Originally Posted by YVRflyer2012

Air Miles is a rip-off for flights. They charge excessive fees. Use it for other things (ex: Disney passes), or gift cards (like gas cards) and then buy the airline tickets. Or, you could look at using to to pay for all or part of a "vacation", if you want them to book the whole thing (hotel and flight) for you. They use the points to deduct an equivalent cash amount. You have to phone their travel centre direct for this. I'm looking into it currently, so couldn't say if it's worth it or not.

Just my thoughts from another newbie here...