Originally Posted by pinniped (Post 11164741)

Actually, we (Plats) are only getting a 11% bump in earnings - assuming we're talking a non-extended-stay brand using the MR Visa.

Originally Posted by DesertFlier (Post 11161629)

This is the nature of business. You respond to current trends, and forecast for the future in order to keep your business solvent. Considering how horrible our economy is, to complain about something like this is just absurd. Does Marriott not have a right to do what they can to cut corners and shave costs to keep themselves in the black? In a bad economy, the travel industry is always among the first hit, and IMO, Marriott is doing the right thing for the longevity of Marriott.

Originally Posted by cyberdad (Post 11161422)

I can only speak for myself, but in my business when customers are tougher to come by, we respond by offering them more, not less. That way we can justify maintaining revenue levels while at the same time giving clients a recognizable "thank-you" for their continuing patronage and loyalty.

Originally Posted by PhillyPhlyer40 (Post 11163926)

+1.

At this point last year, I had ~14 nights in MI properties. This year, I have decided to "try" spg. Guess what? I found out SPG is what is working for ME, at THIS POINT!

So, MI has 2 nights, spg has 11 so far this year, with 2 more this week! Also, I have rc'd the spg amex, and already spent ~$5K in the past 2 weeks. MI will see less and less from me.

I for one do not have the time to b!tch and moan to MR.

Originally Posted by Renard (Post 11168546)

Vote with your wallet...send MR your receipts from the competitors...they'll only listen when they see their cash intake drop.

Originally Posted by jeffcarp (Post 11157231)

I am curious what "rights" you think you have re: MR that aren't given to you by the MR TOS? And there should be little doubt that the changes they made are within the terms of their TOS.

Now, feeling that the changes are a bad business decision is one thing. But claiming that some right that you have has somehow been violated is a bit much.

I travel 50+ nights per year. I get a kick out of people here (I am not suggesting that you are one of them) that think they are somehow entitled to special treatment because of where they decide to sleep at night. There are 10's of millions of people that do the same thing as them and do so much quieter and without expectation of others bowing at their feet.

Changes like those to MR are (in most cases) well calculated business decisions. Very seldom do companies retract these changes because they miscalculated the response. There will always be the noisy few who are high maintenance. Certainly Marriott has taken them into account in their business decision. To them I say - go ahead and move to Hilton. That just opens up more capacity for the rest of us. Rest assured that at some point Hilton will make a similar change that they deem is in their best business interest. After all, this is a business, not a charity.

Originally Posted by TrojanHorse (Post 11157589)

and why did that happen (over at dl)?

Originally Posted by Mile High Club (Post 11161095)

You have it all wrong. The loyalty programs have become a fraud. The premise is simple: give us your business, spend money with us and use our services (hotel, airline, etc) and we will reward you with free service based on some formula. The trouble is -- after you have complied with the conditions, the vendor dilutes the program -- effectively retroactively. The asset you have accumulated (miles/points) is watered down. The changes don't simply apply to future points and mile accruals, they apply to your holdings. So the 300,000 miles are effectively worth 200,000 miles. This is not just a bad "business decision"; it's tantamount to unlawful taking of your property. Points and miles have long been deemed property in divorce cases and the airlines and hotel programs are custodians of that property. They have a fiduciary duty to safeguard that property, but instead they have figured out a way to periodically strip the property away from its holder.

Think of it another way: hotel programs and airlines sell billions of miles/points to credit card issuers, for which they derive substantial revenue. The sold miles are a liability on the airline's balance sheet and when the airline purges a few billion miles from member accounts by making changes to the program (i.e. increasing redemption levels, shortening expirations, etc), they get direct financial benefit. Delta just sold miles to AMEX for a cash infusion of a billion dollars now and another billion in the future. Instead of having AMEX constituents utilize all these miles, DL will merely dilute them and keep a few hundred million dollars' worth in its coffers. Where else can you monetize thin air and after you get the cash simply cut off the oxygen??

I've been waiting for some class action firm to finally do something about it, it just makes me livid. My wife has built up 400K MR points and Marriott diluted her account by the stroke of a pen.

Originally Posted by CJKatl (Post 11162089)

It's like the program was in Mexico and they moved it to France, but left us with Pesos instead of Euros, or didn't give us a market value conversion. MI changed the value of the currency without protecting the currency holdings of its best members. It makes us nervous about wanting to collect under the new currency, because it might be devalued next year, too.

This isn't a "right" that was taken away, as nothing MI did violated the TOS that were published. IMO, it's not too late for Marriott to make this right.