I'm having a hard time understanding the consequences of the devaluation and after I had read most of the zillion posts about it, I gained the impression that I'm not the only one without a clue. So I thought, maybe one could start a thread with open questions about this Black Friday Feast, it being Friday today ... My first questions are:

1. Do you have to stay or to book before March 28th for the old point rates to still be valid?

There seems to be some confusion about this in the posts. Some people think booking now for December 2013 will mean that they can have their rooms at the point redemption rates valid now, while most say that you have to book and *stay* before March 28th. I read the FAQ on the Hilton page, but I couldn't make head or tail of it concerning that issue. This may be due to the fact that I'm German and, unfortunately, English is not my native language.

2. Was or is there a deadline for them hhonoring bookings at the old redemption rate?

E. g., if I booked in December 2012 for August 2013, will it cost me the points it said in my original booking or will it cost me points according to the new schedule? Or better: If I booked next week, what will happen then? Btw.: I did not receive an email from HHonors informing me about this, so if I had not read it here, I wouldn't know. I'd be booking as an innocent, now.

3. What happens if I book now for after March 28th, am charged the point redemption rates valid now and I don't have the differential amount when I arrive?

Let's say, tomorrow I'll book 9 nights at the Conrad Hong Kong for 337,500 points (using GLON) in April, and when I arrive, they are telling me that I'd need 640.000 points (9*80,000 points minus the "free" fifth night) and I don't have the remaining 302,500 points in my account? Will I have to pay part of my stay in cash? And if so, which nights? Could I choose the cheaper weekends? Would they just charge me the, let's say, Beast ... Available Rate for the last nights?

4. What happens to Points and Money?

Will it be completely gone? Will they leave it as it is? Could be the best option, then. Have they announced anything about that yet?

Maybe you can think of other cases and scenarios like these, maybe I misunderstood the whole thing. So I'd be glad if you'd put your questions here, extending the catalogue of opaque issues. Maybe there's even someone who knows the answers and has some proof of it.