What airlines and hotels are best for frequent travelers?

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Airlines- Delta (Gold) and United (Gold). I am not a fan of United, but would rather fly thru Houston than Atlanta.
How is American Airlines frequent travel programs?

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Of the 3 legacy carriers AA's FFP is usually rated the highest, especially if you have status.

I had status on UA, it wasn't all that great just based on how they do upgrades, board the plane, accrue miles, etc.

I have status on AA and it is much better than UA. The upgrades are more frequent, boarding is easier and smoother, and even though they just switched to a cost based FFP it is still way better than UA's.

Never had status on DL, but from what I hear/read it is pretty good as well for a US airline.

There is no one answer to this. Airline programs largely depend on what hub you live closest too. For example: It is hard to be a Delta loyal in DFW unless someone else is footing the bill no questions asked.

As far as hotels go - again, what hotels are usually in the places you visit? Hyatt program is by far the most rewarding program (at the top tier) imo but very few Hyatts compared to Hilton and Marriott.

If I were you, I would stay with Hilton and get 2 more years of Hilton Diamond. If you maintain Hilton Diamond status for 10 years (or after 1000 paid nights), you get lifetime Diamond status.

If ease of use is in question: UA and Hilton take the cake. If flexibility is in question: SPG
Strictly Benefits: AA EXP and Hyatt Diamond hard to beat

Overall I'd rate FFP for airlines as follows: AA>UA>DL (legacy carriers only). I've heard DL treats its elites the best because there are pretty much no shortcuts to elite status. Only way is to buy expensive (last minute) fares, so appeals to business travelers who aren't paying out of pocket. If you are constantly buying expensive fares for both work and leisure, DL is for you.

Hotel Programs: SPG>Hilton>Hyatt>Marriott

Hyatt #3 due to far fewer properties. You may find one to stay at for work, but hard to redeem if you are travelling aborad.

AS deserves a mention due to their awesome top tier status benefits, ease of earning miles and great redemption chart. However, very limited to the west coast.

Marriott as easy/hard to earn as Hilton but properties you want to stay at for leisure require too many points. Hilton is a lot better in that case. SPG is decent as well. If only Marriott + SPG could somehow go together with the proprties of the former and the loyalty program of the latter. Oh wait..

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TL;DR Switch to AA if you can. Stay with Hilton for at least 2 more years.

If you travel in Europe, I have found that Hilton Diamonds get treated a lot better than in the US...the lounges are better and free drinks, if that is important to you.

I was given Marriott Gold for a trial, and its nothing special..would never try to legitimately earn it (what is it, 50 nights?) over Hilton Diamond..although I will earn Marriott Gold though their 6 stays by 6/30 promo.

My insight on airlines is AA>DL>>>>>>>UA. If you're going for usable miles then AA>UA>>>>>>>DL. I've got status with American (platinum) and they've been great to me. Even when phone lines are over 2 hours long I've gotten through in 5-10 minutes. Complimentary upgrades on flights under 500 (6/7 on upgrades this year), use stickers for flights over that (examples being 2 for the flight to Chicago, 3 to Philly, etc.) So far no major issues this year, they did raise the milesaaver/anytime rates for international flights though in March

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TL;DR Switch to AA if you can. Stay with Hilton for at least 2 more years.

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I have thought about changing to AA. I started with Continental years ago and really liked the airline. Since United took over, it has gone down hill.

You are so off the mark here by saying Hilton points aren't worth it. That is simply not true. They are worth way more than Marriott imo if you look at just hotel redemptions.

Absolutely. I agree with you. I just have trouble finding a Marriott I want to stay at when travelling (leisure) that doesn't require an obnoxious amount of Marriott points. And Marriott points are much harder to earn than Hilton to begin with thereby making it a harder program to benefit from for redemptions during vacations.

Truth is - Marriott is very geared toward business travel. And they do a very very good job at it. So all your low to mid-tier properties are all in places where you probably wouldn't be staying at for vacation.

True. I think we are both a totally different demographic :) I don't "usually" stay at 5 star hotels.

But I do sometimes, but only when I have free night certificates. I've just been very fortunate to come across quite a few of these in the past few months. So I would never use points or cash to stay at a 5* property, unlike you

A few points to note. I live in NOLA and travel to BR a good bit for functions and what not. Last weekend I was in town for the Cancer Ball. To stay at the Hilton downtown BR was 130 a night or 61,000 points. To stay at the Renaissance on Bluebonnet was 113 a night or 20,000 points. Obviously at those low rates points are moot.

Oktoberfest, Munich 2009, I stayed at the Marriott for 25,000 points a night. It would have cost me 469 Euros if I had paid. I didn't even bother to look at Hilton since the Marriott deal was so much better.

I think it's harder to earn points at Hilton. Marriott is always running promotional bonuses (35,000 points, with a 15,000 additional bonus for additional nights).

I find the Hilton properties I stay at a little nicer than the comparable Marriotts. But I've been loyal to Marriott for 11 years now. And with Hilton matching my Platinum status and giving me Diamond, I'll stick to Marriott.