Upcoming Changes to Le Club AccorHotels Loyalty Program in 2017

While it used to be incredibly easy to get a status match to Platinum in the Le Club AccorHotels program previously, that has changed since the beginning of last year. As you may already know, at the moment, all points that you earn with Le Club AccorHotels are elite-qualifying. This means that if you have signed up for a promotion that gives you 10,000 bonus points, these points will count towards achieving Gold status for a rolling 12-month period. Unfortunately, this will change come 2017 and as you will now earn Status Points (which are elite-qualifying) and Reward Points separately - much like other hotel loyalty programs. 

Click HERE to read more about the changes that will be happening in 2017!

Earning Le Club AccorHotels Status | Photo Credit: AccorHotels

Instead of asking you to read through the major changes to the Le Club AccorHotels which AccorHotels have published, here are my key takeaways for the upcoming changes:

1. Not All Points are Elite Qualifying (€1 = 2.5 Status Points)

As I have mentioned at the start of this article, all points currently count towards obtaining and retaining status. However, starting from 2017, only Status Points (which are basically the base points you earn) will count towards your status. Le Club AccorHotels runs a number of promotions over the year which gives out bonus points, making it possible to get Gold or Platinum status with just a couple of stays. 

Obtaining Le Club AccorHotels Status (from 2017)
	Silver	Gold	Platinum
Status Points Required	2,000	7,000	14,000
Equivalent Spend (€)	€800	€2,800	€5,600
Equivalent Spend (S$)	S$1,250	S$4,300	S$8,600

Since bonus points (now known as Reward Points) do not count towards elite status qualification, you will now require approximately S$8,600 spend in a year to get to Platinum status. Do note that the estimation from Euro to Singapore Dollars have been rounded up to give a more pleasing figure. 

Le Club AccorHotels Status to Last Longer | Photo Credit: AccorHotels

2. Status Lasts until the End of Following Year

Instead of just getting a 12-month rolling period of elite status, your status will now be extended until the end of the following year. Therefore, it is wise to get your status (if you are interested) as soon as possible at the start of the year in order for you to take full advantage of the benefits. In the example above, if you hit Gold on June 2017, you will have it until the end of December 2018 (remember it extends until the following year). However if you continue as a Gold member and hit Platinum in September 2017, you will have Platinum until the end of December 2018. 

Enjoy Le Club AccorHotels Status until 2017 | Photo Credit: AccorHotels

3. Status Earned in 2016 will extend to December 2017

This is the last year to get elite Le Club AccorHotels status the easy way. In fact, since I have obtained Gold from my Sofitel Auckland Viaduct Harbour stay last year, I will be trying to obtain Platinum before my status ends in order to take advantage of the current elite-qualifying system. If successful, I will have Platinum Le Club AccorHotels status until the end of December 2017. 

Potential Soft Landing for Le Club AccorHotels | Photo Credit: AccorHotels

4. Potential Soft Landing for Failure to Maintain Status
EDIT (01 APRIL 2016): No Soft Landing! 

I have just verified with the loyalty team in Le Club AccorHotels and can confirm that Soft Landing does not apply.

The website suggests that there is potentially a soft landing for people who have failed to maintain elite status. If you obtain Gold in 2016, you will have Gold status until the end of December 2017. If you do not stay with any AccorHotels property in 2017 at all, you should earn zero Status Points - soft landing would mean you would become Silver in 2018. However in the example above, 3,000 Status Points have been earned in 2017 - this will meet the qualification of Silver status which may or may not extend to the end of 2019.