Hi,

I got wind that I will be getting a travel heavy schedule soon for work. I want to maximize my use of miles and points and wanted to seek some advice from the boards. Please feel free to move if it's in the wrong forum.

1) Which Hotel Chain should I go with? (I personally signed up with Marriott for their CC and might have a wedding in September so I wouldn't mind racking up points with them or at least using the Plat Challenge for this year)- However I have always heard good things about SPG and believe they are a good choice.
- I think I want to challenge Marriott for Plat and use SPG as a backup (Hyatt and Hilton are also in my sights)
- I have heard multiple complaints about benefits for Marriott, and personally haven't had any issues except at the Cosmo, but who hasn't? If I can achieve Diamond/Plat with Hyatt, Hilton or SPG I believe there are more benefits as well...I think I'm just partial because it's the first rewards program I've joined.

2) Is there a legacy airline that is preferred? (I signed up for the AA cards so I have quite a number of points plus the new card benefits are pretty good)

Or should I also be flying with United? (My fear is that with all the bonuses this year everyone flying AA is going to be Exec Plat next year and that means hard to get upgrades)

I received a Companion pass this year with WN, but don't know if I should start flying them for business (I'd like A-list to go with my CP?)

3) My company offers an upgrade of the Corp. Amex to Plat or I can upgrade it to get Amex MR points, should I opt in for the full plat upgrade? ( I believe I should if I'm traveling for more than 3 months for lounge access alone)

4) I guess the last part of this puzzle is that I also have a Chase Sapphire Preferred, which allows me to transfer points to programs so that might be something that's important if I want to use points for awards travel later.

Thanks for any advice!