To me with that much spending coming up I'd ask myself if I was ok with opening a lot of cards and splitting the spending among them to reach sign up bonuses.

If the answer is yes I'd apply for the AA cards (all three if you could, or even 2 for you, and two for a spouse/parent), and split the spending up. A total of just 4 cards with spending requirements met would net you 300,000 miles on AA. Sure they don't fly to your regonal airport...but 300,000 miles could be used to book hotels, or you could pay for a flight to a larger airport and then take the award flight from there.

If the answer is no, I'd focus on the higest milage/cash back possible (which has been outlined pretty well above AARP/Cap 1/SPG, etc). Of course it sounds like to do this you'd still need to apply for 1 or more cards...