I think I've figured out a sneaky workaround for those of us in the SPG program who expect to get their points devalued...
Starwood allows you to place 7-day holds on award stay bookings w/o meeting the necessary points for the stay. They also allow you to call-in and extend the hold by an additional 7 days if needed to make up the balance, giving you two full weeks (14 days) advance where you can lock in rates. If SPG members were to take advantage of this at the very tail end of July, days before the overhaul, once our points are combined into a single currency in August, it would be very easy to book SPG properties that are locked in at pre-August redemption rates, using our former Marriott/Ritz Rewards w/o being subjected to the pre-August 3:1 transfer ratio.
