Mauld and LAOCA, and anyone else interested, here are the threads. William's comments regarding the butler floor upgrade elimination are near the bottom of each thread.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum74/HTML/002191.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum74/HTML/001078.html
You'll notice that this announcement was immediately preceded by pronouncements from two Flyertalkers that recieved superb treatment at the Astor floor of the St. Regis in Dana Point that they were of the personal belief that this lounge or any like it should be exempt from platinum upgrades, in that it is a "specialty floor". I was the only one who bothered to disagree. Soon afterwards, William announced the policy change.
I'm fairly certain that this decision was in the works long before these posters suggested that exempting such lounges from upgrades was a good idea. But I personally don't think it ever behooves frequent travellers to float on a board like this that "it'd be o.k. if Travel Company X changed their terms and conditions to diminish our benefits."
I am interested in others' comments on this specific subject. Feel free to start a new thread if you want. I didn't because, frankly, I thought I was the only one who cared, and I thought I was chastised for my criticism of the idea when originally floated on this board by other members.
[This message has been edited by BoSoxFan45 (edited 08-31-2001).]