oh wow that's alot of cards and you have covered all the different bases
!
May I ask why you prefer the Citi over the Chase in terms of credit card (with the exception of IHG)?
Aside from the annual fee, Citi premier/prestige and Chase sapphire preferred/reserve gives roughly same rate (maybe CSP less in some categories). Is it due to the ease of redemption for Non-US items like flight partners and hotels?
I don't think they give the same earn rates.
CSP gives 2x travel and dining. (more travel categories)
Citi Premier gives 3x airlines, hotels, dining, grocery, gas.
CSR gives 3x travel and dining. (more travel categories)
Citi Prestige gives 5x dining, airlines and travel agencies. 3x hotels and cruise.
It depends on your lifestyle I think. I eat out and drink a lot so 5x dining is something I value. Prestige also gives 2x 4th night free. Even though it's not as good as in the past, I still make use of it.
Moreover, I like Mastercard. The exchange is normally at the time of the transaction and it's almost always better than Visa from my experience.
People might find transfer partners at Chase better but I mostly transfer to SQ so no issue for me. For hotels, you can transfer Chase points to Marriott, IHG, and Hyatt. None with Citi. For airlines, as far as I remember Chase has BA and United while Citi doesn't. However, Citi has Qantas, Lifemiles, Cathay, EVA, Thai etc. which are more useful for me.
And one last thing, you can only have one Sapphire card at a time and you can only get a signup bonus once every 48 months (should add a few more months depending on when you get the bonus). Say if you have CSR, then 4 years later you want a bonus from CSP, you will need to downgrade CSR to something like freedom first but that's not convenient if CSR is your main card.
With Citi, as long as you don't open or close any thankyou card in 24 months (holding one is fine), you are eligible for the bonus. You can hold both Premier and Prestige. I will cancel Premier and sign up again in 24 months. Use it for a year and then repeat the process (if they don't change the rules).