My girlfriend flies YYZ-RDU frequently. Fares are ridiculous, typically the advance purchase fare is $600+.

She usually gets to the airport fairly early. Her flight to RDU is at 9PM.

I was thinking of having her get the Aero Plat card. Would like comments on the benefits.

The annual fee is $499, not cheap. Bennies are:

1) 20K miles on enrollment and 10K for $1K spend in first three months. 30K miles is enough for two "short-haul" tickets, worth about $1300. From this standpoint it's a no-brainer.
2) When buying tickets, you can "top up" for 3 cents a mile if you are short on miles. Apparently you need to have 70% of miles available, so you have to have 10,500 in your account. Usually 3 cents a mile is no bargain, but in this case 15,000 miles @ 3 cents is $450, less than the actual ticket cost.
3) MLL access. Any comments on how much she'll appreciate this? Note, she doesn't travel with a laptop.
4) There was something about priority check-in and security lines. Has anyone used these?
5) 1.5 miles per dollar spent. I guess this means that if she spends $10K a year, she'll get a free flight, which is much better than what she gets on her present Visa rewards card.

Seems like a very good idea for her to get it, even at that high price. Could possibly downgrade in the future to the gold card, which wouldn't have lounge access, if she doesn't value that perk.