I don’t disagree with your overall comment, but one can start at the “middle” of other programs via credit card, so don’t have to be status-less when branching out elsewhere.

Marriott get 75% of my 100 nights but the Amex aspire gets Hilton diamond which is nice for some holiday resorts and of course the weekend certificate plus other Aspire benefits

Thanks all for your input. Seems like highest Hilton elite level is easily achievable via the Amex Aspire card (not sure why anyone who uses Hilton would not get that card since the hotel and air credit more than cover the annual fee). As I suspected, Hyatt seems like a better rewards program but far harder to climb. At the very least, for now, I will bide my time with Marriott and think about whether I want to try next calendar year.

i agree that for many the sentiment rightly should be to enjoy the fruits of your hard won lifetime status. For me, I figured that I eas lucky enough to have a spate of significant travel the past 5-6 years that got me over the top Marriott lifetime hump pre-merger and, given my “middle-age” age, I still have probably a couple of decades of moderately-busy travel, now would be the beat time if I ever wanted to take a stab at another program.

Again, thanks for all the ideas/feedback.