Correct, at some point burn rates are going to outweigh earn rates, whether from the earn side from banks or organically if/when my family goes from 3 to 4 and they turn two years old each.

If and when Aeroplan truly becomes unaffordable we'll give up, but this devaluation is not that point. Credit card bonuses to this point have inflated along with Aeroplan's award chart. TD also targeted myself among others to open some other accounts which was worth 110k in total (and I didn't even open everything). I definitely don't fly enough to earn 100k any ff miles, not with the short Alaska Vegas hops and fifty percent earnings on the 600 cad specials to Hong Kong

Alaska has wound down their YVR and Bellingham operations significantly. Vegas and Honolulu are now seasonal, YVR to lax is down to one flight a day, and ex YVR fares are nothing special, and slightly better with the companion fare, which has its own problems with one stop service with an infant (same problems with ex Seattle flights with an infant, too much extra travel time that my spouse does not approve)

Citi was giving out 100k AA bonuses just last year (so the claim of 4 years ago seems misplaced), which is even better than the 75k today. I remember reading people getting 4 to 7 cards, manufacturing the 10k spend and then canceling the card to get annual fee refunds. I distinctly remember thinking this is why rules in the US were tightening up so much more relative to Canada, when people are generating 500k miles within a very compressed period of time.