Awake and Mia,
Thanks for the good suggestions. I like the idea of getting 1.6 MR points per $1 if I get an Amex with the The Nest and charge $15K on it because of the 10,000 MR welcome points. And it looks like I'd receive another 5,000 welcome MR points after I make my first purchase. The only thing I'll have to figure out now is how to link this card to my Amex charge card because the Nest card is MR Express where points can't be redeemed for airfare and my charge card is regular Membership Rewards with airline transfer benefits. Is there going to be an annual linkage fee?
Still deliberating on a back-up non-Amex card.
Thanks again.