Hi, I hope I haven't put this in the wrong section but I wasn't at all sure where it should go.

After ten years off the road I am about to re-start serious international travel in my new role. The good part is that I'm almost a blank page now as far as FF programmes go. I have Marriott Gold and Hilton Diamond but nothing else and I'm not entirely beholden to either. To give some context about my current situation, I live in and am based in Edinburgh, UK. I'll likely be flying to and within the USA a great deal over the next two years, including some trips to Canada and Brazil/Argentina. I have no airline FF status now, at all, and only the above hotel statuses.

This means that I'm free to pick an alliance and stick with it. Historically I was always a Marriott hotels and Mileage Plus chap and reached 1K for several years before stopping travel altogether. I'd like a hotel-airline tie-in as I mainly use my points for hotel stays.

If this was you and you had to start all over today, what airline/hotel loyalty programme would you pick, and why?

This thread would be the one
Which Frequent Flyer Program to Join? Help Is Here!

Thank you.

Where do you prefer connecting? If you have the freedom to book your own flights, do you have the option to connect via LHR and on to the US via BA, and is that preferrable (where you can get a train as a last resort), or do you prefer flying nonstop on UA to EWR and then connecting in that nightmare of an airport? Or do you prefer elsewhere in Europe (eg AMS as your handle suggests)?

It would be better to fly straight to the US but I hate connecting at EWR, so LHR would be preferable out of those options. I can book my own flights and have complete autonomy. I lived in the Netherlands for many years hence my handle... I'm not a big fan of flyiny 1.5 hours further east to then transfer to the US.

All indications are probably that BA is the way to go.

All of UA's flights to EDI are on 757s, which do not have PE. It looks like they added Chicago and Washington as well, but they're summer seasonal.

Many variables. For one, I'd suggest determining the Americas cites where you expect to fly, and see what European hubs offer good direct flight options. This way you can maximize the EC261 benefit when flights are disrupted. I always prefer staging extra flight hops in Europe rather than the US.