Accor Plus membership: Keep or cancel?

Last week, Accor announced the launch of ALL Accor+ Explorer, a new single-tier programme that will replace Accor Plus across Asia Pacific on 1 October 2025.

This marks the biggest shake-up in the programme’s 31-year history, and now that I’ve had time to digest the changes, I want to share my thoughts on whether it’s worth keeping Accor Plus after it transitions to ALL Accor+ Explorer.

It’s an important question to consider regardless of whether you received a membership through your credit card, or purchased one directly. If you’re in the first group, it could affect your decision to renew that card. If you’re in the second, there’s a limited-time opportunity to cancel your membership and receive a pro-rated refund.

How much will ALL Accor+ Explorer cost?

Join Accor ALL+ Explorer

Although the new programme officially begins on 1 October 2025, you can already purchase an ALL Accor+ Explorer membership, which will cost S$299 in Singapore (unlike Accor Plus, memberships will be roughly the same price across Asia Pacific).

If you sign up by 30 September 2025, you’ll receive 14 months of membership instead of the usual 12.

Alternatively, a complimentary Accor Plus membership is offered with the following credit cards, which will be automatically converted into ALL Accor+ Explorer on 1 October 2025.

Card	Min. Income	Annual Fee	Tier
StanChart Beyond Card (Priority Private) Apply	S$200K p.a.	S$1,635	Explorer Plus
AMEX HighFlyer Card Apply	S$30K p.a.	S$400	Explorer
DBS Vantage Card Apply	S$120K p.a.	S$599.50	Explorer

Stay Plus now requires one paid night (but better availability?)

The Stay Plus certificates issued to Accor Plus Explorer (1x) and Explorer Plus (2x) members can currently be redeemed independently, or as part of a paid reservation. For example, you could book a single free night, or you could book a reservation of three nights, of which one night (the most expensive one) will be free.

From 1 October 2025, all Stay Plus redemptions will requires a minimum of one paid night. This means that Stay Plus is no longer a free night in the strictest sense of the term, but more like a 1-for-1 discount.

• Stay Plus redemptions made by 30 September 2025 (for any future stay date) will be honoured as-is, i.e. you won’t be forced to add a paid night
• On 1 October 2025, each unredeemed Stay Plus certificate will be converted into two of the new Stay Plus certificates (i.e. 2x for Explorer, 4x for Explorer Plus)
• Stay Plus certificates will continue to cover the most expensive night in the booking

If your main use of Stay Plus was single-night stays (e.g. staycations), then this will clearly be a negative change.

However, if you typically use Stay Plus as part of a longer stay that includes paid nights, then this won’t really bother you. In fact, it could even be a positive, to the extent that this leads to better availability.

Stay Plus nights have historically been subject to capacity controls, and they’re virtually impossible to find at some properties (looking at you, Sofitel Sentosa). Accor’s FAQs suggest that this will no longer be the case with ALL Accor+ Explorer.

With the upgraded ALL Accor+ Explorer programme, the Stay Plus FREE Night benefit has seen some improvements, so it’s no longer subject to or limited by allocation. This means you can enjoy this benefit more freely, whenever and wherever you like.

-Accor

You’ll forgive me for being slightly skeptical about this, because it does sound a little too good to be true. Is Accor really saying that so long as there’s a standard room available for sale, I’ll be able to use my Stay Plus certificate?

Seeing is believing.

Dining discount capped at 30%

Accor Plus members currently enjoy up to 50% off the food bill at participating restaurants across Asia Pacific.

• Member only: 25% off
• Member +1 guest: 50% off
• Member + 2 guests: 33% off
• Member + 3 guests: 25% off
• Member + 4 or more guests: 100% divided by number of diners, with minimum discount of 10%

In Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, it’s even possible to use multiple cards per table, so a party of four with 2x Accor Plus memberships could still save 50%.

From 1 October 2025, the discount structure will be revised as follows:

• Member + 1-9 guests: 30% off
• Member + 10-19 guests: 10% off

In short, if you dine as a couple (as many Accor Plus members do) or party of three, you’ll be worse off under the new scheme.

A 30% discount feels rather underwhelming, given that rival hotel chains offer comparable discounts for free to their members, such as Hilton (up to 25%), Hyatt (20% in Singapore and Thailand, for a limited time) and IHG (up to 30%). Mind you, these discounts also apply to beverages, which Accor ALL+ Explorer will only discount by 15% (see below).

This will also affect the so-called “breakfast hack”, where Accor Plus members would book a hotel rate without breakfast, then pay for breakfast on-site to enjoy 50% off. You can still get a 30% discount under the new scheme, though obviously the savings are less.

15% off drinks now valid across Asia Pacific

A relatively minor point, but the 15% discount on drinks that was previously only available in Asia now covers all of Asia Pacific (i.e. Australia, Fiji, New Zealand).

That’s a positive change, but as I mentioned previously, Hilton and IHG offer bigger discounts to members of their own free-to-join programmes. 

30 elite nights, but no more stacking across programmes

Accor Plus members currently receive 20 status nights each year, which is sufficient to qualify for ALL Silver status.

From 1 October 2025, members will receive 30 status nights when they purchase or renew a membership. Existing Accor Plus members who are migrated to ALL Accor+ Explorer will receive a one-time top-up of 10 status night.

30 status nights is sufficient for Gold status, which is obviously better than Silver. Still, you need to moderate your expectations because most of its benefits — including room upgrades, early check-in and late check-out — are subject to availability.

Status	Status Nights	Status Points
Silver	10	2,000 (€800 spend)
Gold	30	7,000 (€2,800 spend)
Platinum	60	14,000 (€5,600 spend)
Diamond	N/A	26,000 (€10,400 spend)

A popular strategy was to combine the 20 status nights from Accor Plus with up to 30 more from Accor ALL Plus China, putting you within touching distance of the 60 nights required for ALL Platinum. And with another 10 status nights coming soon, you might not even need to stay at all!

But according to Loyalty Lobby this stacking will not be possible for much longer. Accor has  plans to cap the number of status nights earned through subscription products (including, eventually, ALL Plus China) at 30.

If you’ve already bought your ALL Plus China membership, you should be safe. If not, there’s no clear timeline for when the cap will take effect. It could be before or after 1 October 2025, so proceed at your own risk.

No more “status renewal hack”

One little-known perk of Accor Plus membership is the ability to extend your ALL elite status by a further 12 months.

Currently, when you purchase or renew an Accor Plus membership, your status is assessed based on status nights or points earned during the higher of:

• the current calendar year to date
• the previous calendar year

For example, in 2024 you stayed 60 nights and earned ALL Platinum. In 2025, you only plan to stay 20 nights, which means a status downgrade in 2026.

But if you renewed your Accor Plus membership in August 2025, for example, Accor will look at the nights you’ve stayed in 2024 and 2025 year-to-date, and take the higher of the two. This will extend your existing ALL Platinum until the end of your next Accor Plus membership year in August 2026.

From 1 October 2025, ALL will strictly review status at the end of each calendar year, instead at the beginning of your ALL Accor+ Explorer membership year. This means that requalification for Year X+1 now strictly follows activity in Year X, instead of X or X-1. 

15% discount for hotels might be worse than 10%

Accor Plus members currently enjoy 10% off hotel stays in Asia Pacific year-round.

This may not sound like a lot, but crucially, it applies even to promotional or member rates. In other words, whatever the cheapest rate a non-Accor Plus member can find, an Accor Plus member will always pay 10% less. 

From 1 October 2025, this discount will be increased to 15% year-round, and is valid worldwide. However, it will be based on the best available (flexible) rate and can no longer be combined with promotional or member rates.

This means that someone booking the Accor Plus rate will likely end up paying more compared to the lowest possible rate, especially during sale periods. 

What if you want to cancel Accor Plus?

Accor Plus members have the option to cancel their membership and receive a pro-rated refund, based on the number of days remaining on their membership.

Even if you want to continue with the programme after it becomes ALL Accor+ Explorer, it might still be better to cancel and repurchase, depending on when you bought Accor Plus.

That’s because of the big difference in price for Singapore memberships. An Accor Plus Explorer and Explorer Plus membership cost S$418 and S$538 respectively, versus S$299 for ALL Accor+ Explorer.

So for example, if I purchased an Accor Plus Explorer membership on 1 July 2025 and process my refund on 7 August 2025, I will receive a S$374.48 refund (327/365* S$418). I can then purchase an ALL Accor+ Explorer membership for S$299 and still save, while getting 14 months of validity in the process (based on the current promo for sign-ups by 30 September 2025).

Basically, you should calculate how much of a refund you’ll receive if you cancel Accor Plus now, and compare that to the S$299 cost of buying a new membership.

Do note that the refund is based on remaining duration of your Accor Plus subscription, and does not depend on whether you already used your Stay Plus night(s). So ideally you’ll already have used them before requesting the refund.

Also note that once you cancel your Accor Plus membership, you will lose:

• 20 status nights (which may result in a downgrade of your ALL elite tier)
• Any unused Stay Plus certificates, including nights that have been booked but not yet stayed (any paid nights in the same booking as the Stay Plus night will also be cancelled)

I probably shouldn’t have to say this, but the refund doesn’t apply if you received your membership through a credit card or other promotion.

Conclusion

Accor Plus will become ALL Accor+ Explorer on 1 October 2025, and whether you purchased a membership directly or received one as a credit card benefit, you’ll need to carefully evaluate whether the revised programme still represents good value.

The requirement of a paid night for Stay Plus redemptions is unpleasant, but if Accor really does not impose any inventory restrictions going forward, then it’s arguably an improvement. Also welcome are the 10 additional status nights, which will make Platinum easier to achieve. 

What’s clearly a nerf is the change to dining discounts, with couples and threesomes on the hook for a larger bill now that savings are capped at 30%. Also, the increased discount on hotel stays will almost certainly be offset by the loss of the ability to stack it with member or promotional rates, and it will no longer be possible to extend your existing ALL status for a further 12 months by buying or renewing Accor Plus. 

Will you keep or cancel your Accor Plus membership?,