Need help choosing a credit card for earning hotel points (or advice as to whether its worth it). I'm looking for a good card that racks up the most hotel points for everyday purchases (groceries, gas etc..) I pay off my balance each month. I currently use the Marriot Silver Rewards card but I feel that it earns points too slowely for it to be worth it. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance

It's probably not worth it. For everyday spending, you'd have to get at least 2 cents/point value out of a hotel point (or 2/3 cent for a Hilton point). Nearly impossible.

In the specific categories you mentioned, there are better offers:
Groceries - UA card for 2 miles/$
Gas - PenFed Visa for 5% back

So you'd need to value the hotel points more highly than 2 UA miles or 5 cents cash, respectively. Very hard.

My situation
 

Thank you very much for this thread. It helped alot. After reading it I think I should make some changes and was wondering if any of you could help me optimize my situation.

Do you pay your bill in full at the end of each month? YES

How much spending are you going to put on the card? ~$1200

Are you striving for elite membership in a program? NO

Do you spend a lot with 'everyday purchase' retailers like grocery stores, restaurants, or the US Postal Service? Yes I try to pay for EVERYTHING with my AMEX green ($95 annual fee).

My estimated FICO score is 755-805. I want all my purchases to go towards miles as I will be traveling a lot between Utah and New York (out of state student). I most likely will participate in the US Mint Dollar Coin program on a regular basis. I want only ONE credit card. So I'm willing to drop the AMEX for a better option.

I've checked out some credit cards and found the Capital One VentureRewards card (2miles/$1, $59 fee) to be best suited for my needs SO FAR. I'm just curious if there are better options since I may or may not get approved. This card requires "excellent" credit.

The two Hilton cards for up to 100,000 points and the Priority Club card for 60,000 points are certainly worth it for the up front bonuses, though not for spending. Same for the new Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Signature Card offer for 50,000 points and a free night. The Starwood card gives a decent up front bonus and is the very best card for collecting miles, as 20,000 points transfer to 25,000 miles on many airlines (but not Continental or United), and U.S. Airways regularly offers 40% -100% bonuses for transferring hotel points to its miles.

I am looking to apply for a new mileage card(s). In November 2012, my mother got the Citibank AAdvantage 75k card and added me as an authorized user. That is the only card that I have had. The targeted use of my miles is travel to Spain, so US domestic only airlines would not be ideal. What would be a good card(s) with good bonus to get? Could I apply for the Citibank AAdvantage 75k card (plus the business card?) myself? Minimum spends are not an issue, and I do not mind an annual fee. I pay the bill in full every month, and I typically spend 4k-8k per month. Thank you in advance for the advice.

The Venture card is NOT a mileage card, regardless of the advertising. It's a 2% rebate card where the rebate can only be applied to travel. You book the travel in its cash price, then use the Venture website to convert one mile into 2 cents as a "credit" to your statement.

Compare this to most domestic airlines, where a space-available domestic ticket costs a fixed 25,000 miles, regardless of the distance.

First thing you need to figure out is how much it is likely to cost to travel your route on the dates you want.

Then divide that by 25,000 to figure out how much a legacy airline mile would be worth.

For example, if you find your dates are bookable for $350 round trip, then 350/25000 = 1.4 cents/mile value.

In other words, your ticket would need to be above $500 for traditional miles rewards to be worthwhile to you. (Actually a little more, because on a Venture redemption, you earn your regular FF miles on the flight, whereas with an airline reward ticket you don't.)

If you must keep all your spending on one card then it's unlikely any airline-branded card will work better for you than a 2% cash back card.

I would personally rather use the Fidelity Investment Rewards AMEX, if you are ok with AMEX. 2% cash back, no annual fee. So you save $59 each year plus you can use for things that are not travel.

Also, don't bank on (hah) using the Mint. It takes work and it's hard to get shipments fast enough to make it worthwhile, unless you're using it to earn signup bonuses.

(If you are willing to use more than 1 card or focus on signup bonuses, there is better advice.)

Being an authorized user shouldn't cause a problem applying. There is a thread in this forum with excruciating detail about how to apply. With your spending pattern, you could apply for both an AA Visa and AMEX on the same day. You can collect both 75k signup bonuses that way. See post 2 of that thread.

You're right about US domestic-only airlines. For others watching, do not discount US-based international airlines. You can typically redeem at a good price for partner airline flights. For example, AA miles can be used for tickets on Iberia.