Help requested: optimizing miles/pts SFO-PHL
 

I have never been a frequent traveler for work, but I will soon be traveling out of the SF Bay Area to Philadelphia 12-16 times per year for 3 night stays each time. Looking at the flight schedules it seems best (least time consuming) to go with the SFO-PHL and PHL-SFO non-stops on either UA or US.

I would appreciate tips on how to maximize the 'bennies' from these trips. I don't have any existing FF or hotel status. My place of work will be in the city center, where most of the major DT PHL hotels are.

Which airline FF program would be 'better' to go with -- UA or US?
Which hotel program? There's a Westin, Sofitel, Kimpton, LeMeridien, Hyatt within walking distance of my work destination in PHL.
Anything else I should think about?

If there are existing threads to help me figure this out, please let me know.

Thanks very much in advance!

You can credit to either airline. Do you have miles with either? Do you have a personal preference for either airline based on past experience? Where else do you fly?

LeMeridien and Westin are part of the Starwood family. Do you have any personal preference?

Personal preferences. Where else do you travel or want to travel to? Have you read about the elite programs for US/UA and Hyatt/SPG (I have no familiarity with Sofitel and Kimpton)? Does anything seem appealing to you?

SPG, which includes Westin and LeMeridien, will allow you to do a challenge for status. 15 nights in 90 days equals Platinum (top tier) status.

Du you have a loyalty credit card? Will your employer allow you to use it to charge your travel related expenses? Check into getting a card with the hotel you will be staying with. You will often receive bonus points when you charge your stay.

I thought it would be better to earn and credit on the same airline? I have 30K miles on UA. I don't have a preference but I don't fly a lot and don't know if I should have a preference. I would want to accrue miles on the airline that gives me the most options for vacation travel with the family (Europe, Asia, U.S.).

No, my goal would be to accrue in the program that would give me awards faster with availability in the places I would travel on vacation. An added plus (but secondary to scoring award nights) would be getting upgraded on the business trips to PHL.

I have a family friend on Hyatt; his perspective is that it's best for getting to award nights, but Hyatts aren't in all places. That's the kind of take I'm looking for. I've stayed in some crappy Hyatts (the one on Wacker Drive in Chicago comes to mind), so I'm not really keen on going with Hyatt. I don't know much about SPG, HH, Kimpton, etc.

Hyatt's are good, but again they are the smallest of the major chains.

US should be better than UA in terms of schedule and mileage redemptions.

If you're going to be flying that much, I say pick one and stick with it. With some clever routing, you can get elite status (totally worth it). Get the airline's card to get some bonus miles, and w/ US you'll also get zone 2 boarding if you have their card (not sure about UA).

I'm new to all this but I'm finally getting why people are so excited about Starwood brands (Westin). I'm a Hilton person from awhile back, but if I was just getting started all over again, I'd go Starwood (I'm starting to transition my client meetings from Hilton to Starwood).

Enjoy Philly while you're here!