I'm not surprised, since USDM has stopped signups, so it's logical they want to stop others from transferring/accumulate miles externally

Glad I did mine already, now I'll have 168K AA miles in a month, not sure what to do though

It's too bad it's over. US becoming AA miles are so easy to use for the world's best F redemptions. I hope many of you got in on the transfer, which I've encouraged you to do here multiple times over the past few months. When you're flying in your first class apartment on Etihad from LHR to AUH, you'll be glad you made that transfer!

Very thankful I moved over a few Aeroplan before they stopped. Phew.

Jerry, 40K AA miles one way, LHR to AUH in Etihad's new first class apartments would give you an incredible experience.

Yeah - availability on CX and JL is amazing far out, possible with some flexibility during the year and also good close to departure. No change fees for dates or routing which is SO much better than Aeroplan's $90+tax. They're also pretty generous with cancels/redeposits - I've been able to get the $150 fee waived after waiting for "insignificant" 5 or 10 minute changes.

Even without the USDM transition, I converted to more than 350,000 AA miles through Esso Extra and Avion.

Ha, except I have to get to LHR first
I'll be on the $200 JFK-AUH this year, in Y though

I'm thinking more Off-Peak to Europe (or other destinations), yes, in Y
Mid-May is great time to visit (not too much crowd, reasonable hotel prices, usually okay weather)

http://loyaltytraveler.boardingarea....d-tbex-athens/

Air Miles' Dream Miles "sweet spot"
 

I was talking about Air Miles "Dream Miles" redemption with a friend the other day, and I realized there are still some "sweet spots". At least here in the Maritimes.
My friend redeemed 300 AM for a Ski/Snowboard Lift Ticket & Warm Beverage at Poley Mountain in Sussex, NB. The retail price of the lift ticket is 40.68 incl. tax, making this redemption a "whopping" 13.56 CPM! ;) Even a bit more if you factor the warm beverage. Better than the 10.52 CPM of cash rewards…
Air Miles Gold members get a discount and can redeem this for only 240 miles.

There might be similar deals in other regions. :)

That is good. The 40% off Greyhound ticket for 150 isn't too bad either if you're going long distances.

Thanks for all the info. Not looking good for getting the points fast; especially because I called and found out my closing date is not til the 15th (I was quickly doing the spend, thinking it would be a few days from now). Oh well, I already booked the flight out to Hawaii, if we have trouble getting back home, so sad!

so basically is $40 fee for $2000 spend, 2% fee, I may try it, where I can find no fee ATM? :)

anyone have try this PayPower CANADA? how much is the fee total?

I've seen the reload packs at Safeway too!

just checked: Max. Weekly ATM Withdrawal is $250 :mad: http://services.petro-canada.ca/pivotcard/what-it-costs

Hello fellow Canucks! I am just looking to get your opinion on how you would spend points based on what I currently have. It would be nice to get your opinion as I know many of your are very creative in maximizing points' redemption by taking interested routes and combining trips. I am based in YVR and I don't mind flying in Y or J.

So, if you had the following, how would you spend it?

Aeroplan Miles: 90,000
SPG Points: 80,000
Avios Points: 205,000
Asia Miles: 48,000

You should start by figuring out where you want to go. This is a very open ended question.

One piece of advice, though, is blow that Avios balance before April 28th. Those points are devaluing, particularly for use on BA's one world partners. For example, going from YVR-HKG in J on CX currently costs 60k points one-way. That's jumping to 90k points after the devaluation.

The points will still be useful for short flights (e.g. YVR - LAX), but since you have so many I'd consider a bigger trip.

How'd you get that balance? If it's from spending on the RBC BA card, you may have earned a companion certificate. Do some googling on how that works.

Is it true that redemption with Avios will be more or less the same if booking in Y after April 28? I'm referring to this: http://cardmecanada.com/british-airways-avios-changes/

Do you want the beach or cities? Are you travelling alone? Are you concerned about YQ?

I recently spent 35,000 aeroplan miles on the Bose QC20s and couldn't be happier. I know that value/mile is better spent on J seats, but with young kids at home no leisure trips for the foreseeable future.
And miles are meant to be spent anyways right!

SPG Moments often has cool events that you can use your miles for that you may not always be able to even buy outright.
https://auction.starwoodhotels.com/

Your Aeroplan balance is a bit low. If you are flying alone you could get a Y redemption to Sydney (80,000) on United if lucky or AC ($880YQ). You could book the AC ticket then keep checking to see if United opens up seats.

Once in SYD, Avios J short haul to Brisbane, Melbourne etc on Qantas. Starwood points for hotels in Australian cities.

Can't help for the Asia Miles but maybe a connection from MEL/SYD to SIN or some other city?

Lots of good info here.

Aeroplan does one way trips for half the Aeroplan points now, so you could string some of these together.

If you do not have the RBC Avios (not Avion) card, and can spend 30k over a reasonable amount of time, get it. It will effectively double your Avios points if you fly return on BA metal. Fuel surcharges are high, but in J or F it is worth it, IMO.

And those BA points are good value on CX once in Asia, if you go there, ie: HKG to SIN, BKK, etc

edited to add CX flights are not covered on the BA 2-4-1 earned through RBC Avios card

Awesome info guys! I think I'll get to Asia and fly around in J with Aeroplan! The SPG moments' events are pretty cool too!

Asia 1 J is 150K Aeroplan

Europe remains good value at 60K Y/90K J

He said get to Asia, so I assume find a cheap fare to anywhere in Asia 1, and fly around for 30k in J (best with Tokyo/Seoul)

That's right crimsona. I'll wait for a ~$600-700 flight to Asia in Y and then fly within Asia in J on points. I'll do the same in Europe. =)

I currently have the capital one world MC; my annual fee has just come up, and I am trying to determine whether it is worth keeping the grandfathered card for the $20 a year (after the 10,000 points). Obviously cash is better than the points.

Any reason--for leverage down the line, other benefits, etc.--why it might make sense to keep?

$20 is peanuts considering the replacement card has no annual bonus.

definitely. but is it $20 that's worth spending, seeing as how i barely use the card. i suppose with the changes in merchant fees, maybe it's a good option for a few years down the line? though if they revoke the benefits/force the new card on us, then it's just a waste of money.

1) What card do you use for regular spending? CapOne MC is the main card I use when I'm not trying to meet minimum spend on cards for sign-up bonuses.. 2% in unrestricted travel credit is a pretty good deal if you are planning some costly (>600$) redemptions.

2) How many points are you sitting on? I assume you'd be downgrading to the no-fee card to keep the points anyway.

Capital One doesn't do product transfers, as far as I know.

I don't use mine much, but I do use it for things I want extended warranty on (other cards would likely be cancelled by the time I need it).

It is possible they downgrade the card in the future. However, you are guaranteed to lose it for good once you cancel, given that there's a defined replacement card already

For $20 I'm keeping mine. There are creative ways to get 1.90-1.95% on the lower tiered point levels.

The trip insurance from CapOne is something I've used twice. 2nd time took 6 months but I still got my $75 claim!

I was a heavy duty CapOne user, it was a huge pain in the ... having to pay the card down several times a month. Now I'm keeping it mainly for a backup, NoFrills and maybe for the trip insurance in future(but I've 3 big trips coming up with a policy for each). Using AeroPlat and TD Inf. Priv. to keep the Aeroplan balance up. My wife's big spending days are over as she's selling her biz.

I have never done it but I was going by the FAQ which suggests they can be pretty flexible:

I was able to refer myself to the Gold Card. I just selected the Gold Card when they asked what card I had and put my Aeroplan card number instead.

Are you saying that you were able to refer yourself to the Gold Rewards card (MR points) and you received 10k Aeroplan miles?

TD offer + cashback
 

I noticed GCR added two TD travel cards to their cash back page.

TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite ($50 cashback on GCR)

• First Year Free ($120 afterwards)
• a Welcome Bonus of 20,000 TD Points ($100 towards travel), if your application is approved
• Once approved, if you spend $1,000 in Purchases on your Card within the first 90 days of Account opening, you can get an additional 20,000 TD Points AND the Annual Fee for the Card for the first year will be reimbursed by TD
• Earn 3 TD Points for every $1 you spend on Purchases using your Card (that's a 1.5% return on your Purchases)
• min. income: 60k personal, 100k household

TD Platinum Travel Visa ($30 cashback on GCR)

• First Year Free ($99 afterwards)
• a Welcome Bonus of 15,000 TD Points ($75 towards travel), if your application is approved
• Once approved, if you spend $500 in Purchases on your Card within the first 90 days of Account opening, you can get an additional 20,000 TD Points AND the Annual Fee for the Card for the first year will be reimbursed by TD
• Earn 3 TD Points for every $1 you spend on Purchases using your Card (that's a 1.5% return on your Purchases)

Fighting against their own TD Aeroplan product line indeed :)

Since when did anything from TD's Credit Card division make sense?

Mostly the Amex Gold, and the Alaska card. And the point balance is quite low.

That's all true.

Thanks for making me think about this a bit more; I might just keep it for the $20. I just wish we knew how long this will remain active as a grandfathered card.

Alaska MC - GCR link broken?
 

I am trying to apply for the Alaska Airlines MC with the GCR link.

I am unable to go further than the first page of the application. After clicking on "Continue" I get a blank page.

I tried several computers and several browsers (Chrome, Firefox, IE).

Any clues on how to resolve the issue????????

Happened to me. Kept trying until it worked. Different browsers made no difference.

Exactly!