I'm starting to think this will affect me less than I first thought.

I mostly stay at DTs/HGIs for work, with a smattering of Hiltons, WAs and Conrads for vacations. DRs won't be staying much at the former, and most of my upgrades (such as they are) come from the fact the properties I frequent know me, not from the T-72 auto-upgrades from Hilton corporate. In theory, upgrades at better properties will become less likely, with DRs above me and more Ds making the cut through lower qualification levels. But in practice, I haven't gotten a truly decent upgrade at any property in years. So basically DRs get to confirm 1-2 upgrades a year, while we regular Diamonds get what we've always gotten, which is not much.

That said, while I appreciate big spenders should get more, it still rankles that people can pay $450 for the Aspire card and get the same benefits I get for $12K spend staying 60-80 nights a year...