airline miles with several programs. The absolute best transfer ratio is 1:1, which is with Air France-KLM Flying Blue. Most other partners have a transfer ratio of 2:1. Given that each Accor point is worth around two cents, that’s like “paying” anywhere from two to four cents per airline mile. That’s simply not a good acquisition rate.
You can also redeem your points for everything from rental cars, to charity. However, these redemption options won’t get you anywhere close to two cents of value per point, so it’s not how I’d recommend redeeming them. For example, you can redeem Accor points toward a Hertz rental at the rate of 2,000 points per €20 of rental cost, slashing the value of your points in half.
Should you move transferable points to Accor?
Among transferable points currencies, both Citi ThankYou and Bilt Rewards partner with Accor Live Limitless, allowing you to transfer points:
- Citi ThankYou points transfer to Accor at a 2:1 ratio
- Bilt Rewards points transfer to Accor at a 3:2 ratio
Since each Accor point is worth exactly 2.0 cents (in euro), that means transferring Citi points to Accor gets you around 1.0 cents of value per Citi point, while transferring Bilt points to Accor gets you around 1.5 cents of value per Bilt point.
I generally wouldn’t recommend transferring Citi points to Accor without a transfer bonus, since you can do better than one cent of value per Citi point. Meanwhile 1.5 cents of value per Bilt point isn’t a bad way to cash out rewards, though it’s also not the most exciting redemption.
Bottom line
With most hotel loyalty programs, there are opportunities to get outsized value with your points if you put in the effort. In the case of Accor, 1,000 points will consistently get you €20 toward a hotel stay, and that’s the best use of points. There are no aspirational redemptions with the program, but rather it’s one where you want to earn and burn as quickly as possible, since your points won’t get more valuable over time, and there’s no point in saving up.
What’s your take on redeeming Accor Live Limitless points?
It's nice and simple and I like that. I get near 90 days each year at their properties. That gives me platinum and the 1.75 per 1€ rate at the properties I use. So, I'm getting 3.5% (and really 6.5% when you add in the CC kickback), so I'm good. I also get free suite upgrade nights that I never can use (no upgraded rooms in my hotels). But, if I need a one off stay in transit, it can be of good value.
It is worthwhile checking the website below now and then as there is the opportunity to spend points on dining, travel etc with occasional really good redemptions.
https://limitlessexperiences.accor.com/passion-sports
Why is Europe so bad at this
Accor also has footprint where no other chain really does- the Mantis brand covers safari and river cruise options in Southern Africa and has, at times, even been the one way to get to Antarctica on points. Accor is also the only chain to operate on the island of St. Helena and you can throw points at the rebooted Orient Express brand.
There is also the opportunity to double credit the points into Avios on Qatar Airways Privilege club.
Likewise, if you link a Flying Blue account with an ALL account, you earn 1 FB mile per euro at Accor and 1 ALL point per 2 euros on AFKL. Either way is about a 1% extra return.
As per previous comment, there's no reason to 'earn and burn' this way, the value is in redemptions at lower-earning properties. What the article also fails to mention is that Accor points aren't just valuable, they're effectively immune from devaluation as they have been worth 2 cents since the days of Le Club Accor, we're talking a huge amount of years. And you can also get better value by redeeming on experiences (football matches, concerts...
As per previous comment, there's no reason to 'earn and burn' this way, the value is in redemptions at lower-earning properties. What the article also fails to mention is that Accor points aren't just valuable, they're effectively immune from devaluation as they have been worth 2 cents since the days of Le Club Accor, we're talking a huge amount of years. And you can also get better value by redeeming on experiences (football matches, concerts etc), although these tend to be focused on Paris and London.
I mean, on the face it is simple enough, but there is still a difference. People who use this programme frequently well know that you don't redeem at Sofitel, etc.
As I frequently visit France, I always redeem points in Adagio access, as that is the best value since I would not otherwise earn so much with those stays. If you are not visiting a country with Adagio Access, Ibis is also a better...
I mean, on the face it is simple enough, but there is still a difference. People who use this programme frequently well know that you don't redeem at Sofitel, etc.
As I frequently visit France, I always redeem points in Adagio access, as that is the best value since I would not otherwise earn so much with those stays. If you are not visiting a country with Adagio Access, Ibis is also a better value redemption than Sofitel. If I redeemed at Sofitel and paid at Adagio access, I would be much worse off points-wise.