Yeah, I see your points about the lightweightness of the 6K cap, but some of us lack the time / opportunity / drive for thicker MS'ing (and as a single guy who gets free meals at the office except on weekends, I'm not spending anywhere close to $6K/yr on groceries ).

re: hotels... sorry, I realize it's a bit off topic here, but have you checked out the Club Carlson card? I've been very impressed with it so far, with an excellent recent 2-nights-for-the-cost-one-1-award-night redemption in a nice hotel in Shanghai. You get 5 club points per $1 on un-bonus'd spend, and the annual fee is far offset by the annual 40K bonus point allotment.