If you're evaluating the card from a pure ROI perspective (i.e., how much money will I save?) I think the real "savings" associated with the card benefits vary depending on what you would spend if you didn't have the benefits.

Let me explain what I mean. The Fine Hotels and Resorts program offers a room upgrade, free breakfast for two, and some amenity. In my experience, FHR's rates are slightly higher than what you could get on the hotel's website for the cheapest room. For example, I'm staying at the Mandarin Oriental in DC in three weeks. The rate on the hotel's website for the basic room was $260/night. The rate using FHR for that same room was $295/night--$35 more. Through FHR, I'll get an upgrade, free breakfast for two, and some amenity (like afternoon tea or a spa credit). The a la carte value of those benefits far exceeds $35. However, the real value of those benefits depends on what I would have otherwise consumed. If not for the FHR benefits, I might not eat breakfast at the hotel or use the spa, and hence the value of a free breakfast and a spa credit to me is not the price the hotel will charge me, but rather what the alternative will cost. So, if I didn't have free breakfast, I might otherwise go to McDonald's for breakfast, and hence the value of a free breakfast is $3 pp, not the $50 pp it would cost at the MO; I might not go to the spa, and hence an $80 spa credit is of no value to me (and, actually might cause me to spend the credit plus $80 cash for a massage).

The next "class" room on MO's website is $365 -- so, $70 more than I paid for the basic room through FHR and $105 more than the basic room on the MO website. However, there's no value to that for me if I wouldn't have otherwise paid for the upgraded room anyway.

So, the value of those benefits varies depending on what you would otherwise do if you didn't have them.

Another example is the airline club. Would you pay $40 for a day pass at the Delta club in Atlanta to check e-mail, get a cup of coffee, and use the restroom; or would you pay $2.50 for a cup of joe at Starbucks, $10 for internet, and then use the public bathroom. You might go for the latter -- so the value of the pass is $12 not $40.

When you think about the real value of the benefits, and net out the extra $$ that you spend to get them (higher prices plus annual fee), it's hard to come up with a compelling ROI depending on what you would otherwise do.