Originally Posted by
jerryhung
Key point - It's very hard to earn AA miles in Canada other than flying
This is the only way I know of to earn it (at decent rate)
For domestic, AA miles is still more than the king-of-short-haul Avios, so I'd only use AA for Premium long-haul cabins
LGA/JFK/ORD/DCA/CLT-YYZ is only 4500 Avios + $6 USD also, less than AA miles + $6
Very true about the domestic use of Avios on single leg flights. I will say this, though: AA miles can also be a good use for US to Canada flights that involve multiple legs. The amount of Avios needed for multiple leg flights are often more than 12.5K AA one way. And, of course, the taxes and fees are still much cheaper with AA than AC in this scenario.
But sure, the best use of AA miles is long haul F redemptions. Redemptions going TATL to Asia/Africa through the Middle East in F are only 90K one way, with no YQ. Can't beat that!