Let’s have a chat about Accor points, which hold a fixed value for hotel stays. The good news is that the points are among the most valuable.

Everything has a value

I don’t need to reiterate what I’ve already stated previously, but it’s still worth mentioning. Travel using points isn’t free. Since it’s not free, there must be a value attached to it. You could then calculate the value of a point.

It’s important to also distinguish the value of a point from the cost of a point. The value is what the point can buy while the cost is what you spent to acquire the point. The difference, then, between the value and the cost can be thought of as the spread. Common sense would dictate that you don’t want the cost to exceed the value of the point (i.e., a negative spread) or you would have lost money in the transaction.

For the purposes of the below, I’m just going to define the value of the point and not the cost. Everyone’s cost will vary depending what avenues of acquiring points are available to them. I’ll save that cost calculation for you to do.

Key considerations

It’s important to identify a few key considerations to this valuation so we can look at this in the proper framework.

Each point in the same program is not worth the same amount

This one is an odd one. If you open a loyalty account and only earn one point, what is that point worth? Well, assuming you can’t redeem just one point, that point has zero value to you. In fact, each point you earn before you can redeem any of them is worth zero. The point that enables you to then redeem for an award is the one that’s worth a significant amount.

If you were to theoretically plot this out on a graph, you’d see a chart that jumps all over the place. It’s not very useful to think of points as a function plotted on a graph. Instead, it’s better to think of points as an average value. I’d rather not think about calculus when spending time in this hobby.

How much do you cherry pick your awards?

Now that you’re thinking of points themselves bouncing around in value, you can also start thinking about cherry picking for the better awards. Do you spend 1,000 miles buying $10 off travel or do you wait for 2,000 miles when you can get $25 off? That’s a simplistic example but it does help demonstrate what this dynamic entails.

Your comfort level in cherry picking the best value will depend on your earn rate, your comfort level in the program not devaluing, and the spread you’re looking to get.

The cash price the award replaced isn’t always the proper valuation

Let’s say you find an award for two one-way international flights that together form a roundtrip journey. If you didn’t have access to points, you likely wouldn’t book these flights as one-ways. Generally international roundtrip flights are significantly cheaper than one-ways. Claiming your points have the value of the cash price of two one-ways would then be inflating the value of the points.

The proper valuation should consider opportunity cost. If you didn’t have points at your disposal, what would you have paid in cash? Sometimes the cash rate might be the proper metric (it could be the only hotel in town that works for your needs), but it might not be.

Everyone’s valuation will be different

It’s important to know that my valuation will be different from yours. That’s because the awards that I might be interested in aren’t the same awards you would be interested in. Valuing points is inherently a very personal calculation that considers what I would redeem for and when.

Within this concept is the truth that sometimes elite status affects the value of points. Take Hyatt’s program where Globalist status can offer free parking on award stays but no free parking on cash stays. That then means that Globalists might have a higher valuation of Hyatt points than non-Globalists. Another example might be Hilton’s fifth night free when booked with points but only for elite members.

What do you get out of my valuation? It’s more of the framework that matters, so that you can consider your own valuation.

The method of valuing an Accor point

We’ve talked about how we built up the value for each of the following:

• Choice Privileges points (worth 1.1 cents each)
• Hilton points (worth 0.4 cents each)
• Hyatt points (worth 2.0 cents each)
• IHG points (worth 0.64 cents each)
• LHW Leaders Club points (worth 8.0 cents each)
• Marriott Bonvoy points (worth 0.9 cents each)
• Wyndham Rewards points (worth 1.0 cents each)

Accor Live Limitless makes it actually quite simple unlike all other programs we investigated. Accor points are worth €0.02 each (1,000 points = €20). At current exchange rates, you’re looking at 2.4 US cents apiece.

In case it’s not otherwise obvious by the currency being liked to the Euro, Accor is predominantly a European hotel chain. That doesn’t mean you’ll only find Accor hotels in Europe–one of the biggest brands in the United States and Canada that participates in the program is Fairmont.

Are there any caveats to using Accor points?

You do not need to wait to have enough points to fully cover a stay at an Accor-branded hotel. All that’s needed is a minimum of 1,000 points to apply it to your bill. Once you’re past this 1,000 point minimum, all further thresholds must be divisible by 2,000.

Applying points to your stay is simple enough. You can apply them in advance online or via phone, or you can apply them when you’re at the hotel during your stay.

Don’t transfer your points to an airline program

Many hotel programs give you the ability to transfer their points to an airline partner. With limited exception, this generally isn’t a good idea. But, first, let’s take a look at Accor’s airline partners.

Most transfer rates will lose you about half the number of points when transferring (such as 4,000 Accor points becoming 2,000 Delta SkyMiles). The problem with transferring from a point program with a fixed value is it’s very easy to make the argument that you’re just buying points. Accor points are worth $0.023 each, so using 4,000 of them to get 2,000 SkyMiles would be the equivalent of buying SkyMiles at $0.046 each. No thanks.

It’s not always quite that bad since 2,000 Accor points equal 2,000 Flying Blue miles. But I still wouldn’t buy Flying Blue miles for $0.023 each. You can directly buy their miles for cheaper during one of their frequent sales.

So, while using points towards Accor hotel stays is fixed and a great value, using them in nearly any other fashion is a bust.

We’ll forgive you if you use them towards experiences.

OK, I shouldn’t say all uses of Accor points are bad. Using them towards experiences can actually be a fairly good value.

We’ve used points in other programs for experiences, but haven’t had a chance to play around with this program yet. What tends to be the case is the US-based programs have so many members with huge point balances that drive up the price at these auctions. But Accor, based in Europe with not many brands in the US? Prices are much more reasonable than you’d otherwise expect.

Just make sure you compare the cash price of the experience before buying.

Is Accor really the most valuable currency?

With Accor points sitting at $0.023 each, the point value clearly exceeds all others. I have the next closest, Hyatt, pegged at $0.02 each. So, does it mean that Accor is the winner?

I suppose it means what “winner” means to you. The importance of assigning a value–or, more specifically an average value–is to help quantify when to use points or cash. Simply comparing one currency’s value to another doesn’t help unless you also consider what you can do with those points. It also doesn’t reflect what you can get in extreme cases.

Hyatt points can be worth far more than $0.02 each since it has a traditional award chart. Cash prices can and do shoot up for travel around high-demand dates. But with Accor, a higher cash price directly translates to a higher points price.

This also ignores that The Leading Hotels of the World has points worth about 8 cents apiece.

We wouldn’t really fixate too much on Accor being listed as the highest value in relation to other programs.

Do you collect Accor points?

Suggested reading:

• Review: Fairmont Austin
• Destination Spotlight: Quebec City, Quebec
• Destination Spotlight: Vancouver, British Columbia