Hi, Group,

This is my first post, so, please be gentle!

My goal: serious UA or AA bonus points.

The hassle/time factor isn't worth it to me to deal with small bonuses. For example, I signed up today for 1,000 UA miles through their dining program then learned I can only get the miles if I dine at certain restaurants within 30 days, $40 minimum, then review the experience, etc. Ugh. I'm fine with general spending limits, but dislike those kind of niggling requirements or restrictions for such a small bonus.

I've been UA Gold for a while but I'm going to soon lose it. (Crying!) I'm in Houston, so UA is my preferred airline. A friend is a flight attendant, so I'll give up my "hard-earned" UA Gold status 12/2013 and use her standby pass hopefully until December 2014. It's working out ok, but I really will miss my Gold status when the standby pass expires.

Sometimes, I get stuck on the pass. I've burned through miles to get back to the US or plan to have a vacation rental away and standby looks too dicey. I need to replenish my miles bank.

CREDIT CARDS: I of course prefer first-year-fee-free cards, but will pay if the benefit is of great value to me. I have the UA Presidential Plus card which I find worth the $395 for lounge access. And Hilton/Hyatt/Marriott-Ritz card gave me free hotel nights, and love the Fairmont $89 credit card for 2 free nights that I'll use next year (they block out all the good-weather or seasonal times.) But the last Chase card I applied for and got the "we'll tell you later" message, I called reconsideration and was able to shift credit limits around. I'm probably max'd out on Chase credit cards.

I hesitate to cancel cards now which have unused benefits like free hotel nights.

Any suggestions about new credit cards once I have so many? I'm guessing they have to be non-Chase.

I recently mistakenly cancelled my Ritz card a couple of months before the annual fee was due (first year was free) as they reimburse $200 in airline incidentals--love that! and I still had another flight before the fee was due. $200= free drinks/snack on flights.

FIDELITY, etc.: I just earned the 50,000 miles through the Fidelity deposit this week and they said it'll take 6-8 weeks to post miles. I went 'round with them last year, and have waited the 12 month period.

Anything from Schwab or other institutions for deposits? All big bonuses but Fidelity seem to have expired. I've Googled it and can't find any other bank or financial institution giving similar bonus miles on UA or AA.

I fly mostly internationally, not interested in domestic generally.

Thank you so much for any ideas.
Happy travels.