Accor: up to 35% off private sale, 1k free points?

Accor is currently running a year-end private sale:

• Regions: Asia Pacific, Africa and Middle East
• Book by January 15
• Stay by April 27
• Enjoy 20% off on stays of 2+ nights
• Asia Pacific only: 30% off for All Plus China and A+ members
• Greater China only: 35% off for All Plus China and A+ members

The Greater China offer details are not available on the offer page, but is shown in Accor’s Wechat mini-program. I did some test and it looks like the sale rate is refundable and eligible for point redemption.

Another strange offer from Accor – it looks like a targeted offer but seems everyone can register.

The offer page implies that you get 1,000 free points once signed up, but nothing was deposited into my account. My guess is that you actually earn 1,000 bonus points on your next Accor stay, so it’s not really “free”.