I'm going to apply while it's still MBNA (already have one, but will try for a second). I doubt any offer from TD would be better than the current MBNA one...

they killed their 9.99% plat flat card if anyone else has noticed, and made it identical and presumably "easier" to transition into td's emerald which gives you an interest rate of their choosing, usually 12.99 or 14.99 or something, in rare case they might give you 9.99 or less likely 7.99, but i feel like MBNA is about to come to end, and just like discover in canada when bmo bought it, MBNA will be ruined

I got my letters from MBNA today.

One was for my Choice MC which I was earlier notified would be converting to the MBNA Rewards MC on Sep 27th, since MBNA is dropping their affiliation with Choice.

The other letter was for all of my other 5 MBNA cards collectively together (eg, SmartCash, Best Western, Sony, Alaska Air, Choice.).

The two packages are identical, otherwise, with contents such as: the same 3 page letter, Privacy and Personal Info Protection Notice, Disclosure Statement Changes, and MBNA Account Agreement.

I did not see anywhere in the the letter stating that my Alaska Air, nor any of my other cards, would be transitioning over to TD. True, it says "TD Bank Group purchased your MBNA credit card account in Dec 2011". But it didn't say it would transmogrify into a TD card.

It did say that "your account(s) will transition to a new credit card system...", with instructions to enroll or re-enroll for online banking at mbna.ca.

Did I miss something? Who pulled the "Chicken Little" on the MBNA Alaska Air? :confused:

</widespread-panic>

what to do with Amex MR points?
 

Hi all,

I'd value some quick feedback from the other frequent travelers here.

I'm an east coast coast Canadian who travels quite a bit, often chaining smaller one-way flights to make longer trips. I visit both Asia and Europe frequently, and will soon be doing lots of intra-continent travel (intra-Asia, intra-Europe, and intra-South America). I mainly travel domestic and my priority is minimizing taxes and fuel surcharges.

I currently have about 300,000 Aeroplan points and 200,000 BA Avios points. I also have about 250,000 Amex MR points.

My Amex gold is coming up for renewal, so I either need to pay the annual fee or transfer the points. My question is about where you think I'll find the best value.

I've found great value with Aeroplan in the past (e.g. North America to Africa for $30, Middle East to Canada for $40, Canada to SE Asia for $60). I've had a really tough time finding value on BA, even with all the helpful websites out there showing the best routes (which almost never seem to be available). The only good use I've had out of the BA program is Montreal - New York, which has been a steal on a regular basis.

As it stands, I'm tempted to just dump them all the MR points into Aeroplan, but I wanted to check with you savvy folks first as a sanity check.

Many thanks!

I'm confused. I know Prince William flew commercial sometimes, but I had no idea he's in the points game too :D

You've pretty much hit the nail on the head, though. With that many points, you're not likely to find any additional value in Avios unless you can make use of some of the more niche redemptions (ie BOS-DUB on Aer Lingus, or HKG-NRT/KIX on CX F). So I'd probably just convert to Aeroplan - that's fraught with disaster too as they keep devaluing the points, but at least that's a useful program. Ideally though, I'd just blow as many as I could ASAP. I do not recommend keeping more than one or two trip's worth in an account at any time, as past experience indicates this is NOT an appreciating currency.

Another thing you could look into is trading some points with someone. Maybe you can find someone who has a stash of USDM points but really wants to go somewhere only Star Alliance flies. That could be a very worthwhile trade.

I think it depends as well if you have any plans with those Aeroplan points within the near future. I would be careful in transferring them if you do not plan on travelling for the next few years since with devaluations always around the corner you never know what might happen.

I'd transfer into Aeroplan as it's harder to expire, and RELATIVELY more flexible (you can even convert into USDM at 100:84 ratio, should you want to), and you can book for somebody else (vs. Avios Household account), etc...


Avios is nice, in SOME scenarios only and not for long-haul usually

I agree Aeroplan is a good default option.

Also consider transferring a small number of points to any other programs you use infrequently. You might save some points expiring on you.

Intra-asia is generally very good on aeroplan (30k in business). intra-europe direct flights on ba is very good with avios, with capped taxes and a low amount of miles required. I'm not sure if getting another MR card is an option, but getting a platinum card would keep your MR in the account and give you more time to get a decision, as well as getting 60k more points.

I thiknk aeroplan is the default option if you're going to close the card, but i like mr for topping up accounts. But I'd think probably a 225k/75k aeroplan/avios split is quite good.

May not be a top option, but you can also look into transferring into SPG for some hotel points. I wouldn't transfer to SPG so that you can transfer to an airline, but I would use the hotel points if you can make use of them.

I would never recommend a 2:1 redemption rate.

I recommend the RBC Avios card. Not the Avion one.

Seems like you have pretty good spend, and with 30k spend you get a 2-4-1 ticket on points on BA. Yes, the fuel surcharges are high, but for 150,000 points you can fly BA first to Europe (plus the $1000 per ticker in fees).

It does stretch BA points quite a bit.

That's only if there's BA F space from the canadian gateways.

thanks
 

Just wanted to say thanks to all who replied above. Appreciate it.
Same names I regularly see on RFD. ;)

That is correct, but I have a reasonably flexible schedule so can typically find flights. It is the same issue with Aeroplan.