In addition to the advice regarding evaluating your destinations to determine the best card for you, I'd also consider that just as there is probably no "one" airline card that's best for everyone, there is no "one" hotel card either. I've pursued a two-tier strategy, with SPG for my higher-end stays and Choice for my lower-end stays. I've experimented with Hilton in the past couple of months but haven't found them satisfactory for my needs. I may also look at Hyatt as another possibility.

The key is to evaluate the earning and burning rates that most meet your needs. I don't ever expect to find a high-end Choice property for redemption; however, in December, I'm staying four nights in a Choice property in London that runs 8K points a night--when a lot of American Choice properties in Podunk cost 16K/night but sell to the walk-in customer for less than $100. The London hotel room is advertised on the Choice site for 150 pounds/night or about $250, so for 32K points, I'm saving about $1000. Given hotel room prices in London, I'm very happy to stay in a well-located, decent but not luxurious Choice property on points.

On the other side of the equation, I've paid to stay at some relatively inexpensive SPG properties with the goal of earning some good redemption opportunities. SPG ran a promotion over the spring and summer that provided a free resort night for every three hotel stays. Since the definition of a "stay" could be met with one night at a SPG hotel, I took advantage of any situation where I could stay in multiple SPG properties on a multi-day trip. My reward: three nights at the Turnberry Resort in Scotland in a room that was running approximately $600 per night. And, unlike my London Choice property, Turnberry was a true luxury experience.

Choice and SPG work for me. You might find that Hilton and Wyndham work best for you. Whether you choose to get a hotel's credit card or not, however, make sure you join the loyalty program of any hotel you ever stay in. You never know when your travel patterns might change.

By the way, I find Ric Garrido's site, http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/, to be a wealth of information on loyalty programs and promotions. He's the only travel blogger I know who focuses only on hotel programs. Digging into his archives will give you a lot of insight into the worth of most of the programs.