An easy way to accumulate points is to get cards for every purpose, or to cover every major category, travel and dinning for instance are major areas where money is spent, so getting a card that gets bonuses in those areas will help you accumulate points quickly. Being that the banks are in the business to make money not all cards give you amazing bonuses, some give you for travel and dining while other for supermarkets and gas stations.
There are 2 major banks that compete for your money and these are the 2 major banks that will likely yield you the best results.
Chase
Keep in mind that to transfer points from the Chase Freedom cards to an airline program, which is usually the best way to go, you need to have either the Chase Sapphire Reserve or Sapphire Preferred.
Some of the most common pair ups are to keep it in the same bank for instance Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Freedom Unlimited. So in this instance you would use the CSR for travel, dining for 3x's the points and the rest of your spend on the Chase Freedom Unlimited to earn 1.5x's the points everywhere else.
I know some people that do Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Freedom Unlimited and the Chase Freedom to get a bonus in rotating categories as well as their spend.
American Express
American Express has a couple of products that pair up nicely.
American Express Platinum has long been used to show class, and it gives a whooping
5x's points on travel (and hotels booked through their site). Pair that with an American Express Everyday Preferred Card and you will get 4.5x's the points at Supermarkets and up to 3x's the points at gas stations, while earning 1.5x's on everything else.
You don't have to spend 550 a year annually though, you can redeem your points to an airline program if you have just the Everyday card. Or you can get the American Express Gold card and still earn travel points, just not nearly as much.
Conclusion
Deciding on what credit card company to use can solely depend on your type of spend. So use the calculator to see what cards will work best for you.