Another suggestion to Marriott would be to at least give us a reprieve so we have a few more months to book the old awards (think of it like a stay of execution of our points
- ok that's a little extreme rhetoric, sorry), not making us have to try to dump them all in such a short time frame. The time frame is too compressed for me to find a really good solution to this problem.
Marriott Concierge, speaking as someone who is not going to leave Marriott over this but is hurt significantly by the travel package point increases I can completely understand why for some, this would cause them to change their loyalties. I for one am not sneezing at the other enhancements, but for me, the package flexibility losses and devaluations that come with the enhancements are just too great to make it a net benefit. I truly believe it is in Marriott's best interest to provide some give back on this that can be announced in the next few weeks. Don't know if there is too great of a corporate intertia that went into development / implementation of the changes (actually a significant overhaul of the whole program) to get some modifications approved in this short of a time frame, but I certainly think you should try.
Wondering whether it is worthwhile to start a separate thread with a rollcall of members feelings on whether they are happy with the changes as is, or, if not, on what modifications would be most likely to keep them happy-
* 5 night packages
* Bring back some reduction in points per night for the 7-night packages
or ??