Newbie question here. . .

I'm trying to figure out which will be more advantageous as our family joins Marriott Rewards (under my name) within the next day or two, points or miles? Just could use your personal thoughts and feelings.

I'm new to my company and am also a new AAdvantage member. My travel will be approximately a handful of business trips a year, for various lengths of times/days. I intend to plus up my AA miles, with all financial transactions going through a AA credit card and then paying them off.

My goal here is personal travel/vacation for a family of four on a yearly basis. Marriott is our hotel of choice for us, so we're not sure whether to invest heavily towards airline miles for our family and pay for a hotel out of pocket. Or to split miles/hotel points. Or do you gain Marriott reward points easily for this not to be a factor?

Hopefully this makes sense.