A few of us have probably hit or about to hit Platinum for the first time, including myself, and therefore receiving our first 2 SNUs.
Well first of all congratulations. It's not easy getting to Platinum (well it's not easy supposing you don't stack up a dozen different paid Accor membership programs as some people do). It should be noted that while you do earn 2 SNUs for acquiring Platinum status, you have the opportunity to earn additional SNUs for each additional 4,000 status points you earn in a given year, up to a maximum of 12 SNUs that can be earned.
This is a cool perk and i'm excited to treat my partner and I somewhere.
It is indeed, a cool perk and something to keep in mind here is that this perk is different from other hotels. If you look at, for instance, Marriott's program, they award similar room upgrade certificates. However, in their program it's much like an airline upgrade, you put in the request and it may or may not clear. Contrast that with Accor, where you use the upgrade certificates when making your booking with Accor meaning you are guaranteed to be in the upgraded room category.
However...we generally stay on the lower end of the brands and from the hotels i've looked at with suites, the extra cost to pay for the higher room (before SNU) is a fair bit higher than our usual budget, to say the least haha.
Sofitels tend to be a good place to use these SNUs from my experience. In particular, if you have Accor Plus (which is one of the paid Accor programs that offer discounts as high as 50% off room bookings) you can sometimes find Sofitels reasonably priced (now not the $100 I'm used to paying staying at ibis Styles but maybe $250-$300/night) making this whole thing work out. And the thing about Sofitels as a Platinum, is you'll have access to their lounge meaning you'll have a-la carte breakfast in the morning plus hors d'oeuvres and high tea during the day. Oh and you don't have to check-in with the riff raff downstairs either, instead you head straight for the lounge and check in discretely there.
If you want a guideline on how much to value these upgrade certificates I'd say conservatively $200 AUD per certificate in value. Remember too that these certificates can be used globally be it at a Sofitel in Sydney or a Fairmont in Montreal. In my case, I ended up using 4 SNUs (more on that in a moment) to upgrade a stay at the Sofitel Melbourne to a Junior Suite, netting me a savings of $250/night:
So remember how I said I used 4 suite night upgrades? Well one thing to keep in mind is that while these SNUs have an expiry date of December 31 of the year following you earning those SNUs (i.e. December 31, 2025), so long as you use them in a booking made by that expiry date they can be used. Put differently you have until December 31, 2025 to find and book a property to use those SNUs (for a stay up to December 31, 2026). In my case I earned Platinum status in 2022 but like you couldn't find a use for the SNUs. However, in 2023 circumstances changed, I was travelling more and consequently found a use for them at the end of the year just as I re-qualified for Platinum status. Hence, I could use the 2 SNUs earned in 2022 plus the 2 SNUs earned in 2023 to book a stay in January 2024 for 4 nights at the Sofitel Melbourne using those certificates.
We are off to Japan next year, which has an option in Osaka and Tokyo, both look lovely. Though Japan is likely to be more of a go-go holiday than one being at the hotel, so i'm concerned this cost is a bit overkill, though i totally understand that considering the usual prices in the cities. Besides that, maybe a trip to Melbourne at least, which has a couple, or another trip to Asia somewhere.
I'd say start looking at Accor properties now as they're running a promotion where it's up to 25% off I believe at many Accor properties. This might be enough cost savings whereby you can both afford to stay at a luxury hotel in Japan whilst getting excellent value on the SNUs. Certainly, the Sofitel Melbourne is a good candidate for using the SNUs as that was where I used the upgrade certs and wasn't disappointed in the upgrade.
I think the biggest mistake you can make with any upgrade certificate or free night stay certificate is not using them at all. I mean heck, if you are really struggling just use it as an ibis. And no I am not pulling your leg here, either, there
are some ibis properties which feature suites.
One final parting shot: ensure you familiarize yourself with the perks of Platinum. The main ones that you'll be using regularly are the free breakfast when staying at properties in Asia-Pacific and secondly access to hotel lounges (aside from those at Fairmonts) globally. You'll notice a few other things, like better strike rates at upgrades (I've personally been double upgraded), better welcome gifts and more likely to get a late checkout.
