Originally Posted by
elefio
...Unfortunately, it must be different here in Italy: I get to pay full taxes if I book an Aircanada flight with my m&m miles.
I checked availability and prices just a few months ago, and for a flight from Rome to DeerLake (with a stop in Montreal), return ticket, they charged 60.000 Miles plus 365 Euro in taxes :-( . Also, availability was extremely low for July (one flight available in a 15 days range).... So what I did is that I gave up and ending up buy the flight online on the AC website at a total price of 760 Euro.
I dont have any status (it is actually displaid I have 0 status miles) even if everytime I fly to canada - 1 or 2 times a year- i give my m&m card number for miles- last flight was just last january) .
No its the same if you book an international AC flight, you will get charged for the taxes. AC also has very bad award availability - doesn't matter if its with aeroplan or M&M.
Next time, try booking the flight to major cities, like YYZ or YUL. And then get an award booking within Canada on M&M. It might work out cheaper than way.