Yes it is helpful, thanks Ionman! I'd be interested in others' comments too.

I'll probably just do a weekend trip to Scandinavia or maybe Amsterdam.

Are there any fares on BA, AY, and CX, that won't get me credit on CP or AA?

I will disagree on one point, though: I do consider the same-day LHR-MAN-LHR points run to be reasonable, even if it's the only other flight I make (I'm still debating). Why?

For <C$350 I get 50000 points from CP and AA. I'll be exhausted, but it requires the minimum loss of valuable (and expensive!) time in London. Saves time and cost of a round-trip from central London to Heathrow just for the points trip. Doesn't add a night in a hotel anywhere, or it saves checking out of my London hotel for one or two nights.

I do agree it makes more sense to do LHR-MAN as part of a two-carrier routing somewhere, but I just wanted to say why I think it's better than nothing and a reasonable value.

Thanks again!

andrew