Maybe throw us a *little* bit of a bone geographically... North America? Europe? Middle East? Southeast Asia? Entire world equally likely?

In many cases, your home airport will naturally lead you to a "native" airline or short list of choices.

Also think about what kind of awards you'd want out of a program. Do you tend to plan intricate four-continent trips one year in advance? Do you like to do last minute awards? Are one-ways important to you?

How high of an elite tier would you reach with your regular paid travel?

The hotel preference probably doesn't matter a whole lot. There are ways to push miles and points around, converting in and out of hotel programs, but I'm guessing you'd generally rather earn and use hotel points at hotels.