I find that people are discussing two different programs; aeroplan is a points collecting scheme and altitude is the "loyalty" program. my reasoning for this is that you can collect tons of AP points without setting foot on an aircraft, AC or others, and you can spend your AP points on things other than flights. Altitude rewards you for putting your butt in an AC seat.
So are you (OP) asking what people want from their points collecting scheme or the loyalty to an airline? there are surely different answers to each.