Hi Everyone,
So CIBC enticed me into the CIBC Gold Aventura with 20,000 welcome points and First Year Free.

I've used Aeroplan for as long as I can remember, and it's the only "rewards" based program I've used for flights (I use airmiles for free movies tickets)

So I thought it would be interesting to see how Aventura works. What caught my attention was the Short Haul rewards for only 10,000 points (AE is 15,000). My primary purpose for Aventura will strictly be for short hall.

My partner is from St. John's so we often fly YHZ-YYT to visit his family.
We're planning on going May 29th June 3rd. So let's compare Aeroplan Vs. Aventura...


YHZ-YYT

Points Required:

Aventura: Starting at 10,500 going up to 14,600
Aeroplan: 15,000
WINNER: Aventura.

Availability:
Aventura: 144 flights. Porter, Westjet and Air Canada....
To compare Oranges to Oranges, let's just use Air Canada flights...
Total Air Canada flights available..... 36 Results.
Aeroplan: 4 results found (6:55am flight and 10:15pm. both bad times)
WINNER: Aventura

Point Options:
Aventura: 10,500 points = Westjet flighs
11,100 points = Porter Airlines
14,600 points = Air Canada.

Aeroplan: 15,000 points = Air Canada only option
WINNER: Aventura

Taxes And Fee's:
Aventrua: Westjet flight for 10,500 points = $129.84 Taxes+Fee's
Porter Flight for 11,100 points = $131.65 Taxes + Fee's
Air Canada for 14,600 points = $96.84 Taxes + Fee's

Aeroplan: Air Canada for 15,000 points = $164.34 Taxes + Fee's

Winner: Aventura.


"Market Fares"
Aventura: 26,784 points + ZERO Taxes
Aeroplan: 20,000 miles + $67 Taxes+Fee's
WINNER: Undetermined.


Another Comparison.

I'm going to go to Orlando for Thanksgiving this year to go to Disney.
So, let's compare

YHZ-MCO
Oct12-20th


Points Required:
Aventura: 25,000 - 33,000 points
Aeroplan: 25,000 miles
WINNER: Aeroplan

Availability:
Aventura: 250 flights found
Aeroplan: No rewards available. I had to change my return date to Oct 21st
WINNER: Aventura

Point Options

Aventura: 25,000 points = Delta Airlines
32,300 points = Mixed Airlines
32,600 points = US Airways
33,800 points = Air Canada

Aeroplan: 25,000 points = Air Canada

WINNER: Aeroplan

Taxes And Fees:

Aventura: 25,000 points on Delta = $129 Taxes + Fees
32,300 points on Mixed = $137 Taxes + Fees
32,600 points on US = $140 Taxes + Fees
33,800 points on AC = $136 Taxes + Fees

Aeroplan: 25,000 points on AC = $204 Taxes + Fees

WINNER: Aventura


Market Fares:
Aventura: 40,887 points + NO TAXES
Aeroplan: 49,000 points + $110 taxes

Winner: Aventura


Conclusion

Based on my VERY SMALL sample size, Aventura came out on top.
HOWEVER I'm still not 100% sold on Aventura as I think it may be hard to accumulate the miles. With Aeroplan there are many ways to accumulate miles , most importantly, by flying star alliance!
As far as I can tell, the only way to accumulate Aventura is by spending money on your aventura visa card.

This is a big factor for me. I still think my Aeroplan will continue to accumulate faster, which means I'll be needing to use my Aeroplan instead of Aventura. But when you consider you're getting 20,000 points for sign up, it seems Aventura is the best value for the sign up.

Sorry for the long post!!!

Very good summary.
I moved out from Aeroplan to RBC Avion (similar to CIBC Aventura) several years back. Plus also have Amex. You are correct that it takes longer to accumulate Aventura points however it is way easier to redeem as you can pretty much book anything. The main point for me is availability (multiple tickets) specially around March break, Christmas etc. Its difficult to get Aeroplan availability unless you book well in advance and even then there may not be enough seats or a convoluted routing.
I have redeemed Amex points, RBC points and Aeroplan this year.
For long haul J, Aeroplan is a better option.

With Aventura, you're stuck to CIBC's credit card. You need to keep a credit card account open, and start paying an annual fee, to keep your miles useful.

With Aeroplan, you don't need to hold onto a card. If you cancel all your cards, all your Aeroplan points stay active. I have 4 Aeroplan cards right now, and I don't expect to keep any of them more than a year.

Here was my experience with Aventura: churn and burn.
I got my 20,000 signup bonus, and then converted all the points to Aeroplan last year (just in time).

Almost all of my points accumulation, for both Aeroplan and for Aventura, is through signup bonuses and promotions like the Aeroplan Star Challenge. So, for me, it's not a question of which is better, but how to maximize what I can out of each card.

I like your comparison. However as we should all know is that Aeroplan is much, much better for international j and f trips.

Don't know about Aventura but I love using 10,000 Avion (or less during promos) to upgrade from WTP+ to CW on BA. But yes, in general, AE is better for long haul J/F.

I got the cibc av card for FYF and 30k bonus points. Since it's free, why not.

The 10k points for short haul flights with Porter out of Toronto island, is great for anyone who can use it.

Even if I don't use it for any flight, the 30k can be redeemed for $250 Petro-Can GC, for lots of gas. Also pretty good.

Now the sign up bonus with av card is 20k, and FYF. Still good, for free.

As others have said .. for short haul or trans-border economy Aventura might be better. However booking an international flight in business or first Aeroplan is better.

Another thing to note that for international flights the terms are
"Europe: From a major gateway in Canada or U.S. to select destinations in Europe"

"Rest of the World: From a major gateway in Canada or U.S. to select destinations in Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific, Middle East or South America"

No clue what a MAJOR GATEWAY means or how strictly it is enforced. If your home airport is Thunder Bay, Saskatoon, Victoria or the like you might need to be careful. Also no clue what SELECT destinations are.

Note is that you can not start your trip outside North America with Aventura. I have used Aeroplan's Asia1 to Asia1 business class reward of 30K many times when adding on a few extra days to another trip.

Another note - I don't have the Aventure card. In the last month I called CIBC travel rewards 6 times to inquire about valid routes and how the prices of fares are calculated. I have never been able to speak to anyone. Each time I called I hung up after waiting at least 95minutes. One time I waited 125 minutes before I hung up. All calls were made during normal business hours M-F 9am to 6pm

In the last 3 months I have called the Aeroplan 4 times to inquire, book, change and change again an award ticket. I have never had to wait more than 20 minutes to speak with an agent at Aeroplan.

To each his own .. just my experiences and thoughts.

The problem has never been with collecting Aeroplan points. The problem has always been in the cost to redeem them - along with increasingly limited reward availability.

I'm trying to book a reward trip from Toronto to Vancouver eight months from now. Why, eight months out, does Aeroplan show just four return flights, all of them requiring an overnight stop in Regina?

With Aventura, Avion, Amex or other more modern cards, you can pick any flight you want and pay for the whole thing with points, taxes included. That's so much better than the old Aeroplan model where you're locked into their availability.

Points have zero value if you can't redeem them the way you want. That's why the Aventura's and Avions and Amexes of the world will bury legacy programs like Aeroplan and Air Miles. Just watch.

That last statement could not be more false, imo. You can't earn aventura and avion etc through revenue flights.
Also, legacy programs are infinitely better for premium class travel.

If travelling on a flight booked with Aventura, have people been able to accumulate miles?

Good to know re: premium TPAC/TATL redemptions.

Sadly I've been spending my AP points wrong all these years.

For some, such as yourself, maybe. But I, for one, wouldn't do that. Can't stand putting my butt in Y.

I don't understand the hype about these Aventura/Avion etc. type cards.
They have a $ value limit to the price of the ticket you are redeeming. That value makes the card no better than a cash back card.
To each their own.

Some people do well with AE short hauls to expensive USA destinations on short haul.

Each of us has to decide what works best for us and go with that program.

Don't know about Aventura. With RBC Avion rewards you do accumulate miles

I htink with avion/aventura chart you do get more than 2cpm on your redemptions, though.