From now until January 6, 2020, the WestJet RBC World Elite MasterCard is offering an elevated signup bonus of 350 WestJet Dollars when you apply and make your first purchase within the first three months. The card has an annual fee of $119.
350 WestJet Dollars
The WestJet RBC World Elite normally offers 250 WestJet Dollars in exchange for the $119 annual fee, and I can’t be the only one who’s found value in this card but occasionally wished that the signup bonus were just a little higher to make it an even sweeter deal.
Well, that will be the case for the next two months: you’ll be able to earn 350 WestJet Dollars instantaneously on this card with no minimum spend, which should post to your WestJet Rewards account by the first monthly statement.
As a base-level redemption, 350 WestJet Dollars can be redeemed towards $350 worth of WestJet flights. However, a more “advanced” use of WestJet Dollars would be to redeem them towards WestJet’s Member Exclusive fares, which are WestJet’s equivalent of award flights that allow you to book distressed inventory at a discounted rate.
Specifically, one of my personal favourite uses of WestJet Dollars is booking transcontinental flights (like Toronto–Vancouver or Montreal–Vancouver) for only 125 WestJet Dollars plus taxes and fees one-way under a Member Exclusive fare, which can represent a huge savings on the retail price.
The last time I did this, flights on the Vancouver–Montreal route were going for $450 apiece, but I managed to book two seats using 125 WestJet Dollars + $38 each, scoring myself a 90%+ discount.
The signup bonus of 350 WestJet Dollars would be enough for two one-way long-haul flights and one one-way short-haul flight within North America (at 125 WSD, 125 WSD, and 99 WSD), or nearly enough for three one-way long-haul flights within North America (at 125 WSD each).
Of course, the balance of WestJet Dollars can always be used towards WestJet flights at $1 apiece if you can’t find Member Exclusive fare availability (which does happen sometimes). The 350 WSD bonus doesn’t have to be used up all in one go either. You’re free to earn the bonus, wait for one of WestJet’s great deals to pop up on a route you’re interested in, and then apply the bonus towards your booking.
Perks & Benefits on the RBC WestJet Card
In terms of the earning rate, with the WestJet RBC World Elite MasterCard, you’ll earn 2% back in WSD per dollar spent on WestJet flights and vacations, and 1.5% back in WSD per dollar spent on all other purchases. These returns aren’t bad, but in my view they aren’t quite the most compelling benefits that you get from holding onto the card.
Instead, one of the most significant benefits of being a WestJet RBC cardholder is the free checked bag benefit on WestJet flights for the primary cardholder and up to eight other passengers on the same booking.
Checked baggage normally costs $30–35.40 on WestJet, so this benefit alone could be worth up to $100 per trip if travelling as a family of four, or potentially even more if you’re travelling as a larger group.
The other major selling point of this card is an annual companion voucher for travel on WestJet. This companion voucher can be redeemed in one of the following three ways:
$99 for travel within Canada or the Contiguous U.S.,
$299 for travel to Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, or
$399 for travel to Europe
I’ve always found the first option to be the most lucrative, since the taxes and fees when travelling outside of Canada or the US can often get prohibitively expensive. Whenever you buy two tickets on a domestic or transborder flight, you’ll pay the full retail price for the first ticket but only $99 plus taxes and fees for the second passenger.
By the nature of the companion voucher, the more expensive the ticket you’d purchase buy with WestJet, the more value you’re getting out of the voucher by only paying $99 for the second passenger, and it’s not difficult to imagine that some of you out there would be getting hundreds of dollars in value out of the voucher.
(Unfortunately, you can’t combine the companion fare with Member Exclusive fares – that would be quite something!)
Other benefits include the ability to save 3¢/L on fuel at PetroCanada whilst earning 20% more PetroPoints, access to airport lounges as part of MasterCard LoungeKey (although fees do apply), and access to the MasterCard Concierge Services for last-minute restaurant and event bookings.
The RBC WestJet card’s $119 annual fee was already seen as a small price to pay given its multitude of benefits even back when the signup bonus was only 250 WSD, but now that it’s been elevated to 350 WestJet Dollars until January 2020, there’s no better time to apply.
Apply Now
As with other World Elite cards, this card requires a minimum personal annual income of $80,000 or a household income of $150,000 to apply. Note that longstanding RBC clients may have success visiting their branch to see if these requirements can be waived.
With this offer, you can earn the 350 WestJet Dollars by applying through the Prince of Travel affiliate link below. This comes at no cost to you (you still earn the full elevated bonus plus all of the perks and benefits), but helps to support to website, which I truly do appreciate.
You can apply via the following link to get your 350 WestJet Dollars today: