IMHO, Cap1 is a quasi criminal enterprise ( and I only say quasi to be kind). The very recent 165 million dollars it paid for cheating credit card customers is just the culmination of many years of bad behavior.
http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-mone...card-marketing
It should be avoided--(okay, I confess, I was tempted by the 110,000 bonus points offer they had a couple of years ago, got the card, got $1100 in travel for free and moved on
).
But, I avoid them unless the bonus is overwhelming and I am weak.
On a different point, as has been mentioned above, miles are generally a LOT better than cash back. Perhaps, OP, you should rethink your desires to include some first class flying to, say, Paris?