The Optimized RBC Credit Card Portfolio

One important factor to understand about the RBC Avion Rewards program is that there are actually three tiers of points: Avion Select, Avion Premium, and Avion Elite. Of the three, Avion Premium and Avion Elite offer travellers the best opportunities for valuable redemptions.

Fortunately, earning points in both Avion Premium and Avion Elite tiers is relatively easy through RBC’s Avion and ION families of credit cards.

If you’d like to get the most out of the RBC Avion Rewards program, this guide will walk you through how to build an optimized RBC credit card portfolio that leverages the strengths of the ION and Avion families of cards when it comes to both earning and redeeming.

Comparing Avion Premium and Avion Elite

One of the unique quirks of the RBC Avion Rewards program is that there are three different tiers: Avion Select, Avion Premium, and Avion Elite.

Depending on which tier you’re in, you’ll have more or fewer options when it comes time to redeem.

(We’ll skip over Avion Select for the purposes of this discussion.)

The primary differences between Avion Premium and Avion Elite – at least when it comes to travel redemptions – are as follows:

• The ION family of credit cards is in the Premium tier, while the Avion family of credit cards is in the Elite tier
• For Avion Premium, points can be redeemed for 0.58 cents per point (all figures in CAD) when booking travel, or transferred to WestJet Rewards at a rate of 1:1 (100 Avion points = 100 WestJet points)
• For Avion Elite, points can be redeemed for 1 cent per point when booking travel, transferred to four airline loyalty programs (The British Airways Club and Cathay Pacific Asia Miles at a rate of 1:1, transferred to American Airlines AAdvantage at a rate of 1:0.7, and WestJet Rewards at a rate of 1:1), or redeemed for greater value through the RBC Air Travel Redemption Schedule.

In sum, Avion Elite is more powerful than Avion Premium, since you can do more with your points, and the value at which you can redeem them is higher than what’s possible with Avion Premium.

Now, when it comes to earning Avion points, it’s important to understand the main differences between the ION and Avion families of credit cards:

• ION credit cards have low or no annual fees, whereas Avion cards have higher annual fees
• ION credit cards have earning rates of up to 3 Avion points per dollar spent,^† whereas Avion credit cards earn (at most) 1.25 Avion points per dollar spent^†
• ION credit cards tend to come with more modest welcome bonuses, whereas Avion cards have much more generous welcome bonuses

In other words, the ION family of credit cards has better earning rates and lower fees, paired with less powerful points and smaller welcome bonuses. Meanwhile, the Avion family of cards has lower earning rates and higher fees, paired with more powerful points and larger welcome bonuses.

However, here’s the kicker: it’s possible to transfer Avion points from the Avion Premium tier to the Avion Elite tier instantly and at a rate of 1:1 in two situations:

• If you decide to upgrade an ION product into an Avion product, your existing Avion points on the ION card (Avion Premium tier) will transfer to your Avion card (Avion Elite tier)
• If you hold both an ION product and an Avion product, you can transfer your Avion points from your ION card (Avion Premium tier) to your Avion card (Avion Elite tier) within the Avion Rewards ecosystem

Therefore, a great opportunity presents itself to savvy cardholders who can leverage the strengths of both families of cards and the two associated tiers of Avion Rewards points by building a small RBC credit card portfolio.

The Optimized RBC Credit Card Portfolio

There’s a strong argument to be made for holding both a higher-tier Avion card and a card from the ION family.

By doing so, you can take advantage of the elevated earning rates on everyday essentials with the ION family of cards, and then transfer the Avion points over to become the more powerful Avion Elite tier when it comes time to redeem, simply by way of holding an Avion product.

As a reminder, there are two cards in the ION family: the RBC® ION Visa and the RBC® ION+ Visa. Of the two, the RBC® ION+ Visa has better earning rates, a higher welcome bonus, and a very modest $48 annual fee.

Importantly, the RBC® ION+ Visa has the following earning rates on daily spending:

• Earn 3 Avion points per dollar spent on eligible groceries, dining, food delivery, gas, public transit, electric vehicle charging, rideshares, streaming, digital gaming, and digital subscriptions^†
• Earn 1 Avion point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases^†

If you were to hold both the RBC^® ION+ Visa and an RBC Avion product, you could earn 3 Avion points per dollar spent on many daily essentials with your RBC® ION+ Visa, and then transfer your points to your Avion card through the Avion Rewards ecosystem.

For spending on the three personal Avion cards in the Avion Elite tier, the earning rates across all categories are only 1–1.25 points per dollar spent, so by using your ION+ card, you’d be earning more than double or even triple the points on many common daily purchases.

When it comes to choosing a card from the Avion family, any of the three personal cards (RBC® Avion Visa Platinum^†, RBC® Avion Visa Infinite^†, and the RBC® Avion Visa Infinite Privilege^†) make for excellent choices. You could also hold the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Business.

With this combination of cards, you’re getting the best of both worlds by leveraging the elevated earning rates on the RBC^® ION+ Visa and the more powerful ways to redeem points with an eligible Avion card.

Keep in mind that you can redeem Avion points for upwards of 2 cents per point through the RBC Air Travel Redemption Schedule, or for potentially even greater value by moving your points to airline partners and redeeming them for flights in premium cabins.

Therefore, the potential value you can earn from the RBC® ION+ Visa could equate to a 3–6% return (or more) on daily spending, which is an excellent option for an individual focused on travel rewards.

When coupled with either a no or low annual fee on the ION family of cards, there’s not a lot of cost involved to earning RBC Avion points this way, and it’s indeed the most optimized approach.

Conclusion

Savvy travellers can leverage the nuances of the RBC Avion Rewards program by taking advantage of the ease of earning Avion points on an ION card with the redemption power of an Avion card.

By holding a product from both the ION and the Avion families of cards, you can build a small RBC credit card portfolio that gives you the best of both worlds.

Between the typically generous welcome bonuses available on the Avion family of cards and the elevated earning rates on common expenses with the RBC® ION+ Visa, you’ll find yourself en route to outsized value in no time.

^† Terms and conditions apply. Please refer to the RBC website for up to date information.