i'd definitely be willing to pay $450 for 150k miles. i think it's a decent offer, and it's not going to change in my opinion, so if you do need those alaska miles then get them.

Thanks. I did not know that Marriott points transfer to Aeroplan. First year is free, so I might as well get one!

Not sure what the the TD IP card is, but unless there's a legacy card I don't know about, the only time TD doesn't add the 2.5% fx fee is if you use their no-reward US $ card in the US. Here's the verbage from their T&Cs:

For TD Canada Trust Credit Cards except TD U.S. Dollar Credit Cards
We will bill you in Canadian dollars for any transaction made on your Account in a foreign currency. We will convert that transaction by applying our foreign currency conversion rate in effect on the date that the transaction is posted to your Account, which is the rate established by VISA applicable on the date that the transaction is posted to your Account, plus a foreign currency conversion fee of 2.5%. For complete details, see your TD Canada Trust Credit Cardholder Agreement.

For TD U.S. Dollar Credit Cards
We will bill you in U.S. Dollars for any transaction made on your Account in a foreign currency (including Canadian Dollars). We will convert that transaction by applying our foreign currency conversion rate in effect on the date that the transaction is posted to your Account, which is the rate established by VISA applicable on the date that the transaction is posted to your Account, plus a foreign currency conversion fee of 2.5%. For complete details, see your TD Canada Trust U.S. Dollar Credit Cardholder Agreement.

Are you thinking Emirates?

Hi Preacher, yes I am leaning towards wanting to try Emirates. Though Cathay Pacific would be a nice secondary choice :D

Thoughts?

I would go for Cathay Business over Emirates Business any day of the week...

For business, go CX over EK. For first, other way around. The showers are unbeatable. :)

alexisonsmith and pseudo - thanks for your feedback! Not to derail this thread into a different discussion, but I am not terribly picky at this point. I booked my first business class trip to SE asia next year (through AP) and I am flying a combination of Air Canada, Thai Airways, and Singapore Airlines.

I am sure I will have more discerning tastes after that trip :-)

I still have much to learn from you fine folks here (Just found out I could have avoided YQ on the thai airways segment of my trip...)

This is the TD Aeroplan Infinite Priviledge visa card. I also read in the terms that there is a 2.5% fee but I wasn't charged the fee. It may have been an exemption rather than the rule but I'm back in the US in November and again in Jan.

Credit card companies don't usually charge it as a separate fee. The 2.5% would be included in the Canadian dollar amount that shows for the transaction on your statement.

The Emirates first class experience (including the DXB F Loinge) is unbeatable, IMO. It's my favorite F redemption, edging out Etihad and Singapore, which are also great. Unless you're flying those airlines, and I've been told CX, the points premium for F over Biz is usually not worth it. Having said that, if you were planning on earning 150K AS miles, why not make one more churn and get the 180 K needed for a rt F flight on Emirates? OTOH, you could consider this: Use 90K for a one way DXB to somewhere in NA on the Shower plane. Fly biz on something else for the outbound and then you decide if the extra ponts are worth it. Last time I did this in April, it was me, George Clooney and his fiancée as the only 3 people in F for 16 hours!
An all-world Biz experience is also one of AP's best redemption options: TK Biz, with no YQ! So I'd try to use your AP points for that, and your AS points for the former. My 2 cents. Plus, you can also get AS points from an SPG transfer. That's one thing that the Canadian CC world has better than the US: Amex MR transfers are better in Canada...2:1 v 3:1.

I've cancelled my westjet world elite MC but got the $250 bonus and $99 companion voucher as well, but my interest is mostly using the benefits like first free checked bag. So if I log onto westjet and using my westjet account and the ID that was originally (and still is I believe) associated with rbc world MC card, and book a westjet flight using diff CC, do I still get the benefits of westjet world MC?

Secondly they never ask to see scan the card or anything? I still have the card but its cancelled so a flash would be okay, but a scan... erm would show them its cancelled

i personally wouldn't transfer amex -> spg unless you had lots of amex. if getting as i'd definitely use them for ek.

Agreed. Without a BA transfer bonus, MR transfers to AP make the most sense. For a short while, you could transfer them for a 16% loss to US through points.com. But with the historic United deval of 2013, AP now has the inside track on *A premium cabin redemptions. As I implied in my post above, I plan on using my Aeros for TK Biz redemptions.

What makes an SPG transfer tempting, though, is to hedge against an AP deval, which is always a possibility without warning. You know your SPG points will always be worth a lot.

Blended into the exchange rate