idealflyer-
Thanks!
This is the kind of analysis I was looking for. She knows about the NW/DL thing, and the only reason she got DL at one point is because of their partnership with Virgin Atlantic.

She has top tier status with Amtrak (It's a lot easier when there aren't several carriers to choose from! ), so Acela lounge isn't a major concern. I think I agree with you that one from each alliance is the best approach. The only potential thought I had was choosing AS instead of one SkyTeam and AA (since AS covers both pretty well). However, then you get back to the upgrades/benefits argument, and I don't know that she'd ever see the benefits on AS because she doesn't fly them regularly.

So, I think so far, UA is in (I really don't like US, but then again, I don't live/travel up and down the east coast much).

The NW/CO/DL debate is a tougher one...NW/CO have reciprocal upgrades, which is nice. However, the partial EQM earning between them is kind of a pain in the butt.

I think that she should still get some account that would cover AA flights, since she will fly them every now and then (for example next week to California).

As far as hotels go, I'm just trying to get some momentum going with the airlines, and I'll worry about that later. Hopefully, eventually she'll get "it".