To survive a quite serious economic downturn.

I don't like the changes any more than the rest of you, but I suspect the largesse we enjoyed over the past years was a bit of 90's dot com excess. That's what's biting us (and Hilton) in the a**.

And it's not like SPG or anyone else is suddenly running a better program. From what I understand, SPG had a similar (and some feel more onerous) devaluation scheme.

If things continue to play out the way they are now, the early 21st century will be defined by American isolationism, paranoia, and military action. This doesn't bode well for the travel industry, and the uncertainty of these hard times means executives at Hilton and other companies need to plan accordingly.