What happened? The most massive and drastic frequent flyer program devaluation in history is what happened, about 2.5 weeks ago (it hit on May 16, though apparently has continued to roll out and may not be completely done).

Folks continue to argue about exactly what happened (and what to call it). What most seem to have completely overlooked (distracted by the price increases) is the stunning and instant disappearance of partner award options (especially international business), which nearly disappeared in some regions, and completely vanished in others. If you're looking for partner international business class awards, you may need a microscope, Geiger counter and a fortune teller to locate a decent one of those (a time machine would be best). The price increases (which range from just a little to a lot) are relatively minor compared to this much greater aspect of the mega-devaluation. I suspect the (generally modest) price increases were just a clever misdirection so people didn't notice much larger devaluation via the massive loss of partner awards....but everybody seems to be fixated on the price increases and still haven't even noticed the REAL devaluation.

Classic misdirection to distract the rubes, and it seems to have worked quite well.

Good luck finding that business class reward inventory.