HHonors Point Stretchers were NOT just "1 tiny hotel on 1 day of the year." At least, not until the program started to dwindle (probably an intentional phaseout).

Priority Club Point Breaks are an excellent value (5,000 points as compared to 15K, 25K, and up for normal reward bookings) IF you can manage to snag one you actually want on dates you want. But since there are no restrictions on booking them, the really good offerings tend to get booked up quickly, leaving slim pickings in terms of location and desirability. (FlyerTalkers are among the people who make lots of speculative Point Breaks bookings that they don't end up using. And those cancellations don't necessarily go back into Point Breaks inventory.)

By the way, the current HHonors promo (ending Dec. 31, 2009) is only FOUR (not five) stays for 25,000 points, AND you can earn up to 75,000 points with it. (That is, if you picked this promo rather than "double base points.")

As for the main subject of this thread, a "boycott" (), I can only say this: I certainly am NOT happy about ANY points/miles devaluation by ANY loyalty program (even ones I don't participate in, as these devaluations can spread like an epidemic), and I agree that this one seems ill-timed w/r/t the economy. Nevertheless it does have to be pointed out that every program sooner or later devalues, and if you "take your business elsewhere" every time a devaluation occurs, you will eventually run out of chains to patronize. The best defense, as always, is not to put all your eggs in one basket, i.e., if possible, earn points in two or three or more different programs (as a lot of us already do).

Also, these big chains have millions of customers, so I don't think that a few dozen (or even a few hundred or a few thousand) self-important members deciding to "boycott" will necessarily make much of an impact. I suspect Hilton is gonna do what they want to do when they want to do it.