SPG PEAK season redemptions eliminated for 2009

Starwood are going to cut the number of points we will have to pay to get a free room in their best hotels. Now that the economy is bad, it is nice to know that you can make the most of your hard-earned Starpoints and still stay in Luxury.
I will have to look at this more closely because Marriott had a lot of people complaining about what they called an “enhancement” but many thought it was the opposite, (a devaluation). I, personally don’t mind the increase in points to get free nights because all I care about is the Platinum premier elite status. I am willing to tolerate the modest increases in the number of points required for nightly stays in the upper categories, but I am not happy that Marriott told a fib about eliminating blackout dates. Well, it is not a fib it is a WHOPPER because I have not been able to book a room by redeeming points when there were only rooms available to pay with plastic. THIS IS NOT BLACKOUT FREE. I tried to book award stays at several hotels. Starwood has a better deal when they say that “if there is a room available, you can have it” That is a true blackout free award. Marriott had a better deal when they offered the “stay anytime awards”.
Starwood say that they will decrease the number of points required for nightly stays in the upper categories so they should endear themselves to their members.
SPG also score points by moving more hotels DOWN in Category, than up, where as, Marriott has re-categorized some of the most popular hotels in London, New York, Paris, California and Rome to the new HIGHER category 8 with its 40K points per night requirement.

Peak-season Starpoints pricing at category 5–7 hotels will be eliminated for 2009.¹ Together with no blackout dates, this provides ultimate flexibility when planning your 2009 getaways!
See my previous posting on this topic