hi everyone -

thanks for the input. a few points:

-yes, we're ex-ZRH, so the mini-RTWs aren't such great value for us - we'd still have to get ourselves to canada!
-yes, we're canadian citizens but my wife is non-resident, so opening new amex/CIBC/etc accounts could be tricky
-yes, we're sort of motivated by a desire to mostly burn up our amassed points. they're being debased quickly and AC seems plagued by problems lately, so we feel like we might as well use them sooner instead of later.

thanks for the tips!

-mike