Well, for what it's worth, I don't think I've ever redeemed a PointSaver award anyway, so if they go away I won't be terribly impacted.

As far as the elite levels go, Marriott already has the toughest-to-attain elite levels in the industry, although it's a bit easier for U.S. members because of the 15 bonus nights we get with the credit card. Still, HH flat-out gives away Gold status - a level that is in several ways better than MR Gold. For HH Diamond, it's currently about in-line with MR Plat...the number of stays that make up 60 nights for me would probably also qualify for Diamond. (Clearly the stay component works more for some folks than others.)

Added a published level in the 125-150 night range would be a new enhancement - something nobody else does - that would hopefully benefit members. I hope I'm never in a position where that level matters to me, but I hope they'd apply some kick*ss benefits to it.

I'm not sure why they'd junk the Travel Packages: that's a popular award and, frankly, one of the top three reasons I do 60-70 Marriott nights a year. If those go away, the overall value of a Marriott point drops significantly, and Hilton moves into the forefront as the most rewarding program.

Anyway, this is one guy on an airplane who probably doesn't have all the facts. If there's a work in progress at all to significantly change MR, I doubt they'd bring all 2200+ GM's into the loop before things were almost ready to launch.