Sometimes it takes a while for these things to sink in.

As a top-level elite, you eventually (after 60 nights) earn a brand-new Cat 1-7 free night. But it's actually a poison pill. It expires in four short months. It's ineligible for upgrade. To add insult to injury, if you add add your Free Night to the end of an existing stay, your entire stay becomes ineligible for an upgrade.

Let's compare. The old HGP program gave points (which, for all practical purposes, never expire). The points can be used any way you like. The new program replaces those points with a certificate expiring in a few weeks. To use the free night, you give up most of your top-level benefits for the ENTIRE stay.

It's like ripping off someone's arm, beating them with the bloody stump, then (to emphasize the message) kicking them in the teeth.