Originally Posted by
mlv416
What do you mean about BA surcharges though?
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Yeah - I am just not a fan of Star Alliance (AC in particular) and I've heard nightmare stories about Aeroplan redemption with limited seats, but don't know if that is still the case. Will consider it though.
Unfortunately, now that we have a toddler, our vacation flight times will be the same as many other families, so Xmas break and March break - I just have a feeling those are generally blackout date times and/or limited seat availability times.
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True - my partner works at TD so we get the fee waived...do you know if when booking with Expedia we can combine these points with an Air Miles program or Esso or Petro points or something like that? Because I don't have any of those cards, but could add that easily.
re: BA surcharges -- if you had an RBC Avion you could transfer points into Avios (i.e. miles in the BA program). You could then redeem Avios for flights but would need to pay taxes and fees on the tickets; BA would charge you more than many other programs. That said, you can also transfer RBC to AA points or Asia miles (Cathay Pacific) which ends up better.
re: Star Alliance, blackout dates, availability, Aeroplan -- Aeroplan is by far the most flexible program if your home airport is YYZ (or anywhere in Canada for that matter), and also by far the easiest program to earn miles with regular credit card spend. That said, it does take a bit of work and a lot of time to get the most value out of it. If you're not willing to invest that time, you're probably better off with a straightforward travel card like the one you have now.
re: Expedia, Air Miles, etc -- the Air Miles program isn't a scam but it's close. You cannot combine the Expedia for TD benefit (i.e. extra 3% return compared to other spend) with the airmilesshops.ca portal (which would give you AM) or a cash back portal such as greatcanadianrebates.ca which could give you 3%-4.5% depending on where you booked.
I don't like the TD First Class much anymore because you now get only 1.2% unless you redeem through Expedia for TD. It's good if you travel a lot and go through Expedia for everything, but otherwise the Capital One Aspire Travel and the BMO World Elite have a much better 2% return on everything, and with the CapOne you can wipe out any travel expense and still get that rate.