Originally Posted by
Nyurka
I can confirm it is still there as I booked an award post-devaluation, March 28. For me it was a move to reduce total points spent, as my WA became a cat 7 and thus bookable with AXON. 25K points back into my account.
I am starting to think it's not that bad except for 10 or so highest-end opulent properties - Moorea, Bora-Bora, Rangali, Seychelles, Bali, Tokyo, DT Times Square, Grand Wailea. These however always required a ton of money spent on the vacation even when the room was free, plus travel from many locations was a killer (30+ hrs on the planes/airports) plus a ton of miles or $$$ needed. But the regular decents hotels and resorts are still there, and some have become even a better value.
With the % of hotels that increased a category, and the introduction of seasonal pricing as well, it is hard to understate the magnitude of this change.
However, there are also some properties that dropped a category. And on the lower end properties in general , the impact was not nearly as significant.