Step 1
The first thing I did was determine the exact dates I'll be needing my hotel.

Step 2
I did a brief search using the tool to the right and/or using Expedia.ca. The rates I found for the places I wanted to stay ranged from $116 - $237 / night including taxes.

This helps me determine WHERE I want the hotel, WHO I would like to stay with and HOW MUCH it will cost in terms of dollars.

Step 3
Call Air Miles at 1-888-AIRMILES to get a quote on the number of airmiles. There is no way to determine the exact amount for a hotel online (this is a big drawback that they hopefully fix soon). Note: the wait on air miles can sometimes be VERY long so be sure to have speaker phone. In this case I only had to wait approximately 2 minutes!

When calling air miles you need to tell them where you're looking to book (downtown Toronto) and your dates. They will provide you with a few different options of places to stay. Be prepared to ask DIRECTLY. "How many air miles do I need to stay in each of those hotels"

In my case the air miles quotes were as follows (Note: these were for my dates at my location and are NOT what each hotel costs for EVERY location. Call Air Miles directly to get accurate numbers for your specific situation).

• Delta Chelsea = 1900 Air Miles + $35 taxes/fees
• Sheraton = 1800/night = 3600 Air Miles total

Step 4
Now calculate the number of air miles to dollar ratio needed to book each of the hotels. In this case the Delta Chelsea was $116/night booking through Expedia.ca. Therefore, it would cost $232 for the entire trip.

We need to determine the dollar if we were to pay for the trip, however, in this case it costs money to use our air miles. Therefore, we subtract the additional money needed by the cost if were to pay cash. This number doesn't really 'mean' anything but provides us with a number based on cash that we can use to divide by the air miles. Therefore, it would be $232-$35 (taxes and fees) = $197. Now divide the number of air miles needed by that number (1900 / $197) = 9.64. Therefore, it takes 9.64 airmiles to get 1 dollar.

Repeat the same thing for all the different hotel rooms.
Delta Chelsea ($116/night) = $232. Airmiles-to-dollar ratio (1800 / 197) = 9.64
Sheraton ($237/night) = $434 total. Airmiles-to-dollar ratio (3600/434) = 8.3

As you can see the cheapest airmiles-to-dollar ratio we can find was the Sheaton at 8.3 Air Miles for 1 dollar.

We can use this to get our best deal PER hotel, however, is this a good deal? ie: Should we use our Air Miles and book this hotel?
NO.

We can use our Air Miles to buy gift cards and calculate the EXACT number of Air Miles for $1 dollar.
Gap Giftcard = 365 Air Miles for $50 = 7.3 Air Miles for $1
HBC Giftcard = 400 Air Miles for $50 = 8 Air Miles for $1

Therefore, we are looking for AT LEAST 8 Air Miles for $1 and the lower we can get that number the better. Therefore, in the case of a hotel room which will cost 8.3 we can pass, pay cash and wait for a better Air Miles deal to come along!

Hopefully this guide is clear enough. If you have any questions or comments let me know.

• Don't limit the airport you fly into. Many major destinations have multiple airports that you can fly too. This can affect the number of airmiles. For example: flying into San Francisco you can also fly into Oakland and San Jose. This isn't always the best option depending on your schedule, desired to travel once arrived and other details. But this CAN save you some valuable Air Miles!
• Try to limit your flying to the 'low season'. Again, this isn't always possible but flying in the low-season WILL save you a TON of airmiles!
• Keep up to date on the different airmiles flight specials. These flight specials are listed on the airmiles website and can save you a bunch of airmiles. Unfortunately, you have to check back often as they change weekly and aren't always applicable to your location.
• Don't be afraid to PAY for your flight rather than use your airmiles. This is a strange tip but VERY useful. Airmiles doesn't descriminate the number of miles based on the cost of the flight rather it uses a 'flight map'. So sometimes it's in your best interest to pay for a flight rather than use your airmiles.

  For example: Flying from Calgary to Castlegar is (typically) an expensive flight (approx $221) but only costs 1025 airmiles. But flying from Calgary to Vancouver also costs 1025 airmiles but the flight itself is approx $109. So it's in your best interest, airmiles wise, to fly to Castlegar with your airmiles and Vancouver with your dollars.

This tool is great because you can determine the EXACT number of airmiles to fly from your destinations. No more wondering how much it costs to fly from Edmonton to Montreal or elsewhere! AND even better is you can BOOK your flights online too!

The tool is easy to use too. You simply enter your locations and dates and the tool will tell you how many airmiles it is to fly. You can then proceed to book your tickets ONLINE. This is a HUGE step for airmiles as you no longer have to wait 1.5 hours on the phone to book a flight or find out that you can't book a flight. Then if you want to book it you can do that online too!

Great work Airmiles! This is just another reason to follow the weeks best airmiles deals and to own an airmiles credit card to collect your Air Miles faster and fly sooner!

1) Famous Players / Cineplex Odeon Theatres
2 Free Admissions, 2 Regular Soft drinks, and 1 Regular Popcorn.
Costs: 175 Airmiles

2) Empire Theatres
2 Free Admissions, 2 Regular Soft drinks, and 1 Regular Popcorn.
Costs: 175 Airmiles

As of Feb. 12, 2010, for the first time in five years, the number of reward miles needed to redeem for flights will increase. The average increase will be 8%. Some flight zones will increase by only 4% while others will increase up to 14%.

This means that the number of miles to redeem for flights is increasing. If you are planning a trip be sure to book before Feb 12th, 2010. I like to use the flight comparison tool to the right to see how much the flight would normally cost in Dollars so I can compare to airmiles.

Also, if you watch the airmiles specials you can sometimes find flights where you'll save up to 40% off the regular airmiles which is always a good option. However, you have to be a bit flexible with location and dates in this case.

I'm working on a full flight list for the number of airmiles for each region and will update based on this new turn of events.

What Kind of Gift Cards Can I buy?
You can get a gift card for almost everything and anything. From fashion and entertainment to food and automotive.

How do I calculate what the best deal is?
Find the number of airmiles and the value of the gift card. Divide the number of airmiles by the dollar value (ie: 125 / 20 = X). The best value I've found is 7.3 as this ratio. The lower the better and typically you don't want to go higher than 10 (over even 9) as that would be a bad redemption value. I've listed the best gift cards to airmiles deals below.
Fashion:Roots $20 = 125 airmiles
Health, Food & Beverage: Metro (Ontario) or Sobeys (Atlantic) $20 = 140 airmiles
Gas: Shell $20 = 175 airmiles
Sports & Entertainment: Night Out Movie Package (approx value $30+ ) = 175 airmiles
Home, Reading & Renovations: Rona $20 = 150 airmiles

Also, remember that sometimes if you spend more airmiles you'll get a better deal. ie: Buying a $50 gift card will cost less than a $25 (not significantly but occasionally by 5 airmiles).

How Do I redeem my airmiles for gift cards?
I get this question quite often and it's actually very simple. You can either call airmiles directly at 1-888-AIRMILES. When you do call be sure to have a speaker phone as it takes quite a while to get through, especially during the holidays. The other option is to login into your airmiles.ca account, click rewareds, giftcards & subscriptions and then select the gift card / category that you'd like.

Finally, even though you're trying to maximize your airmiles you still want to get a present that they'll like. If they would rather shop at Gap then Roots than buy the Gap card and visa-versa.

To redeem your airmiles you can visit the airmiles site at airmiles.ca or call them at 1-888-AIRMILE.

Remember, that you can also use your airmiles for gift cards which are a great present because then they can buy whatever they want. And in lots of cases you can get a better deal when you buy a gift card vs. buying the item using your airmiles.