So a year ago, I never thought I would be in a position to have to ask about this....but I need some advice regarding which cards to use for heavy spending.

New job I started a couple months ago has a pretty lax 'travel policy.' I basically go ahead and book everything on my own, then file a reimbursement request, and get payment via check.

Have been on 3 trips so far since beginning of July...expenses have been about $13,000 cumulatively. Do the math per trip lol.

Trips are almost always decided 2 or 3 days prior to actual departure, so flights alone (economy) are $1000+ usually. Rental car is usually another $800-$1000 (depending on if I stay for 3 or 4 days vs. 7 days). Then, hotel, food, gas, etc on top of that.

I'm currently on my 4th trip, and this one will likely exceed $3000 as well.

So, it's fair to say that I'm spending about $3000-$5000 on average per month on airfare, rental car, and hotel/food for these trips.

What type of card might be ideal for this?

I'm currently using an AMEX Gold & Hilton HHonors. Already got 115,000 Hilton points (40k from starting bonus) from just 2 stays at Hiltons (6 nights cumulatively) along with the other spending on the card. Maybe I can just rack up Hilton points, maybe go up to 500K points, then use something else.

I don't know. I'd rather not sign up for a gazillion other cards to fulfill signing bonuses with large spend requirements (unless for example, I know there were some like 50,000 AMEX points after $30K spend in 6 months, etc. but that one might be a little hard even with my high level of spending just for work), unless there are some really compelling deals.

Otherwise, I'd prefer to stick to one or two like AMEX Gold/AMEX Hilton or Chase Sapphire Preferred or maybe upgrade to AMEX Platinum (the Plat might actually be useful - most trips, I am at usually at 4 star hotels, sometimes 3, and I spend at least 1-2 nights per trip in a 5-star. I know the Plat offers free room upgrades for places like the 4 Seasons, Mandarin Oriential, etc. if I'm not mistaken.)

Anyways, looking for any/all advice.

Thanks again!