Which would be the best MC or Visa card to start accumulating miles?

My wife and I just got back from a trip to Belize. Tickets were a no-charge
points ticket from our Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) Air Canada
Aeroplan Visa card. (I realize this doesn't apply for you - It's just for
example's sake).

It pays 1:1 (1 dollar = 1 Aeroplan mile), with select restaurants and other
paying 1:2.

IMHO, the trick with these cards is to put EVERYTHING on them. We are
religious about this. _ANY_ purchase over $5 goes on the card, including
phone bills, groceries, lunch, fuel etc. and we pay the card off in full
each month.

2 or three times a year they provide me with "visa cheques" which provide 1
aeroplan mile for each $2 written on the cheque. Again, we use these
cheques for big ticket items.

I believe if you have the strength of will to behave in this fashion (i.e.
put EVERYTHING on the card) you can accrue points fairly quickly and earn
some free travel.

If on the other hand you "hate" credit, don't use the card for EVERYTHING
(i.e. "I could never pay for groceries on credit"), use multiple credit
cards (i.e. gas company card, dept. store card) instead of putting EVERY
purchase on ONE card, or lack the willpower to pay it off in full each month
then they're not worth the fee.

If you're not the kind of person who can plan rewards travel 6-8 months in
advance these cards are not for you. Ticket availability is often very
restricted so you generally need to plan your holidays FAR in advance.

Also, stay away from the cards that collect points "for use on any airline."
You wind up collecting points in two buckets - The points from the airlines
where you buy tickets and the points from the credit cards.

Just my two bits.

Geoff Glave
Vancouver, Canada