Thanks!
I did some research, and I've signed up for all airline/hotel plans.
I plan to mainly use Alaska (I have Gold status already with them), Marriott (currently at Silver), and Hertz for car rentals (I signed up for their free Gold membership last year)
I also applied for an Amex Platinum (primarily for the airport lounges, refunds on airline expenses & global entry - which I'll apply for soon, and their concierge services, SPG Gold is nice too) - I compared vs the Visa Black and Ritz Carlton, but Amex Plat came out ahead on many fronts.
I plan to stay primarily at Marriott (I've been treated better at their hotels vs SPG), but am debating a bit all the effort, since I get free Gold status on SPG w/ Amex Plat.
Though I did sign up for the Marriott Rewards credit card too (15 elite points, and an extra elite point per $3000 spent, and 5 points per dollar at Marriott).
Does this seem like a reasonable first step?