Accor and Visa reached a deal before the pandemic began in February 2020 to launch co-branded credit cards first in France and later in other European countries.
The launch was delayed, and then Accor and BNP Paribas announced that these cards would be available for consumers in France this February (read more here), which is now long gone as well.
You can access Accor’s page for credit cards here.
READ MORE: Accor ALL Rate & Bonus Points And Miles Promotions
I was in touch with Accor to clarify what spend is excluded and if there is a bonus for swiping their cards at affiliated hotels, as is the case with Hilton, Marriott, IHG, and Hyatt co-branded cards.
Any idea what transactions are excluded from earning any rewards at all?
- Yes, we are talking about cash withdrawal, banking fees (monthly fees & any other fee), gaming (lotteries, casino or horse bets) and adult spend categories.
So, all transactions not considered cash equivalent would earn points.
Is there a bonus for swiping at Accor-affiliated hotels?
- Not at launch. We will propose accelerated earned rate at specific merchants including Accor-affiliated hotels. It should come early next year.
You won’t earn bonus points for using the card at Accor-affiliated hotels, but something is in the works for 2022.
Here’s what we wrote about these cards earlier:
Accor and BNP Paribas, however, are about to launch these cards and have released additional information about them.
Here are the cards:
- ALL – VISA Pulse (aimed at Millennials) – a monthly fee of €4.5 (€53 per year)
- ALL – VISA Explorer (for clients who travel extensively for work or leisure) monthly fee of €13.5 (€162 per year)
- ALL – VISA Ultimate (for super-premium clients) monthly fee of €34 ($408 per year)
Cards come with yearly bonus nights:
- ALL – VISA Pulse – 10 NIGHTS
- ALL – VISA Explorer – 20 NIGHTS
- ALL – VISA Ultimate – 30 NIGHTS
Sign Up Bonus
- ALL – VISA Pulse – 1,000 Rewards points (worth €20)
- ALL – VISA Explorer –2,000 Rewards points (worth €40)
- ALL – VISA Ultimate – 5,000 Rewards points ( worth €100)
Rewards
- ALL – VISA Pulse – 0.25 points per €1 (0.5% return in the form of ALL points)
- ALL – VISA Explorer – 0.4 points per €1 (0.8% return in the form of ALL points)
- ALL – VISA Ultimate – 1 points per €1 (2% return in the form of ALL points)
It is unclear if you earn the reward points for all purchases and whether there are bonuses for swiping the card at Accor-affiliated hotels.
Conclusion
Let’s hope that these cards will become available outside of Frace, where they are first launched, in due course. There are not many useful hotel-afflated credit cards available in Europe.
Accor cobranded cards appear to be most beneficial to essentially buy elite qualifying nights (10, 20, or 30) depending on the type you get and are willing to pay the yearly fee for.
The Platinum status is beneficial, especially in Asia, where you get excellent lounge access and meaningful upgrades.
The majority of the swipes are qualifying, and you will likely earn a bonus for using the cards at Accor-affiliated hotels in 2022.
