These days with so many credit card companies luring consumers with offers for free travel and points redemption it is hard for consumers to figure out which is the best. In particular CIBC and now American Express both offer cards giving anywhere from 1 to 1.5 Aeroplan points for each dollar you spend on your credit card. This sounds like a good deal but is it? Originally when CIBC first introduced the Aeroplan Card it became quite popular with many people saving their points for that next big trip. With their classic program Aeroplan definitely offers the best bang for the buck. Looking at their reward chart we can see that from Vancouver to Germany would cost 60,000 points for Economy and 80,000 in Business class.  Now if we were to look for the rates on Air Canada or Lufthansa in the offseason the fare would be approx CAD732 plus taxes for Economy.   That equals to 1.2 cents/point in value.   Buisness class in offseason is CAD$5353 which equals 6.7 cents/point.   Now if we look at the busy summer season on the same flights an economy fare goes for CAD$1291 with business class being the same at CAD$5353.  The value per point of economy increases to 2.15 cents/points and stays the same for Buisness class.   So to get the most value for your points depends when you are travelling and if you want business or economy class.   

Air Canada has realized this point and as a result offers only a few seats on each flight for people redeeming points.  At first this wasn’t a problem as it took people awhile to accumulate enough points on their cards to even purchase these flights.  However now it is very hard to get seats on any flights especially in Buisness class to Europe and other long haul destinations.    As seats were filling up on all flights people complained and Aeroplan introduced Classicplus.  Basically it means that for higher points they will get you a seat that normally they would have charged someone for.  To do this they had to increase the number of points to redeem a seat.  An economy Classicplus seat on the same routing during the summer is 113 000 points and a value of 1.14 cent / point.    Business class goes to 442 250 points a value of 1.21 cents/point.   Both of these are substantially less value than redeeming on classic.   However Classicplus are becomming more common as the classic seats are scooped up at 11 months prior.  Aeroplan also offers merchandise for your points which is the biggest waste of points.  As an example a $50.00 gift certificate will cost you about 6,000 points a value of .8 cents / point.   

To really understand what is the best credit card lets looks at one of their competitors RBC Avion card.  They way avion works is they buy regular tickets however your points have a dollar value that can be used to offset this cost.  Lets look at our example from Vancouver to Germany again but this time using Avion.   An economy ticket with Avion would cost 65,000 points to travel from Vancouver to Frankfurt of which the maximum they will pay is $1,300 for a ticket.  Therefore the value of each point in low season is 1.12cents/point and 1.98 cents/point in high season.  For buisness class they will offer it at a rate of 1cent/point which would mean 535,300 points. 

Lets compare the above now with a Dividend card where you get cash back to spend however you want.   With CIBC they offer a 2% platinum dividend card however upon reading the fine print it is more like 1.47% if you spend 50,000 on your card in a year.  This amount goes down if you spend more or less than this amount.   You do get a better return on each dollar spent than the Classicplus with Aeroplan and the low season flights with Avion.   You do also get the most flexbility but unless you spend 50,000 dollars in a year on your credit card it is not worth it.  

All of the figures above show one thing to use your points most effectively you need to know what kind of travel you are going to do.  If you want to fly business class you need to go with Aeroplan as even with their Classicplus rates you are still doing better than Avion.  If you can get their Classic space you are doing really well.  As for Economy tickets you are still better with Aeroplan for economy tickets at classic rates only.   If you have to go to Classicplus rates then you would be better off with Avion. 

Other considerations to keep in mind is that Aeroplan does expire points and you need to keep getting points into your account to keep it active.  With Aeroplan you can only book Air Canada and Star Alliance partners versus with Avion you have freedom to book most other airlines.  If you are receiving points through American Express you can get anywhere from 1.25 to 1.5 points for each dollar spent.   This allows you to accumulate points much faster and makes Aeroplan points more attractive.  Dividend cards if you spend enough are a good average and allows you flexibility if you are not travelling some years.  Remember to choose a card that works best for you and the type of travel that you do. 

The Department of Homeland Security and of State of the USA has now issued what is considered the final ruling as far as acceptable travel documents is concerned.
Effective June 1, 2008 the following rules will take effect for cruise passengers.

1. U.S. Citizens that are on a cruise which begins and ends in a U.S. Port must show proof of U.S. citizenship and a government issued photo ID *(such as drivers license). A passport is not required for passengers that fall into this category.
2. All other passengers or U.S. citizens that are on an itinerary which leaves from one U.S. port and returns to another U.S. port or which begins or ends in a foreign port will require a passport or other recognized document. For a list of recognized document go to this government site

*documents include: original or certified copy of birth certificate; naturalization papers;Consular Report of Birth abroad issued by Department of State.
In view of the above regulations we encourage travelers from the U.S.A to obtain a passport to have the greatest options for travel. Information for obtaining a passport can be viewed at this government site

It seems like prices for cruises continue to drop fuelled by competition, overcapacity and a slowing economic market.  Cruise lines are cutting corners wherever they can, how do they stay afloat?  The answer: cruise lines don’t make money on the cruise fares , but instead make it off the extra’s that people spend onboard from drinks, pictures, casino, gift shops and shore excursions.   Cruise lines know that once they have you onboard you cannot shop around for the best deal unless you made other arrangements before you started your cruise.  They also make it convenient for passengers to book shore excursions on their websites the same time as they need to register for their cruise.  Booking the cruiseline shore excursions offers some flexibility and changes can be made right on the ship.  However are their better options?

Many veteran cruisers have learned to get off the ship in port and look for vendors selling tours.   These tours can sometimes cost a fraction of what you would have paid for onboard.   In Jamaica a group of us going off the ship were able to buy a tour to Dunns river falls for $10US which compared to the $80 - 90US offered by the cruise line.  Though once we had paid we were led to an old broken-down van with no seats available.  When asking where I would sit the driver pulled out a makeshift metal seat that felt like it was going to snap when I sat on it.  After an uncomfortable drive we arrived at Dunns River Falls.  We were each given old ripped aqua socks and  had to pay for our entrance into the park.  We were left on our own after being given a time when to be back for our transfer to the ship.   Once we were at the falls and started climbing we noticed the people who purchased the Princess shore excursion were coming.  Of course they came on a sailboat and we ended up just following their guided tour up the falls.  After we had finished the falls we went to meet our driver for the transfer back.  He was nowhere to be found so we decided to wait. After 1/2 hour anxious wait we see our driver dropping off another load of people. We climbed onboard and wondered if we would have ever seen him again.   

Cruise lines do charge higher prices however they also do offer other advantages besides convenience.  First they do all the research and only deal with reputable companies that can provide the level of service that their passengers are accustomed to.   If they get numerous bad reports about a certain company from passengers they will look into whether they continue that relationship.  Another advantage is that if your cruise port is cancelled due to weather or any other circumstance your money is automatically refunded.   If your tour is delayed they are in constant communication with the ship so that the ship won’t sail before you are onboard or if it does they will get you to the next port. This is a valuable reason as I have heard of many stories of passengers being stranded when the tour bus they booked locally broke-down in the middle of nowhere.   With no way to get back to the ship in time they had to pay their own way to the next port which can be very expensive depending where the port is.   For any long tours that are set to arrive close to the ships departure going with cruise line shore excursions does provide peace of mind.  

 In March of 2006 a group on the Millenium from Valparaiso to Fort Lauderdale hired a local tour guide in Arica to take them to Lauca National Park.  The bus on the return swerved off the mountain killing 12 elderly Americans onboard.  The company was a local company that lacked permission to carry passengers  (more info).  The cruise line did go beyond its required obligations to help those involved but that is not always the case.  Shore excursions sold through the cruise line must meet strict safety standards and have insurance which is important if an accident happens.  If an accident happened to me in Jamaica while on that tour I booked locally the chances are I wouldn’t get any compensation.   I don’t think I would even see the driver again.

These days with many people preferring to book everything over the internet they also prefer to book their tours privately ahead of time directly with the company.   An example is a couple that wanted to go to Molokini in Maui and arranged ahead of the cruise a tour with a local company.   Once they got off the ship they rented a car and off to the charter company they went.   When they arrived the person apologized and said that they didn’t get enough people and the tour was cancelled.  They tried to contact the couple but they were on the ship.   As all the other tours were sold out for the day they just wasted their one day in port.  

Private companies are starting to see the value in offering private shore excursions to cruisers.   Roberts Hawaii who is an operator for some of the cruise line excursions offer their own excursions in Hawaii for lower prices.   They also will refund any money if the ship does not make port.    Another company Shoretrips is a private company that offers over 3000 shore excursions throughout the world.  Like the cruiseline they do offer a refund if the ship does not make it in port.  The advantage is that often the tours are much smaller and more personalized than cruise ship excursions.  They also provide little extra’s and cater well to groups one area that seems ignored by many cruise lines. 

Shore excursions remain a large part of the whole cruise experience with people spending more on excursions than they do on the entire cruise.  Choosing the best option is an important factor to enjoying your holidays.  Cost should not be the only consideration and you should be careful to research the company you are dealing with or go with a company that will do the work for you.