Originally Posted by
echip
Go for these cards for now:
Chase Marriott 70K bonus + 1 free night
Chase Priority Club 80K
Amex SPG 25K
Amex Hilton 50K
Citi Hilton 50K
Bank of America Hawaii Airline 35K (transfer to Hilton for 70K)
Bank of Hawaii Hawaii Airline 35K (transfer to Hilton for 70K)
Citi AA Visa 50k and Amex 50k (two browsers trick). Total 100K AA miles, you can use AA miles for fly or hotels.
There are other offers out there, but don't apply too many cards from the same issuer.
Wait for the next round.
I agree with applying for many of these cards, although I would personally not burn miles for hotels, but to each his own.
Take the time to look at the various hotels in the places you'll be staying and
how much they cost in points. While comfort and safety may be more important to you than luxury, what about location? I found in Berlin that the best-located hotel was also the most luxurious. It was important to me to be downtown; you may not mind riding in on the train/bus/whatever.
If you are spending the week in one hotels, both SPG and Marriott (perhaps others) "give" you a free night after a certain number of nights (I believe for Marriott, 4 nights and 5 nights in a hotel cost the same number of points). That can help you figure out strategy for best place to use which points.
Finally, you can probably earn enough points to stay for free, but you may have trouble earning enough points to stay for free in one hotel for an entire trip. Are you willing to pay for the remaining nights in cash or will you change hotels? That can help you figure out what hotels to choose.