Aeroplan

I have been an Aeroplan member for 10 years or so and have had an Aeroplan Visa for about 7 of those years. However, I have just recently switched from my Aeroplan Visa to a competitor’s travel rewards card.
The problem with Aeroplan is that it is theoretically really good. It’s easy to earn points if you have a Aeroplan credit card and a standalone Aeroplan card and the value that you get for the points is better than most of its competitors. The problem is that it is so painfully difficult to actually find flights that can be booked for the alleged price.
For example, a flight from Toronto to Calgary is supposed to be 25,000 points, but when I went to book such a flight in August for a trip in mid-​January the only direct flights cost at least 40,000. The only way I could get there and back for 25,000 was to connect through Edmonton or Winnipeg. This is despite the fact that Air Canada has about 15 direct flights to and from Calgary every day. In October I had the exact same experience again trying to book a flight to New Orleans in March, supposed to cost 25,000 but was actually going to cost much more, so I ended up just buying the ticket instead.
It is easier to get the flights for their supposed values when the flight is international or if you are pretty flexible with your dates and times.
The other real burn is that you are still on the hook for the taxes, which are significant ($ 160 or so for the flight to Calgary).
Basically Aeroplan is great program on paper, but in reality the amount that it let me down and frustrated me lead me to a competitor. Be careful when you look at the rankings/​reviews of reward cards that various sites and publications do because I have found that they often based on how the program works in theory rather than in reality.