Thanks for the replies everyone! Definitely enjoying the incredible knowledge here on FT

To answer all the questions:

I plan to spend ~40 nights a year out of these hotels just for work. We'd like to spend another 10 or so a year on vacation (preferably free, which is why we're trying to decide how to strategize/concentrate our hotel stays). We're based in the US so have access to any/al hotel cards.

2) What credit cards can you get that are affiliated with hotel chains? You seem to live outside of the USA and Asia.

We're based in the US so have access to any all hotel cards.

3) What hotel chains does wife's airline use for FA stays?

My wife's airline uses Marriott/Hilton/SPG etc for FA stays.

4) BTW, it doesn't hurt to join every hotel program since you don't know when you might be staying in some hotel from various chains.

You might want to strategize whether to split your hotel stays between your accounts and your wife's accounts to mazimize benefits, with her account being used for the chains where her airline sends her.

We have joined every hotel program, though we're trying to figure out which hotel program/credit card to concentrate on since I can choose which hotels I stay at around 40-50 nights a year. These are in major cities so I have good access to Marriott/Hllton/Hyatt. Should I just 1) spread my stays across all these cards/programs or 2) Just use different hotel chains and put them all on my chase preferred/reserve (though again I don't need airline pos) or 3) should I aim for one to get some type of lifetime status first? It seems like having a primary hotel program + a secondary is the best bet though unclear on how to strategize.