Blackout dates don't hit me in any program as hard as the bigger issue of availability of rooms for sale but not for redemption of points -- elimination of blackout dates doesn't mean many (if any) rooms will necessarily be available for redemption. I see the "standard room" mention, and it gets me thinking what proportion of rooms are "non-standard" on any given night.

It would be much more welcome if loyalty programs would grandfather points and award charts so that those who already earned points could use them as per how the award charts were advertised when they earned those points.