Transfer Accor To Flying Blue
Did you know you could transfer Accor to Flying Blue at a 1 to 1 rate? I hear it is all the rage! You can even transfer Accor Live Limitless points to Qantas Avios at a 1 to 1.25 rate! Holy moly, I hope everyone got on that Bilt Rent Day transfer bonus. You could essentially get a 1 to 2 bonus on Flying Blue miles with it! Close your eyes, don't think and just DO IT! This is a backdoor transfer where Accor must not realize how valuable it is. I mean, no other hotel program transfers to airlines at a 1 to 1, or 1 to 1.25 ratio after all. There it is. There is the issue with group think, and it is unfortunately always a prevalent undertone in the miles and points space. No one else offers a transfer rate like that because no other hotel points are worth this much. In fact, no other non transferrable currency can touch the value of Accor points.
What Is Happening
I see this group think about transferring Accor points to Flying Blue coming from two different possibilities. The first one is that someone thinks they discovered a back door transfer, or loophole. Nothing gets the miles and points herd lathered up quite like a loophole after all. The first rule of business is to not offer something up that will cost you more. Why would Accor offer a 1 to 1 transfer to Flying Blue, or a 1 to 1.25 transfer to Avios, if it cost them more than you redeeming the points at a hotel? They wouldn't, because it doesn't. They hope you take this option because it will save them money. Just because it is a backdoor option doesn't make it the best option.
The second reason I think this has people foaming at the mouth is that they don't really know anything about Accor. That is understandable, since there has never been a good way to rack up their points. All of the points that transfer to the Accor program are below a 1 to 1 rate. Another observation that should have thrown up a red flag for the group think people. While people may not know the Accor program they may understand Flying Blue or the Avios program really well. Getting a 200% transfer bonus to those programs sounds mighty enticing after all (if you had upper tier Bilt status at least). The problem is people didn't take the time to kick the tires on the Accor program. Something you should always do to see if moving the points to another program was a net positive, or if you were giving up value.
My Reasons For Keeping Points In The Accor Program
I emptied my Bilt account into Accor with this promotion because I was eligible for the 1 to 2 bonus. I had searched upcoming travel locations to see if Accor made sense for hotels I needed to book. It did, and in a big way. The Accor program has the best floor valuation of a program, by far. It doesn't offer outsized value when hotels are charging pricing things to the moon, but you will never see bad redemptions either. That is because the program gives you 40 Euro off a hotel for every 2,000 points. That is $45.77 in USD at today's exchange rate. If we divide $45.77 by 2,000 points we get a value of 2.29 cents per point. If the Euro rebounds vs the dollar you get even more, if it dips lower you get a little less.
The cool thing about the Accor program, at least to me, is that you can book any hotel, at any time, with their program. No award rooms need to be available. No standard award crap to deal with either. You can then redeem your points in 2,000 point batches towards the cost of the room. You can even do this at checkout, or while on property. I'll be honest, that extreme flexibility calls to me. Any room, any day, anywhere. That is a perk of the program, but it isn't the reason I think people are crazy to transfer points out to the airlines noted above. Let's do some thought exercises on that together.
Would You Transfer Hyatt Points To Flying Blue Or Avios?
Let's say that Hyatt ran a promo where you could empty your account at a 1 to 1 rate to Flying Blue or 1.25 to Avios, would you do it? I am betting many reading this are chuckling that I am absurd enough to even ask the question. Guess what, Accor points are worth 25% more than Hyatt points. I'll let that simmer and sink in for a minute. The program many miles and points folks love the most has points that are less valuable than Accor points.
Now, this isn't a debate of which program is better. Hyatt's loyalty program, footprint and elite status perks make it the superior option. We are talking about the value of the points right now though, and Accor comes out well ahead. That isn't to say that you can't beat 2.29 cents on a Hyatt stay occasionally, you can, but on average you are getting below 2 cents per point. Do a random search at 20 Hyatt hotels and you are going to find the bottom starts around 1.2 cents, and the average is going to be in the 1.6 – 1.8 cents per point range. Then try it at Accor. You will only going to need to do it at 1 hotel though, because it is always going to be 2,000 points for 40 Euro.
This Is Bilt's Most Rewarding Bonus Ever – That Comes From Their Lips
If the Hyatt comparison didn't shake you to your core, then let's take Bilt's word for it. They believe that this is their most generous Rent Day transfer bonus ever. Well, duh, they are going to say that for a 2 to 1 bonus. Let's step back and look at the fact that they gave Avios a 2 to 1 bonus and Flying Blue a 2.5 to 1 bonus in the past. They still think the Accor offer is the best they have had.
People tend to think of things in a vacuum. I can get 2 Flying Blue points per Bilt point – that is tough to beat. You shouldn't be thinking of it that way though. Once they are Accor points they are no longer Bilt points. At that point you need to compare transferring Accor to Flying Blue etc. Which one will bring you more value? Are you for sure getting better than 2.29 cents per point with Flying Blue or 1.83 cents per point with Avios (because of the 1.25 transfer rate)?
These Programs Are Some Of The Easiest To Transfer To
My last point here will be about how unique this offer was for Accor, and much less so for Flying Blue or Avios. Those programs are involved with most every major transferrable currency. They are also the two programs that have transfer bonuses the most often, outside of maybe Virgin. That is especially true with all of the Avios programs that allow you to move points between them. Accor never goes to the 1 to 1 level, much less sniffs a 1 to 2 transfer rate. It is unique, and that adds value. You can easily get extra value with the other programs. Heck, Amex just came out with a 30% bonus to Avios today. Scarcity and rarity creates value. Don't throw it to the curb for a perceived win because someone hyped it up.
Transfer Accor To Flying Blue: ToP Thoughts
I am not here to argue that it will never make sense to transfer Accor points to Flying Blue or Avios. If you have a flight booking you need to make that offers you above 2.29 cents per point, then it could make a lot of sense. Especially if you got the Accor points at a 1 to 2 rate. I would encourage you to consider other options as well though. Do you have a lot of Amex Membership Rewards points? With that 30% bonus to Avios you could book it that way instead. Maybe you took advantage of the Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer bonus to Flying Blue that just ended? Use those points instead of just blindly transferring your Accor points over to your frequent flyer account.
Hopefully you were a bit fat and sassy last night and your old Bilt points are still chilling in your Accor account. That will give you time to really look at the program and make an informed decision on what your next steps should be. Hopefully you have lifted yourself out of the group think fog and can look at this with a clear head. If you still decide that the transfer makes sense for you, then great. I think many may be backpedaling after taking some time to consider everything though.
Let me know your thoughts about all of this in the ToP Facebook Group.
