Originally Posted by
bhrubin
You are mentioning a devaluation that mostly hasn’t happened yet. I think you’ll find you’re complaining about something that (1) won’t be as bad as you imagine and (2) inevitably was going to happen in due course eventually anyway over the next coming years. Even so, Marriott still is nowhere near the Hilton level of massive devaluation. It isn’t even close.
Well, Hyatt has no economy of scale and Marriott has that. That’s a massive difference. Yet Marriott is offering almost as much as Hyatt for fewer nights and with far more properties to satisfy all spenders.
If if you are worried about Marriott and a blackout policy, then you already must know and hate Hyatt hotels and how they ridiculously categorize all but a few rooms as standard to avoid giving out free award rooms! Sorry, but Marriott BEFORE the merger was never as bad as Hyatt is even now with playing games on award availability.
If you think Hyatt’s perks are so much better, you are free to switch your loyalty to Hyatt. I’ve been there, and I know I preferred Starwood...and now Marriott. There just aren’t enough hotels in Hyatt’s portfolio but maybe that doesn’t matter to you as much as not paying resort fees and parking fees?
Of course the devaluation hasn't happened yet, because the new program hasn't started yet. Whenever a devaluation is announced then people who are upset start complaining, they don't wait until it takes effect to complain.
I don't want my points devalued at all, so if even one hotel that currently costs 70k will cost up to 100k in the new program, then that makes me unhappy. I agree that a devaluation was probably going to happen eventually, even without a merger, and I would still be just as unhappy.
I never said that Hilton's program was better. YOU said that those who are upset can switch to Hilton. I said no thank you as I don't like their program. Also, as I stated, I cannot switch to Hyatt because their footprint isn't big enough (although I would much prefer no resort fees and complimentary parking to Your24 and Ambassador), so no, I'm not free to switch to Hyatt.
I haven't tried booking award stays at all Hyatts and all Marriotts, so I can't compare the games they play to avoid award bookings. I can say that I am aware that some Hyatt properties do play games like that, and that Marriott does not require that all available standard rooms be available for award redemptions...their terms and conditions allow hotels to limit the number of award rooms. I hate both practices. Ideally, in my opinion, all hotels would be required to classify a certain percentage of their rooms as "standard" and allow award redemptions on all standard rooms that are available. I don't know if any program does this, but I hope Marriott will with the new program. We shall see.