RBC Avion points are an incredibly useful, transferrable reward currency for Canadians. Its diverse suite of transfer partners and ease of earning make it a great program to include as part of your points-earning endeavours. Before we go further, it’s important to distinguish between the different tiers of RBC Avion Rewards. There are subtypes of Avion points: Avion Select, Avion Premium, and Avion Elite. Avion Elite is the highest Avion Rewards tier, and has the most redemption flexibility. Both Avion Elite and Avion Premium points are earned through RBC credit cards, and can be transferred from one account to the other, if you hold a credit card that earns Avion Elite points. Comparatively, Avion Select points are a recent addition to the RBC Avion program, and these aren’t nearly as valuable as the other two tiers. Avion Select points are earned through applicable shopping activity, and can’t be combined with Avion Elite or Avion Premium points. In this guide, we’ll be focusing on Avion Elite points, while exploring the possibilities of earning Avion Premium points for the sole purpose of converting the Premium points into Elite points.
Earning RBC Avion Points
The main way to earn RBC Avion points is through RBC credit cards. You can rack up Avion points through credit card welcome bonuses and through everyday spending.Credit cards will earn either Avion Elite points or Avion Premium points.The credit cards that earn Avion Elite points include all from the RBC Avion lineup.Meanwhile, the cards that earn Avion Premium points are from the RBC ION lineup.As long as you have at least one of the RBC Avion cards from the first list, you’ll be able to freely transfer Avion Premium points earned from the ION cards in the second list to your Avion Elite rewards account.Transferring Avion points from Premium points to Elite points will give you a lot more redemption options.
Credit Card Welcome Bonuses
The best way to earn RBC Avion points is through welcome bonuses.Welcome bonuses fluctuate depending on the current promotion. However, you can usually expect an RBC Avion card to come with a welcome bonus of 15,000–35,000 Avion points, with the bonus sometimes getting as high as 55,000 Avion points if you’re able to meet the associated spending requirements.Despite having similar welcome bonuses, the Avion cards do all have slight differences in the benefits they offer, their earning rates, and their annual fees.The RBC® Avion Visa Platinum†, RBC® Avion Visa Infinite†, and RBC® Avion Visa Business all have an annual fee of $120 (all figures in CAD).Meanwhile, the RBC® Avion Visa Infinite† Business has an annual fee of $175, and lastly, the RBC® Avion Visa Infinite Privilege† card has the highest annual fee at $399.With the higher annual fees, you can usually expect to also see additional benefits, such as higher earning rates and access to airport lounges.By comparison, the RBC ION cards seriously lag behind in terms of welcome bonuses offered, often ranging from 3,500–7,000 Avion Premium points.However, the ION cards do have minimal annual fees, with the RBC® ION Visa having no annual fee, and the RBC® ION+ Visa charging a fee of only $4 per month.Credit Card Spending
In addition to earning the welcome bonus, you’re also able to earn Avion points on your day-to-day purchases.The RBC Avion-branded credit cards come with the following earning rates on daily spending:RBC® Avion Visa Infinite†- 1.25 Avion points per dollar spent on all travel purchases (flights, hotels, car rentals, etc.)
- 1 Avion point per dollar spent on all other qualifying purchases
- 1 Avion point per dollar spent on all qualifying purchases
- 1.25 Avion points per dollar spent on all qualifying purchases
- 1 Avion point per dollar spent on all qualifying purchases
- 1.25 Avion points per dollar spent on all qualifying purchases
- 1.5 Avion points per dollar spent on qualifying grocery, gas, rideshare, daily public transit, electric vehicle charging, streaming, digital gaming, and digital subscriptions
- 1 Avion point per dollar spent on all other qualifying purchases
- 3 Avion points per dollar spent on qualifying grocery, dining, food delivery, gas, rideshare, daily public transit, electric vehicle charging, streaming, digital gaming, and digital subscriptions
- 1 Avion point per dollar spent spent on all other qualifying purchases
Avion Rewards
A relatively recent addition to the RBC Avion program is Avion Rewards, which is open for RBC clients and non-clients alike.
Since all points transactions are made under its platform, those with an Avion or ION card product have automatically been registered to Avion Rewards, while those with other RBC products may use their existing RBC credentials to enroll.Under Avion Rewards, you may benefit from two types of offers: "save & earn" offers, and "shop now" offers.The former lets you earn Avion points, discounts, and cash back when you use your eligible RBC card at participating online and in-store establishments. Meanwhile, the latter lets you earn cash back on online purchases, akin to the Aeroplan eStore and Rakuten.Examples of save & earn Avion points offers are as follows:- Earn 1,000 Avion points when you spend $300 or more at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels in Canada
- Earn 10x Avion points on Lyft rides
- Earn 2x Avion points on eligible Apple purchases
Redeeming RBC Avion Points
The best feature of the RBC Avion program is the flexible nature of Avion points.Avion Elite points can be transferred to airline loyalty programs, redeemed through RBC’s Air Travel Redemption Schedule, or cashed out through gift cards or statement credits.Comparatively, Avion Premium points aren’t quite as valuable on their own.Avion Premium points can only be transferred to WestJet Rewards, or they can be cashed out for statement credits and gift cards. Notably, Avion Premium points cannot be transferred to any other airline loyalty program and can’t be used to book travel through RBC’s Air Travel Redemption Schedule.Given this, the best use of RBC Avion Premium points is simply to transfer them to RBC Avion Elite points, which you can easily do as long as you have a Avion credit card.Even if you don’t currently have an Avion credit card, it’s still best to save your Avion Premium points, and make plans to get an Avion credit card in the future.For this reason, we’ll look exclusively at the redemption options for RBC Avion Elite points.
Transferring to Partner Programs
You can transfer your RBC Avion Elite points at a 1:1 ratio to British Airways Executive Club (Avios) and Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, and to WestJet Rewards at a rate of 1 Avion point = $0.01 in WestJet Dollars (WSD).You can also transfer Avion Elite points to American Airlines AAdvantage at a rate of 10 Avion points = 7 AAdvantage miles.
British Airways Executive Club is great for short-haul journeys, as well as long-haul trips in economy class.One amazing sweet spot is transferring British Airways Avios to Qatar Airways Avios at a 1:1 ratio. From there, you can book Qatar Airways QSuites one-way from North America to Doha for only 70,000 Qatar Airways Avios.It’s also worth noting that RBC regularly offers transfer bonus promotions from Avion to British Airways Executive Club. Historically, the most common promotional offer is a 30% bonus on point transfers.Lastly, keep in mind that there are a few restrictions on the ability to transfer points to these partners. In particular, for British Airways Avios, American AAdvantage, and Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, you need to transfer a minimum of 10,000 Avion points at a time. However, there is no such restriction for transfers to WestJet Rewards.
RBC Air Travel Redemption Schedule
If you’re not interested in transferring your Avion points to an airline loyalty program, you can still get great value by redeeming points through the RBC Air Travel Redemption Schedule.While you won’t be able to get outsized value for your points, you’ll still get more value through this avenue than if you redeemed Avion points for a statement credit or for gift cards.Through the Air Travel Redemption Schedule, you’ll be able to redeem Avion Elite points at a fixed rate for the base fare of any flight booked through the Avion Rewards portal, powered by Expedia.
Each redemption option allows you to use the specified number of points towards a listed maximum base fare.It’s important to note that you’ll be responsible to pay for any base fare amount that’s over the maximum base fare listed in each category, as well as for the taxes and additional fees.
If you wish to redeem Avion points for the additional costs, you can choose to do so, albeit at the lower redemption rate of 1 cent per Avion point.When using RBC’s Air Travel Redemption Schedule to book a flight, you’ll get a value of up to 2.3 cents per Avion point, depending on the origin and destination of your trip and the cost of the base fare.The maximum value of 2.3 cents per Avion point can be found in the “Quick Getaway” category when you redeem 15,000 Avion points for the maximum return-trip base fare of $350.In all the other categories, the maximum value you’ll be able to extract is 2 cents per Avion point, when booking a round-trip for the maximum base fare amount.As an example, if you were to redeem 100,000 Avion points for a round-trip flight from Toronto to Lima with a base fare cost of $1,700, you would receive a value of 1.7 cents per point.Notably, with the Air Travel Redemption Schedule, the number of Avion points required for a redemption in each category doesn’t fluctuate with the cost of the base fare.Using the above example of the round-trip flight between Toronto and Lima, even if the base fare was only $900, you would still need to redeem 100,000 Avion Elite points.Based on this, to extract maximum value from your Avion points when using the Air Travel Redemption Schedule, you’ll want to aim to redeem for base fares that are as close to the category’s maximum base fare as possible.
For this reason, the fixed-rate redemption chart can be particularly valuable for bookings during busy times of year, such as holiday seasons, when travel costs are elevated.This is because the fixed-rate nature of the Air Travel Redemption Chart allows you to book these more expensive dates of travel for the same number of points as a cheaper date of travel (assuming the base fare remains below the maximum threshold for the category).Travel Credit
Another option for redeeming your Avion Elite points is for fixed-rate travel statement credits through the Avion Rewards platfo.By booking through this avenue, most cardholders will receive a fixed rate of 1 cent per point, and if you hold the RBC® Avion Visa Infinite Privilege† or the RBC® Avion Visa Infinite† Business, you’ll have access to a fixed rate of 2 cents per point if you’re booking a business class or First Class flight.When compared to the Air Travel Redemption Schedule, this may seem like a similar or even slightly worse valuation; however, it can actually prove to be better in certain scenarios.As we mentioned above, when redeeming Avion points through the Air Travel Redemption Schedule, you are required to redeem the set number of points regardless of the cost of the base fare, as long as it’s under the maximum amount.Looking at the “Explore North America” category from the Air Travel Redemption Schedule, this means that even if the base fare ends up being less than the $750 maximum listed, you’ll still have to pay the full 35,000 Avion points.Taking a deeper dive, based on the redemption rate of 1 Avion point = 1 cent, the 35,000 Avion points required for this booking is equal to $350.This means that if you’re looking at redemptions using the Air Travel Redemption Schedule and you find a base fare within this category for less than $350, you’ll be better off booking the flight on your own and then redeeming your Avion points for a travel credit.
Other ways to Redeem Avion Points
Beyond what’s already been mentioned, RBC provides a number of additional options for redeeming Avion points through the Avion Rewards platform. However, these options are not particularly valuable.
For example, you can use points to send e-transfers, pay bills, add to your existing investments, make a mortgage payment, or even pay off your credit card.For most of these financial redemption options, you’ll get a value of 0.83 cents per point, and if you want to pay your credit card directly, the value is only 0.58 cents per point.You can access better value than this by redeeming Avion points for gift cards, with some options offering value as high as 1 cent per point (and occasionally higher during promotions), but the best value can still found by transferring Avion Elite points to partner airline loyalty programs.
One additional option is to redeem Avion points for merchandise, but similarly to the other non-travel redemption options, this doesn’t offer nearly as much value for your Avion points. Conclusion
RBC Avion is an important rewards program that can help unlock some amazing sweet spots through transfers to partnered airline loyalty programs, such as British Airways Executive Club and Cathay Pacific Asia Miles.Thanks to its unique set of transfer partners, the relative ease of accumulating points via RBC’s Avion- and ION-branded credit cards, and the frequency of transfer promotions, Avion points are extremely useful to collect as a way to supplement the other major Canadian points programs.
†Terms and conditions apply. Refer to the card issuer’s website for complete, up-to-date information.