I'm currently sitting on 2 pretty decent targeted offers for cards and I'm close to finishing the minimum spend of my Citi AA plat for 60k AA miles. I opened that card mid December of last year. I'm pretty new to this game so I've been keeping it slow and have only opened one card a quarter.

Currently have:
CSP
Chase Freedom
Amex Blue Cash
Amex PRG
BoA Travel Rewards Visa
Citi Plat AA Mastercard
Old CC from a credit union back when I was in college

I'm currently sitting on an offer for 50k points on a Delta gold amex which expires tomorrow and an 80k offer from chase for their IHG mastercard which expires mid February, each 1k min spend. I'm really contemplating getting both since:
1) I'm based in Detroit
2) I don't fly a particular airline enough for status and a free checked bag would be really useful to me. I already have 6 legs planned this year where I will check a bag.
3) Pointbreaks from IHG represent a pretty good value when they are convenient, and who knows if that offer would come back ever
4) I have a corporate rate with IHG which in several occasions has offered me good value despite the fact that I don't care much for their hotels/elite program

I'm currently trying to get my points in order for a F award around the world next year in February to SE Asia with LH/TG on the way there and CX on the return. I currently have about 56k United miles that in conjunction with a 55k bonus from the United Card and some UR points would put me at the 130k I would need to get to Asia in First. At the end of the day I could also do J award and just wait until later to try and get a targeted offer from chase for the UA MP card.

Other considerations I had:
SPG Amex - I never really got into SPG and 3k spend is pretty steep for only 25k points, regardless of their versatility. However I imagine this card is going away after the merger so soon rather than later might be better.
Citi Premier - Supposedly their are card changes coming up later this week. I just received a targeted offer last week for the 50k bonus which is valid until mid march.
Citi Prestige - the 4th night free benefit would be quite useful since most of my stays are paid at the moment as I build my point balances.
Hyatt Visa - 2 free nights at my preferred chain is pretty tough to beat

I try to limit the combined total spend to 3k per 3 months, maybe 4k depending on the expenses for that month. I don't MS and it seems like its too much of a hassle now to start with reselling now that Serve is dead. I never had a serve so maybe I could do a little before that get killed completely.

I'd assume if I was to go for the Delta and IHG card, I should apply for both today rather than wait on the second. I'm also curious to see how Chase's 5/24 rule expands and if it expands into the cobranded cards, could be a game changer. Any recommendations from some veterans? Personally I would drop all of them for a 100k offer for the Amex Plat

I would go with the cards that help me accomplish my stated goal.

Good luck

> 80k offer from chase for their IHG mastercard which expires mid February, each 1k min spend

register to IHG site, you can sometimes get 80k+$50 credit offer. Also, through April you can book some IHG rooms in certain hotels for as low as 5k.

> SPG Amex - I never really got into SPG and 3k spend is pretty steep for only 25k points, regardless of their versatility. However I imagine this card is going away after the merger so soon rather than later might be better.

If your Serve is still active, then just serve it! But yes I would get it within next 3-4 months.

> Citi Prestige - the 4th night free benefit would be quite useful since most of my stays are paid at the moment as I build my point balances.

get $350 AF offer in branch.

> Citi Premier - Supposedly their are card changes coming up later this week. I just received a targeted offer last week for the 50k bonus which is valid until mid march.

maybe sit this one out till march then?

This is always the case, not a special promo through April. IHG releases a new set of Pointbreak hotels each season, and they are 5k/night.

OP, are you saying you already plan on getting the United card? You mention that 55k would get you (close) to 130k. No reason to wait for a targeted offer - 55k is the best there is.

Look at the Citi AA Platinum thread here on FT. You may be eligible to get another AA Platinum card for 50k AA miles. If you get those quickly, you can book CX F before the mega devaluation.

As much as I love SPG, it sounds like they're not best for your stated goals. Unless you want to get them to transfer to AA to get you enough for CX F. For flying on LH/TG, they won't help much at all. Though I would agree, get SPG before it goes away. I think you have the better part of this year to do that, though, if not more.

I ended up going for the IHG and Delta cards. I was going to try and get the UA offer from a branch since I was unable to get it online but work kept me late and I wasn't able to get to a branch today. I'll just try again for it later on in the year and hope that it's still possible to get. I'll definitely hang onto the Citi Premier offer until March and reevaluate then and possibly try to get both then. Unfortunately there are not Citi banks in the Metro Detroit area that are a reasonable distance from my house so unless I'm flying somewhere that they exist it doesn't sound like I would be able to get the $350 annual fee version.

I should be good on AA miles to at least get my flight on CX, for me it's probably going to be a one-and-done deal since it will be way too much effort to do it again to get that many miles. If my bonus posts at the end of this month I'll be golden as it's probably best to book that flight ASAP rather than compete with other people trying to get their bookings in at the last minute in March. Plus since LH F isn't really bookable until 14 days to departure I still have time to figure out that one anyways. Perhaps I'll use these Skypesos to fly to Europe in business and make a short stop there before continuing onto Asia, only time will tell. I appreciate everyone's input.

Has your Citi AA Plat MC been upgraded (new card in the mail) from World to World Elite (look above the MC logo on the back)? If so (or when so), you can apply again for another Citi AA Plat card for 50k more miles. And then, if you do the spend on that and this "W->WE loophole" is still going, you can do it a third time.

So if you're interested in AA miles, please read up on this thread (first the wiki, then recent pages):

Keep in mind that AA opens award space only 331 days before departure. You will likely still be competing with others at the last minute in March for award travel next February.

Not to mention, CX F space tends to go fast once the booking window opens.

I'm aware. I was just listing the ideal case since I personally would like to make this a birthday gift to myself. It would just become an early birthday gift if it need be. More than likely it might be best to pick a date in mid/late January to give myself a date and take advantage of AA's award change policy and move the date further back if the availability is there. Ideally I wanted to make it the return leg that way I could access the lounge first class lounge in Hong Kong as I've read that you cannot access that lounge unless you are departing in F. Just for the full experience but honestly it probably doesn't matter, I don't really get the point of lounges. That being said I've never been in an lounge, so my opinion might change. I personally get to the airport with a small cushion of time to account for traffic and rather not be at the airport longer than I have to be.

That's pretty interesting. I did receive a World MC, not World Elite so if the loophole is still there I might just do this. According to the wiki my account should be upgraded to the WE and the card on its way. But unless I can MS the 3k for that it's probably not a good idea as that would encourage me to spend money I don't have and I'm very new to MS. Right when the going gets tough . But thank you for pointing this out to me though.