itsaboutthejourney

So far this year I've either avoided or learned to live with the devaluation. A cat 3 to 4 is 3K or cat 4 to 5 off peak is 2K more points, I can live with that.

Now I want to rebook at a hotel that I stayed at the exact time last year. Last year I paid 10K points, this year they want 16K.... at 60% increase! I know some things like 50% off and Cash & points for Cat 5 are there to help mitigate the increase, but neither are available for the night I need. Adding to the frustration, the day I'd check out, off-peak starts so the room would be 12K.

I've earned about the same amount of promotion points as last year, so that's not helping to offset the increases either.

Ouch!

Has everyone else just bit the bullet or downgraded their stays?

(add in all the free beta testing & bug reports many of us have given about spg.com and I'm really feeling used!)