Good to hear you have seen some coach redemptions from LGA to ATL. That is the itinerary I search for most frequently and almost always come up empty. ATL-MIA is often open but what I usually see is connections to LGA that of course cost 2X points or FC space which costs 3X points. If your timing is good or perhaps if you are doing this well in advance, this could work well for you. And.. if you are actually travelling with someone else, I would do what I could to get a business and personal SW card and get my 100K points posting early next year.

As for hotel, I have HH, SPG, and Chase cards. I find that each city has a "best" award scenario. I get about 4 pts per dollar spent on HH, 1 point on SPG and about 1.3 on CSP. So in NYC, it takes me $12k spend for a tolerable SPG room, and about $15K spend for a HH room. Other cities have different profiles where Hilton or Hyatt via CSP is preferred. As with you, the 5th night free feature is lost on me.

Good luck and happy (free) travels!