I'm a newbie at this game but i'm looking for 3 tickets from YYZ to Cancun at the end on Dec. I understand this is the busiest time of the year. When I search around Dec26,27,etc I get there are no classicflight rewards available. Does this mean they are already gone? But for 275k points I can get a flight (ouch). While I probably can get the 275k in time it seems like an awful waste, but it's still ~1% of purchases. Better than the CIBC/RBC gold rewards for gift cards like we used to do (.8%).

How far in advance does AP release seats?

PS when is CIBC going to release a 1.5 card!!! amex is usless for the business spending we do so their 1.5 card is out.