Thank you for the outstanding analysis. I have been a very loyal HH member since 1994 and have produced a lot of revenue for Hilton which ultimately has earned me multi million points and the VIP status. A few years ago I learned that the program is not what it used to be and hence I have taken my business elsewhere. The program has now a new category 7 which requires a greater number of points for stays. I used to spend 125,000 points for 6 nights stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu. Two years ago I had to spend 175,000 points (40% increase) for the same and this year I spent 225,000 points (29 % increase compared to two years ago and 80% increase to 7 years ago). The trouble is that in contrast the quality and perks for the VIP members have diminished substantially. Although we received a room with a good view (upon my request, persistency and lots of bickering), we were very disappointed with the overall appearance of the hotel, unhappiness of the service employees, unreasonable prices of food and drinks at restaurants on the hotel premise and condition of the room. As a VIP members we used to receive full complimentary breakfast which has now been replaced with a high carb continental breakfast which you can upgrade to a full breakfast at $26 per person by paying an up charge of $16 per person. They have removed all silverware and replaced them with plastic utensils which has no relevancy to the VIP membership. Parking used to be free which is now $24 per day. The bathrooms are in disrepair and falling apart. They have placed some very annoying vendors apparently from the middle east all over the hotel property which are very pushy and take the joy out of your vacation by their persistent obnoxiousness. So, it may appear to some that the Hilton Honor program may award more points per stays and Dollars spent, the catch is at the other end when one tries to use the points where the points required for rewards are no longer reasonable. Overall, the program is not what it used to be and I want to say that the big change came about shortly after Blackstone acquired the Hilton properties. I would no longer recommend the Hilton Honor program ato anyone.

Many of us to expect a number of Starwood properties to move down in category in 2010. Starwood sets its levels based on the average revenue for a room night, which has certainly been lower in 2009. If Starwood does indeed do this, it would be interesting for you to redo this analysis at that time.