As noted it depends where you travel and what your goals are. I have both the marriott and Starwood cards. I am plat for both programs. Starwood is wonderful if you are looking for aspirational hotels. Overall the SPG card is the one to use due to the transferability to airlines as well the cash and points options for hotels. That said, if your goal is to be in a program that offers lifetime elite, then its marriott as SPG does not have this option today. I like the spg hotels overall better than the marriotts but marriott has much better coverage. Clearly there are pluses and minuses to every program