rbc rewards travel itinerary

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RBC Rewards

RBC Rewards is a powerful points program, and easily one of the best among the big 5 banks in Canada. These points can be redeemed for travel, gift cards, and much more.

There are two types of RBC points that are earned from different families of credit cards:

• RBC Avion Elite points (higher tier)
• RBC Avion Premium points (lower tier)

RBC Avion points can be redeemed for travel and also transferred to other airline partners, while general RBC Rewards points cannot. 

RBC credit cards that earn Avion Elite points will have Avion in their name, such as the RBC Avion Visa Infinite credit card. On the other hand, there are RBC credit cards that earn Avion Premium points such as the RBC ION+ Visa credit card.

Throughout this page, we will use the term “RBC Rewards” to refer to both tiers of points to be consistent. However, we will note any differences between the two sets of points in the relevant sections below.

Earning RBC Rewards Points

There are two main ways in which you can earn points in the RBC Rewards program: credit card welcome bonuses and organic credit card spending.

Credit Card Bonuses

The most effective method to earn RBC Rewards points is through earning the welcome bonus on a RBC Rewards credit card. There are many RBC Rewards cards to choose from.

The most popular RBC Rewards credit cards are the RBC Avion Visa Infinite and RBC Avion Visa Platinum credit cards as they tend to offer the most bonus points and benefits for the lowest annual fee.

Credit card bonuses may also be earned through product switching .

Credit Card Spending

The RBC Rewards credit cards have a standard earning structure in that a set amount of RBC Rewards points are earned for every dollar spent on all everyday purchases with no extra points for spending in specific categories (such as groceries or transportation).

There is one exception as some RBC Rewards credit cards, such as the RBC Avion Visa Infinite, will earn 1.25 points for travel purchases, and the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Business/RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege cards earn 1.25 points on all purchases.

RBC Rewards Credit Cards

The table below shows the best RBC Rewards earning credit cards available. The RBC Avion Visa Infinite is arguably the strongest card with a very strong current welcome bonus. It also earns 1 point per dollar and 1.25 points for travel purchases.

Redeeming RBC Rewards Points

RBC Rewards is a highly flexible points program and can be redeemed for travel in a variety of ways, as well as redeemed for other types of rewards including financial rewards, merchandise, and gift cards. 

As with most bank point programs, travel provides the highest redemption value. RBC Rewards can be redeemed for travel in three ways:

• Air Travel Redemption Schedule (Fixed Travel)  
• Flexible Travel Reward
• Transfer to Airline Partners

Air Travel Redemption Schedule (Fixed Travel)

The RBC Air Travel Redemption Schedule provides the greatest value for redeeming RBC Rewards points for flights. However, as the name suggests, there are a few more rules to follow when redeeming your points this way. First of all, you can redeem RBC Rewards for one-way, round trip, and multiple destinations flights.

How many points are required for redemption through the Air Travel Redemption Schedule is fixed and based on the particular destination, according to the chart below. For a given destination, there is a maximum ticket price that the points can be redeemed for – this does not include taxes and fees. 

If you exceed the maximum ticket price, you can pay the difference in points at a rate of 100 points = $1 CAD (the flexible travel rate). You can also pay for flight taxes by redeeming your points at this same rate of 100 points = $1 CAD.

There is one other restriction with the Air Travel Redemption Schedule: you must make the booking a minimum of 14 days before the departing flight. Keep this in mind when considering whether to redeem RBC points for flights using this method.

How to Redeem RBC Rewards Points Using the Air Travel Redemption Schedule

In order to make a flight booking using the RBC Rewards fixed travel program, you will need to go to the RBC Rewards Travel portal , which is powered by Expedia. 

In order to initiate a flexible travel rewards booking, log into RBC Rewards and click “Travel Home” on the top bar. From there, click on the “Book Travel” button.

This will take you to the RBC Rewards Travel portal page. From here, you will be able to search for flights, hotels, car rentals, and vacation packages. In order to redeem through the fixed travel redemption program, you will need to click on flights.

From here, fill in your desired routing, dates, number of passengers, and ticket class, and click “Search” to generate a list of flights.

Once you can see the list of flights, you will see the total point cost using the fixed travel redemption in addition to the taxes and fees on the ticket. At the top of the screen, you can flip between fixed points pricing and flexible points pricing to determine which is the better deal.

In this case, fixed points pricing has all itineraries at 35,000 RBC Rewards points (as one would expect per the chart above).

On the other hand, if we were to make this booking with flexible rewards, we would be paying at a minimum an additional 21,000 RBC Rewards points. This is where the fixed rewards chart really shines.

Once we go through the portal and select our outbound and inbound flights, we are presented with a page summarizing the flights chosen and the total price. On the right-hand side, you can confirm that you are using the fixed travel redemption method by looking at the total point cost. Since this is an economy roundtrip fare within North America, 35,000 is the correct amount of points. From here, click “Check Out” to complete the rest of the booking process.

For this booking in particular, I was effectively able to redeem 35,000 RBC Rewards for $413 in base fare value (roughly 0.0118 cents per point). Since you can cover up to a $700 base fare with the 35,000 RBC Rewards fixed flight redemption, there is some additional value that could be extracted with the right flight. But if you were just looking to travel to Los Angeles, this is a great value for your points.

It is important to note that any flights that do not qualify for the Air Travel Redemption Schedule will automatically have flexible points pricing applied.  

Flexible Travel Rewards

The other way to use RBC Rewards points for travel is through the flexible travel reward chart. This method allows you to redeem your RBC Rewards towards virtually any flight, hotel, car rental, and other travel expenses at a rate of 100 RBC Rewards points = $1 CAD (RBC sometimes refers to this as the “1% rate”).   

So for example, 25,000 RBC Rewards points can be redeemed for $250 CAD worth of travel. What makes this method even more flexible is that you can pay for travel using any combination of points and payment via credit card.

In general, you would only want to redeem RBC Rewards points for flights using this method if your flights do not qualify for the Air Travel Rewards Redemption Schedule. Alternatively, you may already have lots of airline points from other programs like Aeroplan and prefer to use your RBC points for a hotel stay, car rental, cruise, or vacation package. 

Also of note, holders of the following credit cards actually get a special 2x rate for flexible travel redemptions used towards Business (J) or First Class (F) airline tickets, meaning they can redeem 100 points for $2 CAD:

• RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege 
• RBC Avion Visa Infinite Business
• RBC Commercial Avion Visa

How to Redeem RBC Rewards Points for Flexible Travel Rewards

Redeeming RBC Rewards for flexible travel rewards can be done entirely through the RBC Rewards Travel portal , which is a search engine powered by Expedia. In order to redeem points through this method, you do need to book through the portal and cannot apply points to a pre-existing booking made elsewhere.

This will take you to the RBC Rewards Travel portal page. From here, you will be able to search for flights, hotels, car rentals, and vacation packages. The process is the same no matter what you are redeeming your RBC Rewards for.

For our how-to, let’s take a look at booking a hotel in Las Vegas for August. Select “Stays” at the top, and select the desired destination, your dates, and the number of travelers. Click “Search”.

Once you search, a variety of hotels will be displayed that meet your travel criteria. You are able to filter or sort if desired to find the perfect hotel to suit your needs. Once you find the hotel you are interested in, click on it to be brought to the hotel-specific page with property details and room types that are available for this booking.

Scroll down and you will see the rooms that are bookable. Once you find the one that you like, click on Reserve to be taken to the payment page.

Once you are on the payment page, this is where you can elect to use your points to pay for the booking through the flexible travel rewards option. You are able to use a portion or all of your points when making a flexible travel booking, however, the default is to use all of your points (or the maximum number of points to pay the booking off completely).

As you update the points and cash payment split, the price summary on the right-hand side of the screen will update. This will give you insight into what you will be paying for this booking when you confirm in addition to any on-property fees (such as a resort fee in Las Vegas).

Once you are happy with the price summary, simply fill in the rest of the details and click “Complete Booking”. Any applicable points will be withdrawn from your account and you will receive an email confirmation of the booking.

Convert RBC Rewards to Airline Partners

If you are pursuing a flight redemption on another airline, you might find value in converting your RBC Rewards points to a specific airline loyalty program. RBC Rewards is partnered with American Airlines AAdvantage, British Airways Executive Club, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, and WestJet Rewards.

You can convert RBC Rewards points at the following rates:

The RBC Rewards program also offers transfer bonuses from time to time. For example, in recent years we have seen promotions that give cardholders an extra 30% British Airways Avios Miles when transferring. This can create some strong value propositions in making dream trips much more accessible, such as redeeming Avios for Qatar Airways Qsuites .

If you hold any of the RBC Avion credit cards, you will be able to transfer to any of the partners listed above. On the other hand, if you hold a card that earns Avion Premium points, you will only be able to transfer your points to WestJet Rewards. (However, you can fix this by either switching the card to an Avion card or by applying for another Avion card and transferring the Rewards+ points to the Avion card).

You can see the current transfer ratios, including any bonus promotions, by viewing our Miles & Points Transfer Partner Tool .

How to Convert RBC Rewards to Airline Partners 

To convert your RBC Rewards points to airline partners, go to the ‘Shop RBC Rewards’ portal. You can access this from the account summary page of any of your RBC credit cards.

Then from the RBC Rewards portal home page, select ‘Manage Points’ from the main navigation menu and then ‘Convert Points’ from the submenu. 

From the next screen, you’ll be prompted to select which loyalty program you would like to transfer to and then the number of points. You will also be prompted to input your membership number for whatever program you are transferring points to, as well as an email address for confirmation (optional).

RBC often offers promotions of 20-25% off on gift card costs for various retailers so there may be value there (which is atypical as for most points programs, redeeming points for gift cards offers terrible value).

The best value is consistently hotels.com or Fairmont as both can be purchased at 1 cent per point without any promotions required. However, there have been previous promotions for hotels.com and Fairmont, in which we have seen up to 25% off.

If you have a Rewards+ earning RBC credit card (not Avion), you can also redeem at 1 cent per point for Amazon.ca gift cards.

Other Redemption Options

RBC Rewards can also be redeemed for merchandise, a statement credit, or financial rewards. These methods are not viable from a value perspective and it is strongly recommended that you do not redeem RBC Rewards using any of these methods as you are effectively throwing money away.

The RBC Rewards merchandise catalog has various products to purchase with points. The value for redeeming points for merchandise varies widely but is generally underwhelming and not recommended. You would be better off redeeming points for a gift card and purchasing the merchandise outright on many occasions.

Points can be redeemed towards a statement credit for your Royal Bank of Canada credit card account. If you were to redeem points through this method, 10,000 RBC Rewards points would be worth a $58 statement credit. It doesn’t take a mathematician to understand the terrible value that this offers.

Finally, RBC Rewards can be redeemed towards RBC financial rewards. This means that if you hold a mortgage, personal loan, or registered account with RBC, you can redeem points to financially fund that account. If you were to use this option, 10,000 RBC Rewards points would be worth $83 in your financial account. Again, not a great value when you can easily redeem points for at least 1 cent per point.

Frequently Asked Questions

As long as you hold an active RBC Rewards or Avion credit card, the points tied to that card will not expire. If you cancel an RBC credit card that still has points remaining, you will have 90 days to either redeem those points or transfer them to another active RBC Rewards or Avion credit card that you hold.

RBC Avion Elite points are RBC Rewards points earned by Avion cardholders. They are a higher tier of points than the basic RBC Avion Premium points and, unlike RBC Rewards, Avion Elite points can be redeemed for travel and also transferred to other airline partner programs.  

You can redeem points to redeem for flights through two methods: via the fixed travel award chart or the flexible travel option.  The fixed travel award chart allows you to redeem points for round-trip flights to destinations around the world for a set amount of points and up to a certain ticket value. For example, a round-trip economy flight anywhere in North America will always cost you 35,000 RBC Rewards points. The ticket can have a maximum value of $750 CAD. Flexible travel redemptions allow you to redeem points at a rate of 100 RBC Rewards = $1 towards any travel booked through the RBC Rewards travel portal.

Some select flights are not available to book on RBC’s Travel portal. If this is the case, you can instead opt to book the flight yourself and receive statement credit from RBC in exchange for your points. To do this: 1. Navigate to Support from the RBC Travel homepage 2. Select the popular topic “Book with a statement of credit on an Avion flight” 3. Go through the process outlined therein You must call and receive authorization from an RBC travel agent before making the booking. Then you must complete a manual form before you will be credited with statement credit and the appropriate amount of RBC points removed from your account.  This method can be used to redeem using the Air Travel Redemption Schedule rates or the 1% flexible travel rate.

Yes, you are able to combine RBC Rewards points between any RBC Rewards credit cards that you hold. When you log into RBC Rewards, click “Transfer Points” and you will be able to choose the account you want to transfer points from and the destination account. You can also quickly combine points between all of your accounts using this feature.

No, you cannot transfer points to a different cardholder.

The value of an RBC Reward point varies, depending on how you choose to redeem them. We recommend using a base value of 1 cent per RBC Reward point when making your redemptions.

The RBC Rewards program team can be contacted via phone at 1-800-769-2512.

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5 comments on “ RBC Rewards ”

I just tried the RBC Rewards Travel Portal to see how much a fixed point redemption would cost and it was not as advertised. One person, return trip from Vancouver,BC to LHR leaving Dec 16th and returning Dec 23rd, 2023 would cost 65,000 fixed points (should be worth up to $1,300 excluding tax and fees) plus $935.66 out-of-pocket. I compared this against Expedia and the out-of-pocket trip cost would be $1,140.66 (breakdown is $805.00 in air transportation charges, plus $335.66 for taxes and fees). So, the 65,000 RBC Avion points only saves me $200 in travel costs – this is pathetic! It should have saved me the $805 flight cost! What is going on here; is RBC devaluing their own points? …I ‘m considering changing credit cards if this is the case. Thanks for your advice.

$1300 is the max ticket price, not the guaranteed value. Are you comparing the exact same flight on Expedia and on RBC? The $935 out of pocket seems strangely high but I wonder if its on an airline like BA which have notoriously high taxes and fees. You’d be better off booking a flexible travel redemption and taking $650 off instead.

Personally I find best use of RBC to be transfers to airline partners like BA Avios, Cathay, etc.

Hi Reed. Thanks for your reply. Maybe I’m not quite understanding the ticket price vs guaranteed value. To clarify, the comparison was for the exact same flights, carrier (Air Canada), and dates. Expedia “Air transportation charges” (I assume this is the ticket price portion?) showed as $805 so this was what I expected RBC to cover but they don’t. I did another comparison tonight with different dates (July 6-20, 2024 flying with Iceland Air) and the Expedia cost was $976 for “Air transportation charges” plus $277.96 for “taxes and fees” (total cost $1,253.96). RBC wants 65,000 points plus $621.96. So, out of the total cost of $1,253.96 RBC is only covering the difference of $632 with my 65,000 points (about a 1% points vale); still extremely terrible “value” from RBC. They should cover the $976 flight cost. What am I missing? Can I send you a screenshot? Thanks again.

Yes – I emailed you.

I was not allowed to choose Level of economy flight from basic to the next two levels of economy this is a situation on Air Canada site that allows me to increase my level of comfort

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. For complete and current information, please consult the entity's website.

RBC Avion : How to Use Your RBC Avion Points for Travel Rewards

RBC Avion Rewards Credit Cards

There are several RBC Avion credit cards part of the Avion Rewards program . One of the best is the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card .

It has excellent insurance, including one for mobile devices, which is rare. In addition, as a welcome offer, it offers a lot of points with little effort.

Other cards that earn Avion Points are:

• RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card
• RBC ION+ Visa Card
• RBC ION Visa Card
• RBC ® Avion ® Visa Infinite Privilege* Card
• RBC Avion Visa Platinum
• RBC Avion Visa Infinite Business Card
• RBC Avion Visa Business Card

With this exceptional offer for the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card, you can earn up to 55,000 Avion points:

• 35,000 Avion points on approval
• 20,000 Avion bonus points when you spend $5,000 in your first 6 months

This offer expires on April 30, 2024, and will not be renewed. Take advantage of it before it’s too late !

You can use your Avion Rewards points for travel or redeem them with other loyalty programs such as :

• American Airlines AAdvantage
• British Airways Executive Club (and Qatar Airways Privilege Club)
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
• WestJet Rewards

For example, with the current welcome offer, you can get 55,000 British Airways Avios Points or 550 WestJet Dollars .

With the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card, you earn 1 point per dollar and 1.25 points for travel purchases.

And you’ll benefit from a wide range of insurance coverage: Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance, Out-of-Province/Country Emergency Medical Insurance, Rental Vehicle Collision/Loss Damage Insurance, Mobile Device Insurance.

How to Use Your Avion Points for Travel Rewards

Use the fixed fare chart for airline tickets.

One way to use your Avion points for travel is with the purchase of an airline ticket. This is the best way to get the most value out of the RBC Avion Rewards program . This is described in detail in this article .

Depending on the destination, 15,000 to 100,000 Avion points are required per ticket.

RBC Avion Rewards points can be used to travel anywhere in the world with a round-trip ticket. A one-way trip requires half as many Avion points. Here is the airfare table for a round-trip flight:

On average this equals about 2 cents per Avion point .

Use the Flexible Fare Chart for Airfare

The Flexible Fare Plan uses 100 Avion points for a $1 discount on your airfare. The transaction must be made directly on the Avion Rewards website, using the flight search tool.

For example, with the flat rate fare, 35,000 points will get you a round-trip ticket anywhere in Canada and the U.S., up to a value of $750.

If you choose to purchase that same $750 ticket with the flexible fare structure , you will need 75,000 points. So using the flexible fee schedule would be more of a disadvantage in this case. It’s up to you to make your calculations, depending on the number of points you have banked.

Redeem Avion Points for Any Trip

For even more flexibility, book your hotel, car rental, cruise or airline tickets as you wish on the Avion Rewards site to have your account credited.

Avion credit cardholders can redeem 100 Avion points to deduct $1 from this travel expense. For example, for a night at the hotel that cost $200, 20,000 points are required to bring the balance down to zero.

For ION and ION+ credit card holders, it’s different. They redeem their points using a conversion rate of 172 points = $1.

Buy Gift Cards

There are approximately 250 gift cards to purchase with Avion points. About ten of these geared towards travel. For example, buying a gift card for future stays at Fairmont or Best Western hotels. Or Tim Hortons, for roadtrips !

Generally, the cost is 1 cent per Avion point, so 5,000 points for a $50 gift card .

Uber is different, with 7,000 points for $50.

Transfer to Other Airline Loyalty Programs

Did you know that it is possible to transfer your Avion points to other airline loyalty programs? We explain how in our tutorial on this subject:

Another way of exchanging RBC points in the event of technical problems

Occasionally, the Avion Rewards site may experience technical difficulties or your flight may not appear in the search results.

During that time, call Avion Rewards Customer Service at 1-800-769-2512.

• Get an authorization number to book the flight you want;
• Book your own flight directly on the desired airline’s website;
• Send an e-mail to [email protected] with your authorization number obtained earlier from Customer Service, your name, the number of tickets reserved, proof of ticket purchase and itinerary details.

Avion Rewards will then deduct the required points from your RBC Rewards points account to credit the cost of your airline tickets, according to their fare structure.

Frequently asked questions about the Avion Rewards program

How many avion points are needed for a free airline ticket.

Depending on the destination, 15,000 to 100,000 Avion points are required.

Can I buy a ticket for another person?

Yes , make sure that the person’s personal information is written down perfectly at the time of booking.

What is the definition of a basic Avion Rewards account?

These are the people enrolled in the Value Program , who earn Avion Rewards points.

Where can I redeem my Avion Rewards points for travel?

Go to the site Avion Rewards or click on the Avion Rewards icon in your RBC Direct Banking session. Then go to the Travel section.

All posts by Caroline Tremblay

Suggested Reading

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• Credit Cards

Best ways to earn:

Best ways to redeem:.

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

RBC® Avion Visa Platinum†

• 1 Avion point per dollar spent on all qualifying purchases

RBC® Avion Visa Infinite Privilege†

• 1.25 Avion points per dollar spent on all qualifying purchases

RBC® Avion Visa Business

RBC® Avion Visa Infinite† Business

The RBC ION cards, earning Avion Premium points instead of Avion Elite points, have better earning rates than the cards above, despite fetching little to no annual fees.

Although the ION cards earn less valuable Avion Premium points, you can easily transfer the Avion Premium points earned through ION cards to Avion Elite points at a rate of 1:1, if you hold one of the Avion cards listed above.

The two cards through which you can earn Avion Premium points have the following earning rates:

RBC® ION Visa

• 1.5 Avion points per dollar spent on qualifying grocery, gas, rideshare, daily public transit, electric vehicle charging, streaming, digital gaming, and digital subscriptions

RBC® ION+ Visa

• 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

For save & earn offers, you must opt into each offer by logging into your Avion Rewards account.

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.

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.

19 Comments

Can you tell me how is the Avion Visa Infinite Card better than say.. the RBC British Airways Visa Infinite? RBC Avion Visa Infinite – earn 1.25 points on travel, 1 point everywhere else – transfer points to Cathay/American Airlines/WestJet/British Airway RBC British Airways Visa Infinite -earn 3 points when buying British Airway tickets, 2 points on Dining/Grocery, 1 point everything else

Yes. The Visa Infinite appears to have better flexibility on paper, but since all of those airlines are part of the one-world alliance, you automatically have access to all those airlines anyways, does that “flexibility” even still matter? With the BA card you are very likely to earn much more points? The BA card does cost $45 more annualy, but as it earn more points I think that’s justifiable? not to mention the BA card also gives a free companion voucher every year?

Hi Jon, there a pros and cons to each card mentioned. As you said, one advantage of the Avion family of cards is the ability to transfer to more than one partner program. While British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and American Airlines are all One World airlines, each program has unique sweet spots that can be utilized. There are also occasional transfer bonuses when transferring Avion points to partner programs. You mentioned the British Airways card having a free companion voucher, however this voucher in only awarded after spending $30,000 in a calendar year. An underrated strategy with Avion cards is pairing an RBC ION+ card with an Avion, and taking advantage of the 3x earn rates in popular categories offered by the ION+. An Avion/ION+ combination would have annual feels of $168 ($120 + $48), just about equal to the British Airways Visa Infinite’s $165 annual fee. One other advantage to the Avion/ION+ cards is that you can apply for the Avion Platinum card if you do not meet the $60,000 income threshold of a Visa Infinite product.

I tried Transferring Avion Points to Qatar Airlines and it did not work. Apparently, Qatar Airlines requires to have at least 1000 points balance in order to transfer or purchase additional points 🙁 However, I had a great experience with British Airways – a great value for the tickets!

You can’t transfer directly from RBC Avions to Qatar Avios, only RBC Avions to BA Avios. And if your BA Avios is connected to QR Avios, then you can freely move the Avios between the 2 airlines program

i’ve held the RBC infinite priveledge card for over a year now and finally used it for a redemption at 2cpp (flight for myself & family from Tokyo to Manila this december 2023). I’m so impressed by the discount on the tickets I got via the points redemption that I’m eager to earn more avion points. I wish I could transfer points from my wife’s regular Visa infinite (RBC) avion to mine which gets 2cpp but as far as I can tell this isn’t allowed.

Hi Ricky, Does RBC qualify you back for a welcome bonus if you already received one ?

Generally yes

You never know! 😉

I sometime find booking though airlines is cheaper than using the RBC reward travel orbitz. Does RBC offer price matching?

Can I use my avion points to up grade at the AIRPORT the day of departure.

There’s no easy way to do this. Your best bet would be to bid-upgrade with cash.

can transfer my westjet dollars to avion

Can you redeem Avion points for statement credit.

I’m short 2000 points for a flight . Can you buy points?

Hi, Just wondering if you know when the next RBC avion to westjet dollar promotion is?

I don’t believe this conversion bonus is ever coming back.

Hi Ricky, any idea if there’ll be another transfer bonus to Avios this year?

With it being mid-November already, it’s looking doubtful.

Hi, Can you use RBC Infinite Avion points to redeem PREMIUM Economy class of Air Canada. e.g. 100,000 points from Canada to Middle East. Or does RBC only allow to redeem Economy class?

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