Welcome to Flyertalk!
While answering all your question in depth would come close to a dissertation, here are just a few pointers:
- have a look at the hotels youŽd be most interested in and compare how much money youŽd have to spend to earn enough points for a reward night
- Are you aiming at the highest status level? What perks are important to you? E.g. I would probably say the best top tier status of the programs you mentioned is Hyatt Diamond status due to a generous free breakfast policy and 4 confirmed suite upgrade certs (each valid for up to 7 nights), however the number of high-end Hyatts is limited
- each of the hotel chains has a very diverse hotel portfolio ranging from very simple 1* Staybridge hotels to excellent 5* Park Hyatts, Ritz Carltons etc., so discussing quality is a pretty moot point. THe more interesting question is: What hotels are there in your personal price range?
A few sources that may help getting you started:
- the various FAQ threads in the respective hotel forums
- The Loyalty Traveller blog (which has some excellent comparison charts of the various programs)