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...
No more so than AE flights on AC and other carriers that now add the fuel surcharge, though AE online does not add the booking fee AM does. Flights are less and less an option for AM, though I think they can still be worthwhile on short haul flights where the fare saved can be in the $300 range and fees
just $150 or so. Longer haul flights have all the same charges that revenue tickets include and often base fares are only $300 or so.
It would appear to be best to use AMs for gift cards...even the new instant cash is not as good a deal. (VIA tickets are the best travel redemption at the moment with the reduced redemption rate per $100 card.) If you plan to travel in the southern Ontario-Quebec corridor, much better deal even in Via1 than flying.