Those tickets are probably gone. Maybe you might find 1 but it will involve a wicked connection.

Quickest route is to "buy" Aeroplan miles with Plat cards. The Amex Aeroplan card, $499 for 50,000, the TD Inf. Privilege, $399 for 50,000. Then the Amex gold for free 25,000. You'll have to spend a minimum of $2500 right away (minimum spend for the bonus).

You will have then spent $800 already. By the the the time the miles are posted it's now 90 days. Even if you do get a ticket or 2, it's in Y with long connections,add the taxes and fees to the $800 already spent and you'll be wondering why you went this route. Not to mention you still need 2 more tickets. And probably won't be on the same flight.

Beyond redeeming for flights and hotel rooms, MBNA is known for its cash-back rewards, and a main feauture of this program is the ability to redeem points for straight cash-back (5000 points= $50).
Source: https://www.ratehub.ca/credit-cards/...rd-point-value

CRA says that rewards that are paid out as cash back is taxable income.
I always go for a statement credit where possible.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/bsnss/tp.../menu-eng.html

CPhil,

I'm with the others on this. Christmas break awards this late will be unavailable or super inconvenient.

There is the West Jet World Elite RBC MasterCard. It has an annual fee though ($99):

$250 West Jet dollars welcome bonus

Annual $99 round trip companion fare (plus taxes, fees and other charges) anywhere in Canada or the continental U.S. (excludes Hawaii and Puerto Rico)

1st checked bag free for the primary card holder

So between you and your wife and accounting for the annual fee, you can knock $300 off the airfare for two people and pay $99 plus taxes etc for two other tickets.

You can collect Advantage (American Airlines) points on West Jet flights.

I considered the cards for an upcoming trip to Florida over Christmas as well. We're a family of five and months ago I found round trip direct flights on West Jet for the dates we wanted for $497 all in or roughly $2,500 for the five of us. Factoring in the West Jet welcome dollars, the $338 base fare, companion fees and annual fees, the value of two West Jet credit cards for my itinerary came in at just under $800. Not tremendous savings but it would have brought the five tickets down to $1,720.

I thought of that one too...but when how long does it take for the 2-4-1 voucher to become available?

How does redeeming for flights and hotel rooms work?

Is cashback in the form of a cheque or statement credit?

Thanks

Thanx for the reality/fact check guys. You guys crushed my hopes so much I think I'll be hitch hiking to FL!

Anyone have room for a family of 4?

Seriously, how possible would it be to just drive as far south as possible and catch a plane ride out? BOS? ALB? JFK? IAD??? With points or low fare?

Any options welcomed!

FYI my airport is YUL

if you'd booked them earlier, this would've been a no-brainer

AA direct flight YUL-MIA is 10000 BA Avios. at this point, the only points redemption for this I can think of are AAnytime rewards, but those go for 45k for a ONEWAY at the moment. Huge waste. At this point, looking for a cheap fare from SOMEWHERE and hoping to get a lucky few non-connected seats will be your best bet. just scour google flights, good luck.

updated to add the $60 GCR rebate in the wiki for MBNA Alaska Airlines card.

Good question. I just 'considered' the card but did not get it in the end. I'll ask a colleague and get back to you.

I don't know what your exact dates are, but if you aim on coming back jan 2/3 those are the worse dates for flying back and really jack up the price of the flights.

You can find reasonable fares from plattsburgh with allegiant or spirit coming back during the week after, like the 5-6-7 of jan.

Also, don't limit yourself in flying into MIA, look at FLL or even PBI which is a bit farther north than miami, but can be cheaper.

The above link is not referring to individuals. I called the CRA and they said it's irrelevant and neither are taxable income. It's possible the rep was wrong I guess.

What are best uses of dream miles? I have some miles and thinking of using it next year. Flights from yyz-yyt is 1700 mile or 2200 mile +$150 tax. Is this good value?

I cashed out, sort of, with BMO Investment voucher ($100 or $500)
I think it'll end Oct 1, so hurry

AIR MILES - Reward Product Details
https://www.airmiles.ca/arrow/Reward...uestid=1463727

Thanks. How long did it take to get the certificates? The site says 4- 5 weeks. Did BMO staff familiar with it. I don't have any accounts or investments with BMO and I have to open one to deposit this. May be I can open a mutual funds or GIC for a year.