I am pretty new to it. I only really got into this game a few months ago. I wish I had known years ago.... I'd easily be AA 1MM by now.

Apparently it's not really possible to get the SPG signup bonus more than once. A lot of CC companies are cracking down on churning.

The SPG card is preferred 1) because of the huge number of airline partners and 2) because of the 1.25x earnings potential. When you transfer a block of 20,000 SPG points to an airline program, you get a bonus of 5,000 miles tacked on -- an extra 25%. So you effectively earn 1.25 miles per dollar spent on the card, which is better than most airline-branded cards at just 1.0 mile per dollar spent. Amex Premier Rewards Gold is one that can get 2 points per dollar on a lot of categories of spending, and 3 on airfare; but unfortunately Membership Rewards are a lot more limited in terms of which programs they can transfer to. People place a premium on both MR and SPG points because of their flexibility, but SPG is a lot more flexible than MR. There is hardly a frequent flyer program out there that SPG *doesn't* transfer to.... so if you're looking to book a reward on a given airline, but you're short XX number of miles, you can use the SPG transfer to "top off" the account to book the reward. Same with MR, but again your options are more limited.

On the other hand, MR does offer transfer bonuses from time to time. For example there was a 50% bonus on British Airways miles just recently, and Delta promos come up pretty often -- and there have been some that even got MQM (elite qualifying miles) on Delta, which is huge if you're a Delta frequent flyer.

So basically SPG is sort of the "best miles per dollar spend" card around for most airline programs. If your primary airline is British Airways, Delta, or US Airways (or one of the other MR partners -- mostly foreign airlines) then the Premier Rewards Gold might be a better option overall, depending on your spending categories (although the annual fee is $175 vs. $65 for the SPG).