Annual Category Change Announcement 2014 [effective March 4, 2014]
Feb 20, 2014, 9:10 am
#31
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: PHX
Posts: 623
Wow. The Sheraton Waikiki and the Sheraton and Westin Maui up to Cat 6. Coupled with the category increases a year or so ago of the St Regis Princeville and the Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas to Cat 7 and the Sheraton Kauai to Cat 5, I guess I'm "priced out" of the Hawaiian market for quite a while.
Glad I stayed at most of those properties when they were a notch lower.
Glad I stayed at most of those properties when they were a notch lower.
Feb 20, 2014, 9:15 am
#32
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,575
Seems like a reasonable list. Not much impact to me this time around. 
Feb 20, 2014, 9:16 am
#33
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: BUF
Programs: SPG Plt, HHonors Gold, UA Gold, PC Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 880
not bad, changes actually benefit me. good deal!
question (thats undoubtably been answered before) - i have a may trip booked in a hotel thats moving down... should i rebook in march, or can i email spg and have them credit me the difference in points?
question (thats undoubtably been answered before) - i have a may trip booked in a hotel thats moving down... should i rebook in march, or can i email spg and have them credit me the difference in points?
Feb 20, 2014, 9:16 am
#34
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 586
Anyone else not able to load the PDF with the list of changes?
EDIT: Seems to be an issue with my provider, works on cell phone.
EDIT: Seems to be an issue with my provider, works on cell phone.
Feb 20, 2014, 9:18 am
#36
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: CDG
Programs: SK Gold, AF Gold, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 3,729
Nice to see SPG properties in Croatia and Bulgaria going down. Opens up the possibility for a quick and painless mattress run
Feb 20, 2014, 9:19 am
#37
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Location: India
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Feb 20, 2014, 9:23 am
#38
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 3,990
For me, all my favorites remain as is or down, including a couple nice scores in Canada. So this is great news for me personally.
For everyone else, it seems to me a few of our more cynical FTers need to step up and admit their predictions/fearmongering/negative posts were dead wrong!
Cheers,
For everyone else, it seems to me a few of our more cynical FTers need to step up and admit their predictions/fearmongering/negative posts were dead wrong!
Cheers,
Feb 20, 2014, 9:33 am
#39
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: BOS
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Diamond, Hilton Diamond, SPG Gold, IHG Plat
Posts: 199
As always, thanks for giving us some advance notice of the changes, Lurker IV. Based on a quick skim of the change list, this seems pretty mild compared to previous years.
Noteworthy:
Noteworthy:
- Sheraton Shanghai Waigaoqiao Hotel drops 2 levels, from 3 to 1
- Sheraton Huzhou Hot Spring Resort jumps 2 levels (4 to 6)
- Sheraton Baltimore Washington Airport Hotel - BWI jumps 2 (2 to 4)
Otherwise seems like a pretty reasonable change this year
Feb 20, 2014, 9:34 am
#40
Join Date: May 2009
Location: EUG
Programs: AS MVP, AA MM, HH Diamond, MR Gold
Posts: 8,220
Happy to see no changes in Manhattan (well, down would have been nice 
), but glad the carrot wasn't moved further out, I'm almost there saving points for our next trip.
), but glad the carrot wasn't moved further out, I'm almost there saving points for our next trip.
Feb 20, 2014, 9:37 am
#41
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: YYZ
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, AC Elite, Airmiles Gold, Hertz Gold Plus Rewards
Posts: 785
Thanks for the heads up, Christopher & co!
I'm happy to see:
- no Cat 8
- more properties going down than up
- a lot of Japanese properties going down
- a lot of Balinese properties going down
I'm surprised to see:
- no changes in Thailand
- properties in Athens and some Greek islands going UP
I'm sad to see:
- some nice Portuguese Spanish properties going up
- St Regis Rome jump to Cat 7
- Schloss Fuschl going up to Cat 7
I'm happy to see:
- no Cat 8
- more properties going down than up
- a lot of Japanese properties going down
- a lot of Balinese properties going down
I'm surprised to see:
- no changes in Thailand
- properties in Athens and some Greek islands going UP
I'm sad to see:
- some nice Portuguese Spanish properties going up
- St Regis Rome jump to Cat 7
- Schloss Fuschl going up to Cat 7
Feb 20, 2014, 9:40 am
#42
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Over the Bay Bridge, CA
Programs: Jumbo mas
Posts: 38,644
Feb 20, 2014, 9:41 am
#43
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Los Angeles & Orange County, CA
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Posts: 23,822
For the Lurkers, if the hotel has not loaded award nights in 2015 but has standard rooms available for sale, are we able to make Platinum Concierge convert them into award nights?
Feb 20, 2014, 9:50 am
#44
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 769
Yeah majorly disappointed with the Hawaii changes. Was looking to go to Maui or hnl when time permitted, but this looks like it might not happen this year
Feb 20, 2014, 9:50 am
#45
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 331
Not terrible by any means but I am bummed about:
Sheraton Waikiki (as mentioned above, not terribly surprising but going to a cat 6 is a 67% jump in points per night, yikes)
The Nines (also not terribly surprising, always thought this was a good value as a Cat 4, but this move is only a 20% bump in points per night)
Sheraton Waikiki (as mentioned above, not terribly surprising but going to a cat 6 is a 67% jump in points per night, yikes)
The Nines (also not terribly surprising, always thought this was a good value as a Cat 4, but this move is only a 20% bump in points per night)