On you last point Raffles from Head for Points has said he's in the 'glitch' camp and is willing to wait a couple of days to see if it gets sorted.
You can bet that if this is confirmed there would be a post and loads of comments about it. At the moment it's restricted to a couple of comments in other threads. Even in a post about another IHG offer there is little or no gnashing of teeth about this at the moment.
I'd contrast that with the sole US blog I read and there the reaction was anything less than measured. It HAS to be a devaluation and are going on as if it is certain. I remember when dynamic pricing came in and there were some wild pricing then but they soon settled down.