Originally Posted by s_yvr

I think the hurt feelings crowd can probably relax a bit now. It appears with Hilton following, Marriott will be next. We will end up with all hotels sharing or competing for the pool of top tier travelers. This can only be a good thing, once a large pool of easily swayed elites is established, the next step would be competitive way to differentiate amongst the brands. Expect better benefits to come through this.