Damn I hate the reward programs and yet I continue to collect them. I tried last month to book a flight for a family member from Calgary to Montreal during the week prior to Christmas, tried with Aeroplan and Airmiles as I have plenty with both. They are blacked out, I could book for 2 weeks prior to Christmas and they could fly back 10 days after Jan 1, 2017 but holiday period forget it. I checked with the airlines and yes they had plenty of seats available if I want to but the seat but with a reward, no. This is why we all end up with a lot of miles, some of which end up expiring and are never used.