Lots of good points earlier.

Let me share what I have learned in over 30 years of heavy travel.

First, five important questions to ask yourself;

1. What do you want to do with your points? Hotel nights? Packages? Gifts?
2. Where are you going to travel? USA? Europe?
3. Is it YOUR money or COMPANY funds? Who's paying? Is $/night important?
4. Is point longevity important? i.e., do you plan on saving points for YEARS?
5. Are you loyal? Can you stick with one chain or do you want to hop around?

This will help guide you. Then look at the programs and decide whom has the best.

If, for example, it's YOUR dime, and what's important to you is saving money while gaining FREE NIGHTS, well then you need to look at what will give you the most bang for your buck. When, for example, Choice Hotels runs a "Stay 2 get 1 FREE" you simply can't beat that if your goal is to gain quick free nights and spend very little.

Or, if, for example, you want to bank points for decades, Marriott is a good pick for "Longevity". Their points never seem to expire. I logged a huge number of points in the late 80's and early 90's and did not cash them in until last year. They were STILL pretty darn valuable.

Do you like LUXURY? Is it a company dime and they are willing to pay for your "Luxury"? Or is it your dime and you happen to be in a position financially where money is no object? Then you may wish to look at Fairmont, or another upscale chain.

If staying ANYWHERE you may roam (US and Overseas) you may need to compromise if you want consistent points. Again, Choice has good brand penetration both in the US and overseas, however, they are not an "Upscale" chain. Comfortable and clean? Yes, but not a 4 star experience. And they are quirky. i.e., try and find a Choice Hotel on the Hawaiian Islands. You'll search for a while! But I have a pad in Hawaii so it's not important to me to have them there. Mainland US and Europe and Canada? Lots and lots of them.

Hilton/Hyatt/Marriott? Look at where they are and see how their points programs stack up. Starwood/Stash/IPrefer and many others have some options on hotels. Stash and iPrefer offer luxury but a random assortment of hotels grouped together, sort of like Best Western (but more upscale), lots of independents working together but you gain points with one brand club.

I've got a friend whom stays at Hampton Inns. He plans his weeks and months of travel so that he will always wind up at a Hampton. He then banks his Hilton rewards and goes on nice trips with his wife to upscale Hilton properties for vacations. That's all that is important to him.

So set your priorities, look at the potential candidates, review their programs, and try picking a few.

When I started in business in the 80's, Holiday Inn was the bomb. They had a great rewards program, were inexpensive enough for most companies (we were all on an expense account in those days) to swallow, and they were EVERYWHERE.

I then migrated to Sheraton (now Starwood). I stayed with Sheraton for a long time, and then migrated to Marriott. From there to Hilton, and then Choice (because of the stay 2 get 1 free). I'm a company owner now and cash flow and expense management are VERY important to me.

Have fun!

WELCOME TO FLYERTALK!