Thanks for confirming that my plan made sense. Corporate policy prohibits personal cards if you travel more than 1x/yr. I can safely say I have passed that already.

AA leaving was a bummer, but it was a slow pull-out (first cut AA routes dramatically, then only to AmerEagle to a hub that could be reached via car or train easily. Given that I'm not at a hub, and most of the time am not going to a hub for domestic, I frequently end up out on ST, back on *A.

For hotels, CDG = Hilton w Dbl Dip. The other chain will likely not stay at again (most int'l to France, not Germany) - only there for meeting - so not really worth joining their program per se.

I'm curious, what is trans-Atlantic Business like on AA compared to CO and AF?