Why dismiss Aeroplan so quickly? Sure it's far from perfect but it's easy to rack up a few hundred thousand miles with card churns. I've got some redemptions that are 8-10c a mile for J and F. You can also rack up MR miles even easier and instant transfer to AP if needed. I think using MR against travel is like a measly 1%?

I used the Aspire card when I needed to divert spend from AP cards, it's good at 2%.