Having suffered from their horrible IT system and customer service, Accor is my least favourite major hotel chain. Today I’ll tell an interesting story of their Club des Actionnaires, a.k.a Shareholders Club, for those who are relatively new to the game and didn’t know about it.
IMH@Flyertalk has posted the headcount of this club by year, from 2001 to 2019, which is available in their annual reports. I have taken these numbers and drawn a chart:
As you can see, the numbers had been steadily increasing until 2014 when there was a sudden spike – and the next year it dropped drastically. To understand why it happened, we need to know what Shareholders Club is.
In early years, Accor was basically giving out its Platinum status for free to everyone through various channels. And Shareholders Club was one of them – as long as you held at least 50 Accor shares, you were offered complimentary Platinum status, and it’d never expire if you hold onto those shares.
Accor’s Platinum was, and still is, a lacklustre outside Asia Pacific. However this was Accor’s top tier status, and essentially a free gift coming with your shares, and many people opted for it.
This is why the club had a decent and increasing headcount. The sharp increase in 2014 was probably in association with this offer being more publicised (e.g. published on different blogs and forums).
Then there came Accor’s sudden change to the policy – Club members are no longer offered Platinum status, but Gold instead starting from 2015. And even worse, it applied to existing members too and only three months’ notice was given. Gold from Platinum is a big devaluation to some, and considering how cheap it is to “buy” Gold, many people can’t justify holding the shares anymore. This is how the 2015 massive decline happened.
Just when you think Accor couldn’t be more mean, they also quietly updated the validity of the gifted status. Now the Shareholders’ Gold is valid for one year only, after which you’ll be downgraded unless meeting the normal criteria, even if you still hold the shares.
Spending a couple of thousand euro purely for one year’s Accor Gold is obviously insane, unless you are just investing and treat the status as no more than a sweetener. If you have the required shares, you can apply for the membership here. You only need one share if the share is “registered”, although from my understanding it’s quite tricky to purchase if you don’t reside in France.
The best way to “buy” Accor Gold is by purchasing Ibis Business Card, which costs only £65 or €90 a year. And the status is renewed along with your card renewal, at least for now…
The main reasoning behind Accor’s cuts was to reduce the number of elite members and then offer them better benefits. However, five years have passed and we are yet to see any improvement to Platinum’s benefits, except free breakfast in Asia Pacific…
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