I disagree. Most of the posts have been about how people feel cheated over not receiving this actual promotion.

I also contend that while some of you are charging that many posts are directed negatively towards the Lurkers, this has not been the case. There have been a few nasty posts, but in general, people have been showing their dissatisfaction with the idea of targeted promotions, nothing more.

I was not targeted for this promotion. It does piss me off. If I had never known that I was not considered a valued customer, I could have gone along on my merry way; but, now I know. I canceled the next 6 stays I had in July with SPG and moved them to Hilton.

I've been a Marriott gold and Hilton Diamond member for many years. I've always been satisfied with their service and bonuses, Marriott much less so. Last year I decided to give SPG a try, and I admit that I like their hotels and upgrades. I dropped Marriott from my roster, since I try not to spread my points out too much (despite having more than enough stays a year to qualify for all 3 or 4 program); but if this is what I can expect from SPG, I'll just add Marriott back on and push SPG out. I've already qualified Plat, so it will only affect me next year.

Will my attitute hurt SPG, probably not specifically; but people who don't believe customer satisfaction dominates the market have never worked in the service industry. Eventually with enough discontent a brand will go down. So to those people who are ecstatic about losing another platinum member, remember that if enough left, there wouldn't be ANY upgrades to go around... period.