The airlines have pretty much reached the end of the line for consolidation. Airtran, America West, Continental, Northwest, TWA, and USAirways have all disappeared since the turn of the century.
Benefits have been severely eroded, hubs and flights have been cut to increase airfares, and consumers suffer the brunt of it.
Now it’s time for the hotel mergers.
Last month came the devastating news that Marriott will buy Starwood.
And Fairmont announced today that they will be bought by Accor.
I don’t know much about Accor, but I do know that they hand out their top-tier Platinum status like candy as it’s completely worthless. I can only recall staying in one Accor hotel with that status, in Hobart, Tasmania. Suffice it to say that it was nothing memorable.
But I’ll shed a tear for Fairmont.
View from our suite in the Fairmont Pacific Rim Vancouver:
View from our suite in the Fairmont Banff Springs
Back in 2011 I picked up several lifetime Platinum accounts thanks to an apparent Living Social glitch. They didn’t want to honor it, but I did my darndest to make sure it went through.
Since then I’ve stayed in Fairmont suites in Banff, Boston (twice), Chicago, Mayakoba, Montreal, Maui, NYC, Pittsburgh, Singapore, Vancouver, and Washington DC. All for free thanks to their incredible Platinum status. Oh, and massages and bottles of Scotch were free at all of those hotels as well.
Sigh.
Is there a chance that Fairmont is maintained as a separate loyalty program from Accor? Or that Starwood remains separate from Marriott?
Anything is possible I suppose. But none of the airlines have done it and it seems hard to believe that the hotels will now. So you’re telling me there’s a chance? Crazier things have happened, but rationally there’s more cost savings when programs are combined and typically combined programs resort to the lowest common denominator. Case study: The Continental/United merger.
Sure Accor might let us keep Accor Platinum status for life. But that and 50 cents will buy you a cup of coffee. Or at least a K-Cup or 2.
Any other hotel chains want to break my heart by merging and removing benefits? Hyatt, is that you I hear in the background?
@Jack: yes
Will this affect the certificates I bought for the Faimont Kea Lani in the dailygetaways promotion?
Yes, the seems like pretty bad news from many perspectives. Having been a fan of Fairmont for nearly 30 years now and loving many of the hotels around the world I truly can’t imagine that they would change the name or the quality and service at any of the properties.
That being said I’m also a lifetime platinum member and have certainly enjoyed the perquisites that the status offers. I did have platinum status for many years prior to getting the lifetime status.
As far as maintaining lifetime platinum status, there is a precedent that I think the new owner would be hard-pressed to remove. For the owners of any of the Fairmont residences they receive lifetime platinum status as well. So there MAY be a path to continuing the lifetime status classification for not only does but also for the 113. 😉
Time to burn any at all three nights and sweet upgrades and free spa and breakfast certificates. Fortunately for us the new Fairmont Claremont is a local option.
@Dan: Yeh, Southwest doesn’t have many flights from CLE. You’d have to connect in Chicago to go anywhere. I’m in NY and between EWR & LGA they have a good amount of flights to Chicago, Texas, Atlanta. From ISP they have flights to Florida. They are starting service from EWR to Orlando in April. The fact that you could rebooking award flights if the price goes down, book hidden city fares, and cancel with $0, 0 point penalty is great. Also the fact that I don’t have to worry about award availability is amazing. Also for families it’s great not worrying about having the enough award space on the same flight. I’m getting to flight Southwest more and more. The free checked bags doesn’t hurt.
Would this be a good time to grab the Chase Fairmont card and enjoy the benefits while the last? I’ve never had the card, so this may push me to get it. Any advice against sound this?
Years ago, I went to a conference at San Jose. I booked late, and the Marriott and the Hilton (attached to the Conf. Center) were booked solid, but the Fairmont was a block away and they were able to get me a decent rate. It was awesome. I went back to that conference 2x more, and made sure to book late every year 🙂
I also discovered that many NHL teams stay at the fairmont San Jose when they play the Sharks.
Curious to hear if the living social people feel cheated
IMO most companies like to have a one company image so as not to infer that one is inferior. Having two separate company’s probably doesn’t fall in line with Marriotts “vision” so you can most porbably say goodbye to Starwoods.
Ask for a refund from living social or dispute 🙂
I bought the living social deal and love it. This is so disappointing 🙁
In regards to united, if u get off in Newark and don’t go on to Boston do u still get mileage credited for the segments flown?
Hotel loyalty programs are weird. I have status in all of them and I spend very little money in any of them. And the current round of consolidation seems to be increasing my status: I’ve already gotten comped Diamond by Hilton, and hope to get the same from Hyatt.
Fewer choices is almost always bad for customers, but the impact of hotel mergers will likely be less than the impact of airline mergers. There are only going to be so many airlines in the world. There are always going to be a ton of hotels, and the vast majority of them will be independent. There will be a couple fewer credit cards to get and a couple fewer programs to manipulate, but the impact on travellers — even sharp, frugal travelers — is likely to be small.
Wonder if I should get the Fairmont card again to grab 2 free nights before it goes away….
Was planning on getting it next summer to use in 2017 as I already have my 2016 vacations booked.
Hmmm…decisions decisions.
@sb:
Lol
DONT DO IT HYATT! YOU HAVE SO MUCH TO GIVE TO THE WORLD! LIFE IS WORTH IT!
@Spoke:
I would assume so, but time will tell.
Alas it’s not our lifetime, it’s the programs lifetime 🙁
We have been enjoying a free night at the plaza once a year. Will we be losing this free night?
@Coffee Lover:
Come over and I’ll be happy to brew you a Latte from my Lattissima Plus…
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/80439
Otherwise:
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/80377
Southwest doesn’t have flights to places I want to go is the issue.
@free nights?:
They aren’t going to take those away.
@Simcha:
Yes.
@Dan is the Man:
Did you miss the title of this post?
Want some cheese with thay whine? You have had it so good for a long time. Sure losing options and freebies stinks but be grateful you had it good in the first place.
@Coffee Lover: lol
Will Accor honor the Fairmont e- gift cards?
got 2 free night with fairmont CC. are these gonna be gone? is there a date?
Dan, where do you buy your coffee? 50 cents is a great deal! How come you never post it on DansDeals. I should look into moving to Cleveland as I’m a big coffee drinker and I’d save tons of money. Heck, if United knew there was 50 cent coffee available in Cleveland I’m sure they would have never dehubbed!
Also, I heard Southwest is increasing their flights from Cleveland. Are you applying for their cards to get the companion pass?