Can you buy an overseas Accor Plus membership?

Accor Plus memberships are available across Asia Pacific, but it’s an open secret by now that they’re not all priced the same. Depending on where you live, the cost of your membership could be significantly cheaper, or more expensive.

But given that many of the benefits such as dining discounts and free hotel nights are transnational, the question then becomes whether it’s possible to purchase an Accor Plus membership from outside your country of residence, yet use the benefits locally.

And the answer is yes, but there’s a few caveats to highlight.

How much does an Accor Plus membership cost in other countries?

To compare the cost of an Accor Plus membership across Asia Pacific, I took the non-discounted price of the Explorer tier, which includes standard Accor Plus benefits and one free hotel night.

Unfortunately, it’s bad news for us in Singapore, where membership fees are the highest of all. To put things in perspective, someone based in the Philippines could buy almost two Accor Plus Explorer memberships for the cost of one here!

And yet, all Accor Plus members enjoy the same core benefits regardless of where their membership was purchased, namely:

• 10% off the best available public rate for hotel rooms
• Up to 50% off member exclusive room rates with with Red Hot Room offers
• Up to 50% off dining across 1,400 restaurants in Asia Pacific
• 15% off drinks bill in Asia
• Early access to global Accor hotel sales
• 20 status nights each year
• Up to two complimentary Stay Plus certificates

None of these benefits are geo-fenced; that’s the whole selling point of Accor Plus. Therefore, a Philippines member could redeem their free Stay Plus night at the Sofitel Sentosa (if they could actually find availability), and enjoy 15% off drinks and 50% off dining at The Cliff during their stay.

So is it as simple as going online and buying a membership from the Philippines instead? Yes and no.

Can I buy an overseas Accor Plus membership?

There are a few things to note about buying an Accor Plus membership from outside your country of residence.

First, even though you can view the prices of Accor Plus memberships outside your country of residence, you won’t be able to buy it unless your IP address matches. For example, if I try to visit www.accorplus.com/vn/registration…

…I’ll be automatically redirected to www.accorplus.com/sg/registration, since I’m currently in Singapore. 

Using a VPN will help you circumvent this restriction; simply select the country you wish to purchase from and visit www.accorplus.com/XX/registration/ with XX replaced with one of the following codes.

Alternatively, you can try contacting a local Accor Plus agent in the country you want to purchase a membership from- they might be able to offer additional discounts or sweeteners. This FlyerTalk thread mentions a few contacts, though the information may be out of date. 

Second, while the core benefits of Accor Plus are the same, each country also offers its own local vouchers, which include additional benefits such as a a free birthday cake, room upgrades, spa treatment discounts or complimentary breakfast. In Singapore, members receive the following:

• Complimentary Birthday Cake
• 30% discount for drinks for up to 4 pax
• Group dining 3-10 pax: 50% discount at Fairmont and Swissotel hotel restaurants only
• Group dining up to 6 pax: 50% discount at ibis and ibis Styles hotel restaurants only
• Group dining up to 10 pax: 50% discount at Grand Mercure, Novotel and Mercure hotel restaurants only
• Group dining up to 4 pax: 50% discount at Sofitel hotel restaurants only
• Group dining up to 4 pax: 50% discount at Pullman hotel restaurants only

Needless to say, you won’t be getting the Singapore local vouchers if you purchase a membership from a different country.

Third, some of the local vouchers may be sent in hard copy form. You’ll need to provide a local mailing address to receive them, and if you don’t actually plan to travel to the country whose membership you bought, you’ll miss out on these too. That said, I understand that Accor Plus has digitised its vouchers, so this might not be an issue anymore.

Now, most people would argue that the savings involved, especially for someone based in Singapore, would justify sacrificing the local vouchers. After all, you still enjoy the core benefits, plus up to two free Stay Plus certificates. I’d tend to agree, though it’s good to be aware of nonetheless. 

Which credit cards offer Accor Plus membership?

Of course, there’s no need to buy an overseas Accor Plus membership if you can get a complimentary one, and there’s two credit cards in Singapore which offer this benefit.

Card	Min. Income	Annual Fee
AMEX HighFlyer Card	S$30,000	S$304.59
DBS Vantage Card	S$120,000	S$599.50

While it’s not easy to waive the annual fee for either card, it’s not impossible either:

• AMEX HighFlyer Card annual fee can be waived subject to an internal review that looks at your spending and tenure with American Express
• DBS Vantage Card annual fee can be waived with a minimum spend of S$60,000 in a membership year

If the annual fee is waived, you will still enjoy a renewal of the Accor Plus Explorer membership, together with the free hotel night.

Conclusion

Accor Plus memberships are priced differently across the Asia Pacific region, with Singapore residents paying the highest fees.

The good news is that it is possible to buy a membership from outside your country of residence, though you’ll need a VPN to do it online, or else a local Accor Plus agent. Also note that the local vouchers you receive won’t be the same as the Singapore version, but most people would gladly give those up for a bigger saving on the upfront price.