RBC Visa Infinite Avion Review
RBC’s Avion program is one of the most popular travel programs in Canada and the RBC Visa Infinite Avion card is the premier travel rewards card in RBC’s line-up.
The RBC Visa Infinite Avion card offers slightly better earning on travel purchases than RBC’s platinum version and comes with extra insurance coverage. This card offers points that can be used towards any travel or you can covert points into a frequent flyer program.
RBC Visa Infinite Avion Card
You can earn 15,000 bonus points upon successful enrolment, which is good for a short-haul flight up to a maximum value of $350. New cardholders also receive a 1.9% introductory interest rate for 10 months on balance transfers and cash advances.
Earn RBC Rewards points every time you make a purchase with the RBC Visa Infinite Avion card.
- Earn 1.25 RBC Reward points for every $1 spent on travel
- Earn 1 RBC Reward point for every $1 spent anywhere else
- Protect yourself with a Premium Insurance package that includes flight delay and trip interruption insurance
- Exclusive access to travel privileges and specialized concierge services
- Annual fee of $120
- Additional card charge of $50
Redeeming Points
RBC Visa Infinite Avion offers two ways to redeem your points. You can redeem RBC Rewards points for travel, merchandise and gift cards, or you can transfer your RBC Rewards points to one of three frequent flyer programs – Asia Miles, Avios points or AMERICAN AIRLINES AADVANTAGE miles. In addition, you can also exchange RBC Rewards points for Esso Extra points.
How many points can I earn with this card?
I use my credit card for all of my everyday purchases, plus my monthly bill payments in order to maximize my rewards. I spend approximately $31,200 per year on my credit card, including about $2,500 on travel. Here’s a look at how many points I can earn from the RBC Visa Infinite Avion card in the first year:
- 1 point for every $1 spent – 28,700
- 1.25 points for every $1 spent on travel – 3,125
- 15,000 bonus points on sign-up – 15,000
- Total rewards points earned in the first year = 46,825
When redeeming your points for travel using the RBC Rewards air travel redemption schedule you can receive a maximum of $1,050 in free travel per year based on earning 46,825 points. When you factor in the $120 annual fee, your free travel rewards drops to a maximum of $930 per year.
After the first year, the total RBC Rewards points earned each year drops to 31,825. That works out to a maximum of $700 in free travel per year. Subtract the $120 annual fee and you’re down to $580 worth of travel points on $31,200 in annual spending. That’s a redemption rate of 1.86%, which is pretty average compared to some of the best travel rewards credit cards.
RBC Avion cardholders can purchase additional points to use towards air travel at a rate of 100 points = $1.
The same spending with the Capital One Aspire Travel World Elite MasterCard will give you 2% back in travel rewards points.
Final Thoughts
The RBC Visa Infinite Avion card is a good option for frequent travellers, particularly when you get the maximum flight value from the air travel redemption schedule and can take advantage of bonus points for transferring points to a frequent flyer program like Avios.
Redeeming your points can be tricky though. If you aren’t able to get the maximum value from the air travel redemption schedule then this card is just average when compared to the best credit cards for travel rewards.