I would have preferred for Marriott to say:
Because of inflation, rising costs, whatever, we are going to have to raise points required for redemption across the board. Everything will be increased by 10%, even 15-20% if necessary.
I don't like the fact that they took away the best rewards (7 night certificates, Euro Hoppers & travel packages with the 7 night advantage) and the sliding scale for redemption.
With the current program, you received a break in the nightly rate if you increased the nights you stayed. Now you pay the same price for 1-4 nights, with no breaks until you hit 5 or 10.
About 10% of our awards historically have been Stay Anytime awards, while only 2% of our awards are for 7 nights
I also find it hard to believe that only 2% of the awards were for 7 nights. That's why everybody seems to be saving their points.
Although the 7 night Category 7 award (the highest point value under the current Marriott Rewards schedule) is going up by 40% (150,000 to 210,000 points), approximately 70% of the awards are staying at the same point value or decreasing slightly, and the average point increase is only 5% when weighted on how owners redeem points.
I have a hard time believing that 70% of the awards are staying at the same point value or decreasing slightly. That doesn't match the numbers I've been looking at.