It is just wrong to defend Marriott for its need for cash. All people and business are short of cash now. But this is not the time to squeeze the customer base for the cash.
A hotel "loyalty" program is for the loyal customer base. Without this customer base, travelers won't stay at the hotels, and they won't open wallet to pay for the room, food and drinks. Hotels need the occupancy up. They earn nothing with the rooms empty, cash or points.
As I said before, Marriott's response to virus has been very short-sighted. It is nothing like Hilton and Hyatt. Granted, Marriott still gets its huge footprints and all the nice properties. But when travel starts again, we all have to evaluate our loyalty again. By continuing its point devaluation during this Covid, Marriott may be able to squeeze a few $ here and there. But I figure it will lose more when traveling is back. Hotels are empty and there are good deals everywhere. Now we get more choices....