Been planning on getting a new Apple laptop (around $3k) and expecting my AAdvantage Platinum Select in the mail any day now, so was thinking I could use it to meet the minimum spend in one shot and be done with it. Boom.

...but just saw Chase has Apple listed as 3x on there UR online shopping at the moment and my Sapphire Preferred is my standard, workhorse card.

Should I stick to the original plan or use the Sapphire for the laptop and truck around with the new Citi card for a while to meet minimum spend?

One last option is to wait, as the Ink Plus is one of the next cards up on my list but, as the Apple store will likely rotate out of UR deals before then, this is probably not the way to go.

Thoughts and advice?

You could go through a different portal and still use your AA card. United, for instance, has Apple at 1x (plus the miles from the AA card). That's a sure thing. You could also give it a shot with the Chase Portal and the AA card for a 2x bonus (they include the 1x from CSP in their 3x), but there's a chance you won't get anything at all if you don't use a Chase card.

If u dont have other means to hit min spending use this on a card with sign up bonus. 50k is better than 10. All your daily spend should ideally be directed to meeting some sort of sign up bonus - thats the best return possible.

As does the AA shopping portal.

I second azepine00 on this. I use manufactured spending at times, but more as a secondary method of meeting spend bonuses. If I've got a big purchase coming up and a new card on the way, I like to wait and put it on the card. It shows a regular spend pattern and keeps me from becoming too dependent on MS.