Remember that this game is a marathon, not a sprint. While signup bonuses are eye catching and certainly rewarding in the short term, you need to look at the long term benefits of the cards you are considering. The Delta Platinum gives you a companion ticket every year, at a cost of $195 for the annual fee. It also gives you 10K bonus miles if you spend $25K in a year, and the usual Delta stuff if you care (earlier boarding, etc). In your situation I would rule out the Delta Gold and the everyday preferred, as for $100 more in annual fees you get a free companion ticket and the 10K miles if you indeed spend at least $45K as you mention. If you travel as a family you should be able to use the two companion tickets, otherwise just spend a weekend away with your honey :-).