Originally Posted by
DallasEsq
I don't think anyone is "defending" anything. In practice, it's just not a meaningful change for most people. You'd see more of an uproar over elimination of things like breakfast or late checkout.
Clearly it’s meaningful enough of a benefit that Marriott felt the need to change the T&Cs to make it explicit we shouldn’t expect anything. I can still name the properties that gave me jaw-dropping upgrades (all from the “base” booking). I also remember how the same property (The Nines in Portland) continued to devalue its experience as SPG was subsumed into Marriott.