Respectfully, to a great extent when there are negative postings happening in any forum, those who are ambivalent or in this case don't feel that the changes are that monumental tend not to post. I posted in the FT thread once with my opinion. There are those who have posted dozens of times in the same thread repeating the same thing over and over. Frankly I'm bored with the postings as I find many of them to be whiny at best. 601 posts or 6001 posts makes no difference IMO, as it is all repetitive. With that said, it is nice that there is a forum where people can vent. Reading the posts sure does open ones eyes to human condition. Why aren't we all posting about food prices that go up 4% every year? Because it happens gradually. So after 9 years Marriott decides to up the number of points needed for an award... SURPRISE! NOT! I love it when I spend 2 weeks at Vail Marriott and get a week free. A few years ago it took 4 weeks so I am not surprised redemption levels are going up. SPG and Hilton upped theirs a year ago. Anyone who thought awards levels wouldn't change was fantasizing.

My assessment: I don't think Marriott's changes were positive or negative, I think they were inevitable.