I haven't been following the changes to the Air Miles program too closely lately, but from what I can gather by reading info here and on other various websites, they've recently introduced three things to significantly mess up my reward redemption:

1. They've taken away gift cards that I used to love to redeem my points for (like Starbucks and Chapters). I guess this happened last year sometime. Reason: they are not partners. So - why not replace with more gift cards for partners? Didn't see any new ones when they took away the old ones.

2. They've introduced the 'Cash' redemption, where 95 points = $1.00 in cash. As a result, they've had to 'up' the redemption level for the gift cards they have left to match these redemption level, so you're not getting a better 'deal' out of redeeming for gift cards. So - where I used to get a $50 gift card for 385-ish points, I know need to spend 475-ish points. Holy crap!

3. Air miles now expire. That's a real downer, considering it takes most people FOREVER to save up enough to buy anything, because the program blows so badly.

So...what's left. Flights! I've never been too jazzed about redeeming flights on Air Miles, mostly because of the high/low season thing. I typically fly during high season and flight redemption amounts were always waaay too high. I also didn't like the idea of redeeming because they are not cancellable (so tack on another $40-$100+ for trip cancellation insurance for health/emergencies, but still running the risk of losing miles for cancelling for a personal reason).

I have 1695 miles in my account right now. This took a looong time to accumulate - maybe close to two years. And I get lots of bonus points at Safeway! At any rate, I went online to see what kind of flight I could get for these points. I was thinking of a long weekend trip from YVR-PHX in Jan or Feb (low season) and most Thu-Mon flights I looked up were unavailable. I did find a few Wed-Wed flights (which doesn't work for me, but I thought I'd check the redemption amount and fees). Redemption was 1,600 miles (gulp), taxes/fees were $219 (whaaa?) and the flight is not cancellable, so it would be about $40 or so to cover if for emergencies. So - $260 to redeem 1600 points to fly to Phoenix. Are you kidding me? I can fly to Phoenix via Allegant for $300 including taxes for the same dates (PLUS I can change this flight for a nominal fee). Also, that 1600 in points is valued at $170 in air miles cash (which is a horrible deal in the first place, but practically worth the same value of the flight - which is supposed to be the GOOD deal!). Yeesh...

Okay, so I guess short haul flights are not the best value for Air Miles redemption. Same holds true for my Aeroplan redemption (I usually redeem for flights out East and/or Business class - more bang for the points). So, maybe I hang on to them for a while so I can redeem for a flight out East? Or maybe I shouldn't even bother?

Even with all of my frustrations with Aeroplan, I feel like I get good value out of those points. I don't mind booking months in advance, because I get the flights I want, and I can cancel if my plans change. Sure, it costs a hefty $90+tax, but it hardly ever happens and the piece of mind that I have that option sits very well with me.

Another thing that picks me about Air Miles is they really have rotten new card sign-up promotions. 500 air miles to sign up for a $99/year gold mastercard? Really? That can't even get me a third of the way to Phoenix in the LOW SEASON! Most Aeroplan sign-up bonuses get you a short haul flight + only cost about $100 in taxes (not the $219 in taxes that would get me to Phoenix with 3 times the sign-up air miles) and you can use it anytime!

Man, I could go on and on about what a sh*tty program Air Miles is. I know I've seen some people get some good deals out of their miles, and have some really successful trips, but I for one, can't see how this will EVER work for me and I think it's time to just dump it all together...one less card to carry in my wallet...