kEiThZ
Superstar
There's a really simple reason for this, which is that there are no fare classes in long haul, so everybody gets the Latitude Plus miles at Tango Plus prices. On the other hand, if you fly Tango on short haul (even Tango Plus), you get no miles.
None of the above is true. AC's lowest fare class on international flights is Tango Plus. And there's no distinction between Latitude Plus miles and Tango Plus miles (there's actually no such thing as Latitude Plus...it's just Latitude). They are just status miles (points that count towards your aeroplan status tier) . What matter is what percentage of the miles you get from what you are entitled to and what percentage of those are status miles. And Tango does give you aeroplan miles. They just don't give you status miles on Tango.
Tango = 25% Non-status miles
Tango Plus = 100% Status miles
Latitude = 100% Status miles
Executive First Lowest = 125% Status miles
Executive First Flexible = 150% Status miles
By far though, as I've said, the best deal is the Aeroplan VISA card. My family goes on vacation once or twice a year, and my dad never pays. We also used a bunch of his miles to supplement my existing miles and my sister's existing miles from a couple of other long haul trips.
And I've gone first class return to Germany on Lufthansa with my collection of most aeroplan points on VISA in just 3 years, so yeah I agree it's a great deal. However, again, what matters to frequent fliers is status segments and staus miles, not necessarily straight accumulation of miles, which frequently fliers would get anyway. It's not just the free flights that matter to them. When you start flying a lot, particularly on the same routes regularly, things like lounges, on-board service, wifi access, etc. start to matter. All this gets even more accentuated on short-haul flights where your work and travel schedules are usually tighter. For such travelers points on a visa aren't really a deciding factor.
Another good deal is just getting an Aeroplan membership. You get some savings by waiving the miles if you have a membership, regardless of whether or not you ever use it.
You can get that anyway. Just waive the miles when you book. You don't need to have a membership to waive the miles.