Airmiles vs. Aeroplan vs. Avian (?)

[Will_Son]

Confusion.

 

I do a fair amount of travelling so I'm going to be getting the Starwood card for sure and I'm looking around to see which rewards program would be the best for flights.

 

I'm assuming the RBC Avian is from its popularity on the forum but just thought I'd double-check.

 

Also, to obtain that card, would I have to open up an LOC with them too? Right now, I'm with CIBC and ATB.

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Laguna Heights Condo

[Stevie Boy]

I think starwoods gives you a 25% bonus when transfering starpoints to frequent flier programs that are not aeroplan (5k points for transfering 20k).

 

That coupled with possibility of earning 1point/$1 (equal to annual fee cards like the avion) for free, I'd think starwoods would be pretty darn good for flights too. But if you're looking for an alternative, I'd go with aeroplan, CIBC is giving away aeroplan points like candy for new signups for their services .

[jgray2]

if you're getting the starwood card and spending less than 30k/yr, then there's no need for two cards. (you can keep track of how much you're spending so that you hit exact multiples of 10k. i use my tuition payments to make it precise). it would be a waste of money to buy another annual-fee card.

 

if you're spending more than 30k/yr, and if you're looking at travel rewards specifically, i would be tempted to consider the TD aadvantage gold card. that way, you can funnel all of your combined points into american airlines and redeem on the one-world network at competitive "prices". also, all points you earn in aadvantage program are eligible for million-mile status (hahaha ... such crazy dreams).

 

also, you don't want to earn your points in too many programs. 10k points in each of 10 programs gets you nothing in total, but 100k points in 1 program is a business class ticket to many places.

 

-jg

[Kirsteen]

10k points in each of 10 programs gets you nothing in total, but 100k points in 1 program is a business class ticket to many places.

Hey there,

 

Good advice. A few years ago I managed to accumulate about 280K Aeroplan miles and cashed in 100K of it for a first class ticket from Toronto to New Delhi on Lufthansa. What a lovely touch to experience a rose in the seat's built-in bud vase and pyjamas that matched the duvet for the sleepy portion of the flight. For free. It would be nice to do that again.

 

Plus, if you tend to dine out a lot there are quite a few restaus about town which subscribe to the Aeroplan Gold Advantex program which allows you to accumulate more miles per dollar spent per meal. Every little bit helps.

 

One thing I'd caution though is to look closely as to whether you'd like to align yourself with the One World vs. Star Alliance schemes. Star Alliance includes the likes of Air Canada (most important if you're traveling within Canada) as well as United, SAS, Austrian, Lufthansa, New Zealand, Singapore (voted best airline umpteen years in a row) and BMI to name a few. If you'll be flying within Canada most often then that should be a consideration when choosing your airline alliance.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen