OP, consider getting the Starwood AMEX card:

You can convert starpoints 1 to 1 to many other frequent flyer programs. On top of that, every time you convert 20,000 points, you get a bonus 5,000 points. So actually you get 1.25 points for 1 point. (e.g. 20,000 spg points = 25,000 AA points).
Check out the details here:
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/prefer...eem/index.html

And obviously you can use all the points you accrue to get free hotel stays as well. Since you spend over $30,000 a year, you can get automatically upgraded to gold status.

www.spgamex.com