Thank you Yvrgary for explaining it in detail. I guess I will stick to my old methods of booking online and paying in full rather than going this Aeroplan route. I was signed up to this through my TD Bank agent and didn't grasp that it would certainly not be helpful to me or valuable as other mile cards with such restrictions as you informed. I guess I better use that 30K miles for a N.A flight someday.

I will simply go back to using my Amex Gold card now. What a waste of time and money...