Welcome to Flyertalk Howard.

In addition to the Starwood Amex, which empirically has the best point/mile return for dollar spent, you might also consider the Hilton Amex and the Hilton Visa card. Although the point return per dollar spent with each is marginally less than the Starwood Amex, the Hilton cards do not charge an annual fee, the Starwood card does. The Hilton Amex gives you 7,500 points for signing up, 5 points per dollar spent at Hilton Hotels, 3 points per dollar for all other purchases. The Hilton Visa comes with a 10,000 point sign up bonus, 3 points per dollar spent at Hilton hotels, 2 points per dollar spent everywhere else. Your overall return might be better at Starwood though, even with the annual fee. However, you should consider getting the Hilton cards anyway, they're free, and just for signing up you can rack up a sizeable amount of points. Hilton points can be transferred to airline miles too, but they're probably most valuable being used on hotel rooms. Hope that helps a bit.

Another reason you may want to consider owning the Hilton cards.... every few months or so, they offer double point promotions and you can really rack up some points. You can't take advantage of those promos if you don't have the card(s).

[This message has been edited by hhonorman (edited Jan 22, 2004).]