Originally Posted by ftrichard

I also don't understand people getting their knickers in a twist about things like this when the vast majority of people who qualify in this way will (a) spend the vast majority of any paid nights in properties in mainland China and (b) won't spend 50+ nights in subsequent years to renew the Platinum membership clogging up suites and lounges. Consequently their impact on most of the people on FT will be negligible.

And that's before the sheer hypocrisy as already noted of not being similarly outraged by non-China workarounds like credit card nights, nights for meetings (RIP), double-night promos, and of course the regular status challenge which are seemingly all fine.

Jealousy, nothing more, nothing less. Which is fine because in my experience many Bonvoy hotels in mainland China are a league above the same-brand hotels in the US so there's a lot to be jealous of of our fellow travellers in the Middle Kingdom.