IT'S ALL ABOUT YOU

Treating guests to thrilling experiences, not only in travel, but everyday life, is the crux of Accor ’s re-imag.ined loyalty programme, ALL – Accor Live Limitless, promising benefits that go way beyond the hotel stay

- GEMMA GREENWOOD

It was a dreary January morning when the intriguing email popped-up in my inbox – “Make Every Day Work For You” it said. “ALL – Accor Live Limitless is here!” Making every single day work for me sounded like an offer I couldn’t refuse, in more ways than one, so I read on: “It’s been in the works for a while and now ALL is finally ready to show you what it’s made of. The philosophy of ALL? To redefine the traditional idea of rewards by giving you points, simply for living your life and having fun.”

This piqued my interest. For years I’ve signed up to loyalty schemes – for airlines, hotels and various retailers too – and most have disappointed.

To be fair, the retail loyalty schemes, which are far more advanced than those offered in the world of travel, have been very useful, offering tangible cash-back benefits, but the remainder have been virtually obsolete.

I’ve never quite known how to use my points and when I’ve tried, the benefits have been almost non-existent, rendering them ‘anti-loyalty’ schemes in my mind.

So, I decided to investigate what ALL – Accor Live Limitless was ‘all’ (excuse the pun) about, hopeful it had the potential to usher in a new era for loyalty programmes by reimagining how they work and what they offer.

MORE THAN A HOTEL GROUP

The wheels were set in motion in early 2019 when Accor announced its transformation from an operator of hotels to an ‘augmented hospitality group’. With some 34-plus diverse hospitality brands in its portfolio, from luxury to budget-friendly and all-inclusive resorts to authentic home stays, its intention was to become a lifestyle enabler, offering guests hospitality anytime, anywhere.