Earn TRIPLE Avios points with Accor hotels – at least 7.5 per €1 spent

UPDATE – DECEMBER 2021:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.  We produce a monthly summary of the top hotel bonus point offers – please click HERE or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ menu above.

Accor and Avios have launched a new ‘bonus Avios’ promotion.  This allows you to earn triple Avios on every stay at a Novotel, Sofitel, Mercure, M Gallery, Ibis, Pullman, Raffles, Fairmont etc hotel.

You have over two months to book and stay – the promotion runs to 31st December.

Full details are on the Accor website here.  Registration is not needed.

There are two positive points:

the last booking date is also 31st December, so the promo will still work on last minute stays, and

there is no minimum stay requirement

The one negative point is that existing bookings made before 10th October do not count.  You should rebook as long as your rate is flexible and the price has not gone up.

This promotion is running with Iberia Plus.  Even if a British Airways Executive Club version turns up, you should still credit to Iberia Plus.

Why?  For historical reasons which predate Avios, Accor has a very generous deal with Iberia Plus.  Accor points convert at 1:1 into Iberia Plus Avios.  They only convert at 2:1 into British Airways Avios.  You will earn twice as many Avios by selecting Iberia rather than BA as your partner for this offer.

This is what you have to do:

Take a look at the promotion rules here 

Change the settings on your Le Club AccorHotels account from earning points to earning miles

WARNING:  If you already have a pot of 3,000+ Accor points, they will be converted into Iberia Avios immediately.  If you want to save your existing points for a hotel discount voucher then do NOT take part in this promotion.

Select Iberia Plus as your preferred airline – NOT British Airways.  (You will obviously have to open an Iberia Plus account at iberia.com if you don’t have one.  New members of Iberia Plus must wait 90 days before they can transfer Avios across to British Airways.)

Book and stay before 31st December.  Existing bookings made before 10th October do not count and should be rebooked.

The ‘triple Avios’ is based on what you would earn as a ‘Classic’ base level member, ie 2.5 points per Euro.  This means that you would earn 7.5 Avios in Iberia Plus per €1 spent which is a very attractive rate.  Status members would earn even more.

This deal could work out very nicely.  Let’s imagine that you are spending £500 ex-tax at a Novotel for a week.  That would be €570 which would earn you 4,275 Avios in Iberia Plus.  A status member would do even better.

Is this promotion better than taking Accor points?

You should be clear about what you are giving up when you take part.

Accor points are worth 2 Eurocents each.  You can convert them into €40 Accor vouchers whenever you reach 2,000.

Under this Avios offer, you will be receiving 3 Avios instead of earning 1 Accor point.  This means that you are buying Avios at 2/3rd of a Eurocent each, which I think is a very good deal.

It is also worth remembering that €40 of Accor hotel voucher is not worth as much as €40 in cash.  You also need a minimum of 2,000 Accor points before you can turn them into vouchers, whereas this Avios offer kicks in however few points you earn.  Unless you are Avios-rich and would prefer to take the Accor vouchers, I would go with Iberia.

Full details of the triple Avios offer can be found here.  Registration is not required.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)