Gauge what you prioritize most =)
I fell into the 5% everything bandwagon and I really REALLY regret it now =\
Mainly cause you should really figure out what your really willing to save for. Personally for myself I do occassional international travel couple times a year. Using Chase / United combo I get the best bang for my buck here.
Always gauge how much each value is worth, for instance Hilton Surpass vs Starwood point, even with 6 point categories I wouldn't trade 1 Starwood point. Cause each Starwood point to me is valued atleast 3 cents, and each Hilton point is worth about 0.5 cents.
So read up on things and find what works best for you. Also if your just looking to save money check out places like Cardpool, you can find cards upto 35% off in places like JCPenny (which includes Sephoras inside JCP) and Urban outfitters, and many other shops. You can also find gift cards there too. Also another thing to point out if you live close to a Publix if you have extra cash, you can save some extra money by buying $6,000 of publix gift card with Amex BCP and after buying $4,000 if you call in the order to HQ you can get 3% discount + 6% from the BCP annual cap. for groceries. Still cardpool has these cards at 15% off last I checked. Remember you also get points when you buy those cards 
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Why I gave up on 5% cards for Frequent flyer programs etc.
1 coach ticket can run as much as $2,800 to Vietnam or Japan from Tampa, FL. Or I could use 65,000 United points (chase transfers 1:1) so in this scenario (and chase travel site to redeem is terrible usually, check if it's better to transfer to United before you spend. For me it felt like a trap)
Anyways in this case 1 point would = 4.3 cents on the dollar during high volume times, and with United the award seating is pretty easy to find on most days.
With a card like United Club (high annual fee) but 1.5 miles for every dollar would total upto 6.5 cents per dollar spent. This is the definate go to card for high season times.
Now for low season the best card imo is US Bank Flexperks. 1 Flexpoint = upto 2 cents redemption. If your military or hold $25,000 in their bank you get 1.5 Flexpoints per dollar = becoming a 3% card. Flexperks rewards are considered like cash, so if you redeem your awards unlike United cards, you'll get the miles flown, and work towards your status.
Now Vietnam trips can be around 22,000 miles roundtrip, so since 65,000 miles = free flight it's basically buy 3 get 1 free for me. Although if I used United Awards it will exclude the award flight from aquiring miles. Best way to redeem United Miles is for first class tickets which you can find for 140,000 points which usually isn't too hard to find if your a little flexible. $12,000 flight high season -_-; then each point is worth about 11.66 cents per point.
Now if I get a flight with US Flexperks during low season about $1,200 I'll need 70,000 Flexpoints. ($1,000 to $1,400 ticket) 1.7 cents value per point doesn't sound amazing, but considering you get 22,000 miles flown credit for economy it makes it a great deal no matter how you look at it. since 70,000 would probably be about 40,000 spent with some bonus categories. (with Platinum checking), but it's still better than Capital One Venture card imo. and it's nice to avoid 3x inquiries as well.
Over all 1.7 cents value for a off season ticket + 22,000 miles flown for a 70,000 Flexperks points and working towards airline status is great. Considering 22,000 miles is basically about 33% of a ticket that's easily saves $400 off season to $900 on season on future tickets.
