Domestically in Canada outside of hubs like YYZ, YVR and YYC, the Elite level (35,000 miles or 60 segments) has major problems, but SuperElite (100,000 miles or 160 segments) is very, very good with the ability to convert unsold seats in both J and Y into award seats for the regular # of points (i.e., 40,000/25,000)in addition to a ton of other benefits.

Beware that in Canada, however, AC has started to eliminate 2-class service on a lot of their routes and thus upgrades are meaningless. The same can hold true for many of their transborder routes where they are use lots of CRJ, Dash8 and a smattering of BAe146 planes.

AC also has a short-haul reward system that is 15,000 miles depending on location.

Finally, in low season they discount the # of miles needed for some awards and destinations.

As to award availability for non-SuperElites, it's very, very difficult on popular routes and a real exercise on patience on the rest. An Elite can obtain an unsold Y seat for double points (i.e, 30,000 short-haul like YYZ-DCA or 50,000 for YYZ-LAX). This latter "feature" was introduced last year when they took away the SuperElite ability mentioned above from Elites. It is extremely contentious with Elites.