I can't see how this devaluation is any worst than what HH and SPG have done in the past few years by pushing properties up several categories. Marriott has had bracket creep as well, although not to the same extent. Try finding a Hilton property that takes less than 20,000 points per night in a major metropolitan area, and you will discover than many HIs require 20 or 25,000 points per night. SPG has had some major increases as well, and I am not certain that they are that much better in terms of earning rewards.

Yes, this Marriott devaluation is not fun, but I am not surprised that it will happen or that other ones will come in the next 5-7 years. You will see properties move up in categories, and I expect at some point that they will change the point requirements for all categories (although not in the next year or two). Compared to the great devaluation that occurred about 7-8 years ago, this current one is not anywhere as bad.

For me, I will keep my platinum status with Marriott, burn my points, and get a match to Hyatt for diamond (I've been procrastinating on this). I am about halfway to lifetime platinum, and I intend to get it. I will also keep an eye on the strengthening dollar, which is pushing some foreign properties down to relative bargains (South Korea, Australia, and Canada are on my radar screen). I expect hotel promotions to increase with the weakening economy, and that might take some of the sting out of this change.

The new strategy for Marriott Rewards after January 15 should be:
1. Go for a 5 or 10 night stay at one property if you are not interested in miles.
2. If you want miles, take the travel package. The best travel package for miles will have a category 5 property.
3. Forget about a 4 or 9 night award stay at a property. It means you are giving up a free night.
4. Look for bargains- part 1 - Marriott left out one current category 7 property in Paris and London (Sharon's favorite) from being bumped up into category 8. They also left out the Boston category 7 properties, which can get quite expensive during peak times.
5. Look for bargains - part 2 - Start thinking about which properties might move up (especially from 5 to 6 or 6 to 7) and consider booking awards on them. There are some which could definitely go up given their room rates.