Originally Posted by
smgainey
I have never talked about a "massive devaluation". Perhaps someone else has, but I have not. I said that I don't want to pay up to 100k points per night for a hotel that currently costs 70k points per night. My displeasure is not specific to the merger because I am always unhappy about devaluations. I would greatly appreciate it if you would stop attributing words to me that I did not say. Thank you.
The phrase "massive devaluation" might be from
another thread here on FlyerTalk's Marriott Rewards forum. The original topic name of that thread was "Massive Points Devaluation Coming In August."
The OP based this incendiary statement entirely on speculation after seeing Marriott's new Award Chart for free nights, effective in August. The chart simply showed that there would be 7 categories in August, and that an 8th category and peak/off-peak would be added in 2019. The chart had nothing about specific hotels.
The only clue from Marriott at that point had been the initial announcement on April 16, 2018, carried live on Facebook. David Flueck, Senior Vice President, Global Loyalty, said, "We're moving to one combined award chart, that's even better value for your points. As we move to one award chart, the amazing thing is we have more hotels that are going down in cost than are going up in cost."
The topic name was changed by a moderator to "SPECULATION: Is a Points Devaluation Coming In August?"
The thread continued to include assertions of a massive devaluation. There was even a complaint about having "SPECULATION" as part of the topic name.
When Marriott published
Preview August Redemption Rates yesterday, it showed some hotels going down, some staying the same, and some going up. Yes, only a tiny fraction of Marriott's properties were listed (after all, it's just a preview), but it seems likely that it's indicative of what to expect.
Honestly, doing a "massive" one-time devaluation -- alienating those who have been loyal to SPG and Rewards -- would be bad business. Marriott is smarter than that.
Category creep over time works much better.
It's always a good idea for members to use points rather than letting them sit and lose value. I've earned over a 3 million Rewards points, but my current balance is below 300,000 (and that includes points I transferred from SPG). I've used travel packages to stay at top hotels in London back when they were category 6.