Originally Posted by
DaveObee
Don't be too down on Air Miles. They got my wife and daughter to Disneyland this year, and I took six flights using Air Miles this year, to California and Alberta as well as in B.C. Depending on the route and the sales on at the time, one Air Mile is worth 20 to 40 cents. True, you don't get Aeroplan points, and true, you're stuck in the back. But for short quick hauls, they work.
We get the points through banking (which we would do anyway) and (grocery shopping (ditto). One trip to Safeway last summer gave me enough points for a trip YYJ-YYC -- and the dollars spent was in roughly in line with the basic fare for the flight.
And for the record, a few years ago I did Air Miles to Europe, and ended up with Aeroplan points from the trip. I think that was a glitch in the system, but I decided I'd better tell anyone. Until now.
Airmiles "buys" reward tickets, in the case of AC it is in the lowest of the Tango class which does not offer any points even if you bought the tickets with $$$.
However when flying to Europe on KL, AF or Asia when not on AC I have received full status qualifying miles as well as status bonus miles with Skyteam carriers as well as op-ups during vacation period overbooking.
That has been my experience with Airmiles redeemed tickets, YMMV.