Hello, This is my first post as a newbie, so I hope, first of all that I am doing this correctly and in the correct location.

Ok ...with all the down grades and changes in programs, I am really confused regarding which program will give me the biggest " bang for the buck"
I travel now between 25-50 k a year...would like to do more, but that's it at present

Home airport is ROC... Our main hubs are either Toronto or New York. I also have family in Washington and Boston, so we sometimes combine a visit there with a transatlantic trip.

At this point, due to the lower miles, we usually fly the lowest economy fare that we can find and don't end up earning a lot of " metal" qualifying miles. However if I can find a way to boost miles earnings, I would love to be able to upgrade to business class in the future.

As things are now I would say that easily/low redemptions awards are the most important, followed by lounge access and then upgrades.

We fly usually one to two times a year for pleasure to either Europe or South America, and then also within the USA about 5 times ( at least...often more). My husband also goes to an occasional international conference, and I may tag along on my own ticket. However, our daughter lives South Korea and we are likely to be visiting her next year. We have some aspirational trips to take in the future ( Africa on Safari, India, Patagonia) as we are about 3 years--5 years away from retirement. We are on a school/ teachers schedule, so I am freer to try some mileage runs to boost miles in the summer ( just got interested in this) or on school holidays. I absolutely love to travel, my husband is a little more reluctant... I actually really like airports and him...not so much, but he is ok once we get there! He'd be much better about going if I could accrue enough miles to fly business and have lounge access. Me...I will basically travel anywhere and don't mind the travel time so much...just love new places and cultures.

No preferred airlines. However, Toronto is more pleasant and has less weather delays than New York. ...Summer and Winter. If we drive we can see a show, go into town for a nice dinner, and then leave the car at the hotel for free during the trip.If we fly through Boston, we can see our grandson, and stay overnight no cost, so that works too. Similar in DC., with family to stay with overnight.

Most of my points right now are stuck with Delta. However, we do accrue a lot with Chase Sapphire. I also just got the SPG Amex card with the 30 K bonus.
Thinking that I will use the SPG card for Star Alliance transfers. I have some United and Asiana flights right now that I need to deposit somewhere..Have not yet settled on a main program.,

So...not sure if there is a good Star Alliance choice for me. We often will take an inexpensive Air Canada flight to wherever in Europe and then use cheap inter-Europe airlines for connections.

I initially thought that Aeroplan, although devalued, might still be good. ...or at least the best of a bad bunch given where we are situated. Looks like they will further devalue short flights to a 250 mile from 500 mile in 2016. This might be still if they continue to have some airlines with which there are no ridiculous fuel surcharges. We would not be redeeming on Air Canada because of the fuel costs, but there are currently some options, like United without a fuel surcharge.

Another idea would be to go with British Air and accrue some Avios to offset the cost of short haul flights within Europe. We can often get there cheaply, but using a avios would allow us to have an inexpensive " connected" itinerary without the worry re lost connections that cheap European airlines present. Also could use Avios to get to London from Boston very reasonably.

Or.. We could go with either Asian or Agean. However, I'm do not want to deal with huge fuel surcharges.

Sorry for the really long post...any advice would be helpful and much appreciated!