Its never fun realizing I'm being an idiot, but I do owe you both for taking the time point out that what I was thinking is complete trash - so thanks. Really. This is exactly the kind of thing I wanted - an honest account of what will work and what is just internet trash.

So it sounds like I should be focusing on big signup bonuses from airline specific cards is that right? Then I'm supposed to keep the card until I dump the miles all once so that they don't expire and reapply?

Sorry, I'm a bit in the dark on what I should be doing since no one seems to want blog or post an easy guide about that.