ALL: Here’s How to Get Accor GOLD Status Via the Shareholders Club

Intro – Accor Group

The Accor Group is a leading French hotel group that brings together more than 5,800 properties in over 110 countries under 45-plus brands, ranging from luxury hotels (Raffles, Sofitel, Fairmont) to more economical ones (Ibis, Adagio).

The loyalty program is Accor Live Limitless.

Since 2016, AccorHotels own Fairmont hotels such as:

Why am I interested in Accor GOLD Elite status?

The group has a significant footprint in some countries (unlike Hilton Honors or Marriott Bonvoy).

For example, in Burma, the group has 11 hotels of 7 different brands in several parts of the country while there is only one Sheraton and three Hilton hotels.

Since Accor bought Fairmont in 2016, it’s been harder to get perks and upgrades at these hotels. But we can get them when booking through Visa Infinite Luxury Hotel Collection, American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts program, etc.

Unlike other programs (e.g. Wyndham Rewards), Accor runs no official status match program. The terms “status match” and “status challenge” appear nowhere in the ALL program’s terms and conditions.

The Gold Elite Status offers some benefits such as:

The current value of Accor’s share

In October 2020, when I bought my shares, hotel group share prices were trading at roughly half their pre-pandemic value.

In my case, I approached it as a medium to long-term holding.

I was betting on tourism picking up after the pandemic, and I also bought Marriott shares when the price was at its lowest.

At the time, qualifying as a shareholder cost me just under CAD 1,800 for 50 shares.

And to get Accor GOLD Elite status!

Accor Live Limitless enrollment

I always recommend signing up for the various hotel loyalty programs before staying in a hotel. It’s free!

You will benefit, even from the lowest level, of multiple benefits such as:

And you can earn points for your stay.

And even if it’s not enough to get a free night, you can always convert them to Aeroplan points!

How to buy Accor Group shares from Canada

The Accor Group is a French group: the shares are traded on the Paris stock exchange in EURO.

Unlike CAD or USD shares, it isn’t easy to hold them directly in your investment portfolio without going through a broker.

However, you can buy ACCOR shares in USD through the “acronym” ACRFF. Actually, these are the same shares that are available in EURO but available in USD.

In October 2020, I bought 50 ACRFF shares (ACCOR US LISTED) at 26.42 USD per unit.

With fees and the exchange rate, my total came to just under CAD 1,800.

I am talking about a holding because I keep the value of my shares, and I hope to resell them at a gain.

Accor Group Shareholders’ Club Registration

With my shares in hands, I can now register with the group’s shareholder club.

You apply through Accor’s investor relations team:

Per the official terms, membership is open to any retail shareholder owning at least 50 bearer shares or 1 registered share. The dedicated application form that existed when I joined has since been retired: enrollment now goes through the individual shareholders page on Accor’s website.

All that remains is to send a copy of the shares to this email: Communication.Financiere@accor.com. In my case, I sent the purchase order statement with my Accor membership number.

And the trick is done: a week later, my status was changed to Accor Gold – Accor Live Limitless.

This status will be valid until 31 December of the following year, as stated in the Club’s terms and conditions.

Conclusion

In my case, I consider this to be an attractive way to get an Elite status with a group that counts more than 5,800 properties.

I usually try to focus on Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors and Best Western Rewards hotels, especially because of their credit cards in Canada.

But sometimes, for some destinations, the choices are more limited or simply non-existent in some hotel ranges.