If you’re looking to get some value for your Air Miles and you have some flexibility in your travel plans, there are a few options worth considering. The important thing to remember is that availability varies significantly depending on the dates. You may be lucky and find the right combination of flights and hotel quickly but it’s more likely to take some searching. These examples departing Maritime airports are based on two people travelling and include hotel and air options.
You may have read that it has been discovered that different rewards are shown to different collectors on the Air Miles website. In the course of doing these searches I discovered that the Hilton family of hotels were available on an Onyx account, but not the Gold one. This is despite the fact that Hilton is displayed as a hotel partner on the hotel search page. Unlike flight search results, there is no statement that Onyx collectors have “preferred access” to availability.
Mont Tremblant
Although it’s known as a ski resort, Mont Tremblant is a nice summer or autumn destination as well. Fly into Montreal and rent a car or take the bus.
August 23-27
Flight: Sydney – Montreal (Air Canada)
1500 Air Miles + $132.53 per person
Hotel: Homewood Suites by Hilton
1348 Air Miles per night + $129.69 total taxes and fees (4 nights)
Total Air Miles: 3000 + 5390 = 8390
Total Taxes and Fees: $265.06 + $129.69 = $394.75
For comparison, the cheapest flights Sydney to Montreal return Aug. 23-27 are $587 as of today. The lowest rate at the Homewood Suites Aug. 23-27 is $170 CAA or $189 Flexible. It’s an all suite hotel with breakfast included.
October 10-14
Flight: Halifax – Montreal (Porter)
1300 Air Miles + $132.53 per person
Hotel: Homewood Suites by Hilton
966 Air Miles per night + $100.70 total taxes and fees (4 nights)
Total Air Miles: 2600 + 3864 = 6464
Total Taxes and Fees: $265.06 + $100.70 = $365.76
On these dates airfare to Montreal would be $415 and the hotel rate would be $132 with an Early Bird booking promotion.
Toronto
The Royal Winter Fair is in November…
November 6-9
Flight: Charlottetown – Toronto (Air Canada)
1700 Air Miles + $125.44 per person
Hotel: Holiday Inn Toronto Downtown Centre
837 Air Miles per night + $50.88 total taxes and fees (3 nights)
Total Air Miles: 3400 + 2511 = 5911
Total Taxes and Fees: $250.88 + $50.88 = $301.76
Airfare on these dates is currently $438 and the hotel rate would be $172 CAA or $148.75 Non-refundable.
Quebec City
Old Quebec is probably nice around the holidays?
December 14-17
Flight: Halifax – Quebec City (Air Canada)
1300 Air Miles + $141.73 per person
Hotel: Hilton Quebec
983 Air Miles per night + $82.41 total taxes and fees (3 nights)
Total Air Miles: 2600 + 2950 = 5550
Total Taxes and Fees $283.46 + $82.41 = $365.87
Airfare on these dates is $575 and the hotel rate is $154.
If you have a few thousand miles and some flexibility, it’s possible to put together a nice little getaway. However, it would be extremely helpful if the Air Miles program would make all reward options available to all collectors.
thanks, Liz! i’m on the points bandwagon now in a big way (including switching from superstore to sobeys). i will have to check out what i can purchase online to grab more points!