Originally Posted by
jeffandnicole
Nothing wrong with stating 'at this time'. If you think Marriott and SPG's reward offerings are set in stone forever, you're going to be very disappointed at a later time.
Actually, Marriott and Starwood have been
structurally much more stable than HHonors. The fundamental building blocks in those two programs have remained the same for many, many years. Marriott has had 1 revamp in the past decade that entailed an across-the-board increase in award costs - BUT - it also included increased earnings for elites that mostly offset the cost increase, and it dumped the formerly-annoying two-tier availability scheme. The program got better - for real. Starwood's only change of note has been a downgrade of the quality of their promotions, but that's a bit of a different topic.
HHonors, on the other hand, has had at least 2 (or is it 3?) major structural overhauls in the past decade. Entire awards that I used to book regularly are completely gone. That's why "at this time" is especially anxiety-inducing with Hilton. It feels like they move the goalposts in this program a LOT....more than just the gradual annual Category Creep that all programs are known to drop on their members.
It doesn't necessarily kill off my desire to stay at Hilton, but it does make me reevaluate how much I find the stays worth, relative to nearby Marriott competitors where I hold a similar status.
(Obviously 2017 is a unique case for MR and SPG. I'll enter 2018 with a modest balance of SPG, expecting a hybrid program that is slightly less rewarding than either of them are today. I definitely wouldn't advise anyone to stockpile there thinking 2018 will suddenly get *more* rewarding.)