Originally Posted by TravelinSperry

Hard to argue about 1, 2 & 3. Surely those that were enjoying those benefits would now feel the program devalued. For a relatively newer Glob like me, I never enjoyed the above benefits for long (or at all) so personally I think of it more along the lines of what I could get vs top tier status at Marriott, Hilton, or IHG. Hyatt (even with those devaluations) still beats those programs. I get they have to due to their smaller footprint, but at least they do what they have to. They don't have to crush the other programs (long gone are the old Starwood days). But they're still doing a good job in comparison to what exists among their competitors. Are there things around the edges that could be improved? Surely! #3 is annoying for sure (for me in NYC especially) and #1 is frustrating (but at least they created a CAT 1-8 cert even if most of us will never get one due to the absurd amount of nights required to do so (it should be give at 100 imo). #2 is something that happens across all chains and while frustrating is just part of the loyalty chasers life. Use em (stay) while you can.

It'll be interesting to see how long they keep chipping away at the edges... and how quickly they get closer to being more like Marriott. The closer they get, the more likely they are to lose sig nights from Globalists switching away.

But so far, guaranteed suite upgrades in advance without time limits, waived resort fees, & free parking on award stays, (I may be missing one or two other unique benefits) are unique within the industry and are good enough to keep most of us running on the hamster wheel to re-qualify.