The use of IHG is more of a suggestion than anything else I dont HAAAAVE to use it. I travel within EMEA and there is a possibility to travel outside of this region ( rare but its there) I use LH only since it has the best connections out of my local airport and to gain lounge access as it makes the airports a bit nicer. The alternatives would be AF/KLM/Turkish/ airberlin or eurowings. Now in regards to hotels... well I have a budget of approx 80-120 euros per night plus food and drinks but in some cities that wont get you much like stockholm or copenhagen so if I go a bit over everyonce in a while no one will scream. I plan to use the miles for an occasional ticket on vacation and the IHG points dont hurt the vacation budget when if I catn book a room everyonce in a while.

Guys the support here has been phenomenal, thanks to all once again!