I am out East and I am thinking about switching back to the Alaska Air MC, I get it when they offer the 25,000 miles use it for a year or so , then cancel and re apply a few years later. I have found it the easy to book flights on American Airlines, and the fees are much less than when I booked with my Airmiles.
I do earn many more points with Airmiles with all the Bonus options than I have with either the Alaska Air or Aeroplan cards, but it is hard to get flights and the fees are much higher.