Airline I always stick within the alliance just because of the extra perks. When I'm travelling within NA I will stick with the big chain for points just because its hard to find independent hotels in NA and I don't like AirBnB. However, after Fairmont totally screwed me over with their new program I'm really second guessing the hotel points. When I'm travelling outside of NA I like to look for more unique places to stay but sometimes still end up at a big chain.