I agree with you about miles Surick - they are difficult at best, even for us US citizens and that's why I switched strategies. I did a quick search and there are several credit cards available in Canada that offer travel benefits. RBC, MBNA, Capital one and American Express all came up as potential options. I didn't look at the specifics but it appears there are different programs that they offer. I think the key is to get a card that isn't affiliated with a specific airline, hotel chain, online booking agent, etc... Using something that simply gives you a travel credit will offer the most flexibility.

I'll add that I think one thing we can all agree on is that these are first world problems we are talking about. I sometimes feel a bit guilty even posting about these topics and always have to remember how fortunate I am to even be able to take a vacation, much less get free airline tickets.

Matt