ROADRUNNER,

I don't know why this comes as a shock... they're merely following the lead of the airline industry, which was the first travel industry to reward frequent customers. Airlines make you re-qualify every year even if you have two billion FF miles... now reason why the hotels wouldn't do the same. I think the main reason is that, by requiring a certain number of nights a year, they have a more accurate benchmark of revenue vs. loss when doing the books on their frequent guest program. By this I mean: there are MANY ways to get 'points' aside from actually patronizing a hotel/airline/car rental agency. However, by requiring the customer to USE the services (actual flight miles, actual nights stayed, actual number of rentals), they are able to justify the continuance of the programs, seeing as how they exist to reward REVENUE.

You may have 1.2 million points, but of course they'll make you re-qualify every year because, cruel as it sounds, if you stop staying 'X number of nights' every year, you're no longer considered a valuable customer (cash cow)... it's sad, but true from what I've been able to observe.

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