Originally Posted by Boraxo

Au contraire. Customer service becomes paramount for someone who doesn't travel a lot. Amex CSRs are terrible, Amex treats customers like dirt. Citi is the opposite. I am sure it is important to OP that she be treated well by whatever issuer she chooses. Amex does not meet that criteria, as evidenced by hundreds of postings in the credit card section of amexsux.

As for ease of use, with the exception of a few FTers, AA has a well deserved reputation for providing awards seats on AA metal or its partners. OTOH, SPG has - as indicated above- done a stealth raise of award levels without any prior notice - not very customer friendly and certainly not too good for people who are saving up points for hotel rewards. The transfer program is nice, but who knows how long that will last? Just ask all those Amtrak folks who planned to transfer points to UA. And we all know how SPG treats low level elites (the OP would not even be an elite).

As I said, I think that there is room for different opinions on the "best card" subject, as evidenced by the numerous threads. It is always amusing when someone tries to quash dissent with a non-sequiter, i.e. "axe to grind" usually an indication of the weakness of his position.