It’s raining 50,000 point and mile sign up bonuses. Today, we’ll wade through the offers to help you determine which is the best card for you.

Update April 2012: Many of the 50,000 offers are disappearing.  The post is updated to reflect those changes.

Chase Sapphire Preferred – 40,000 Ultimate Rewards Points

Quick Summary: Chase is offering 40,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $3,000 in the first three months. These points can be used for gift cards and all things in between. When use for travel, through Chase’s booking center, you get a 20% point bonus. That’s a $500 travel value.

Strong Points:

• $500 worth of travel that can be used on any airline, hotel, or car when booked through their travel site.
• Ability to transfer points to various programs like Continental (and thus United), British Airways, Amtrak, Priority Club, Marriott, and Hyatt.
• No foreign currency exchange.
• 7% annual bonus. Include the sign up bonus.
• 2 points per dollar spent on travel;  1 point per dollar spent on everything else.

Weak Points:

• I’m unable to verify the value of rewards through the booking portal because I don’t currently have an Ultimate Rewards account (but I should any day).

Get more card details here or sign up here.

Chase Ink Bold Business – 50,000 Ultimate Rewards

Quick Summary: Get 50,000 Ultimate Rewards after you spend $5,000 in the first three months.  Just like the Sapphire Preferred, you get a 20% point bonus when you use the Chase travel center to book travel.

Strong Points:

• $600 worth of travel that can be used on any airline, hotel, or car when booked through their travel site.
• Ability to transfer points to various programs like Continental (and thus United), British Airways, Amtrak, Priority Club, Marriott, and Hyatt. You may be required to also have a Chase Sapphire Preferred to first transfer the points there.
• Complimentary one year Priority Pass membership.

Weak Points:

• Higher than normal minimum spend requirement ($5,000)

Get more card details here or apply now.

Citi Premier – 30,000 ThankYou Rewards Points

Quick Summary: Citi is offering 30,000 ThankYou points after spending $2,500 in the first three months.  These points can be used for a variety of non-travel related items. This could include $300 worth of gift cards. Citi Premier members get a 33% point bonus when booking travel through the ThankYou Travel Center. That results in a $399 travel value.

Strong points:

• $399 value when using the points to book travel with the ThankYou Travel Center. Comparable rates when compared to other domestic US flights.
• Points can be used to pay for car rentals.
• Can fly on a variety or airlines.
• No foreign exchange fee.

Weak points:

• ThankYou Travel Center offers poor hotel redemption rates as compared to other online travel sites.
• No opportunity to transfer points to a mileage based program.

Get more card details here.

American Airlines – 50,000 AAdvantage Miles

Quick Summary: Citi will give you up 50,000 American Airlines miles depending on the card.  An offpeak trip to Europe costs 40,000 miles roundtrip.

Strong points:

• American Airlines has a solid program with good discounted off-peak economy rates
• Opportunity to get even more miles (total of 150,000) with the two browser application trick.
• $85 annual fee is waived for the first year

Weak points:

• Still charges a foreign currency
• Miles are locked into one program (American) and not transferable.

Quick Summary: Chase will give you 50,000 Marriott points and a free hotel stay (Category 1-4) when you spend $1,000 in the first 3 months. Depending on the destination, the value can be around $435 (in this example for Hawaii)

Strong points:

• An opportunity to get hotel points in the sea of good airfare offers.
• Easy redemption.
• No foreign currency.

Weak points:

• Not as flexible as other programs that allow hotel, airfare, and car rental options.
• Depending on location, may have a lower dollar value.

Get more card details here or sign up here. Remember, you don’t need to get only one!