Well, I think what he meant was: do you want to accumulate points for hotel stays? Or for airline tickets? Or do you want a more general approach? If you have 4 kids, for example, it will take you a lifetime to accumulate enough miles to get 5 First Class tickets to Europe, and then good-luck with availability. But if you're single, then that one and only First-Class Suite is not too far out of reach. Similarly, if you have a large family focussing on hotel stays may be the better bet since it doesn't matter if you're 1 or 5 in a villa or suite sometimes, the points are the same.

So "best" is relative.

And from where you are: Sydney means you have every option of airline at your disposal. If you'd been in a smaller town it might've meant that you were held hostage to whatever few airlines service your nearest airport.

Personally, my advice to anyone just starting is to have a look at the various cards offered by American Express. AmEx's Membership Rewards programme is (mostly) flexible enough, and generous enough for people who don't want to be "fiddling around" as you say.

Also: you have almost 11k posts on FT!!! Crazy.