Originally Posted by
gfunkdave
Good distinction: I am not much of a churner. I'm looking for a card that provides the highest-value rewards for everyday spending at the lowest annual fee. For a long time for me, that was the SPG Amex (especially when its annual fee was only $40 or so). It got me many a free night at nice hotels around the world.
Well, a Marriott/SPG post-merger card will still get you many a free night a nice hotels around the world, just
somewhat slower than the current SPG card perhaps. But it may be a Chase card (that is coming soon but not yet in existence today) that may make more sense than an Amex card, given the Amex will only have business and high-end (costly few not that great benefits) cards in the new program, Chase will get the "normal" cards.
It's not clear whether another card for a different hotel program will get you a free night at nice hotels around the world any faster. Hilton cards earn points faster but you often need more points at Hilton for free nights than at Marriott. A WyndhamRewards card might get you free nights faster (since
all hotels in their program are 15k points a night), but they have comparatively few nice hotels. Etc.