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The Ultimate Guide to the Avion Rewards Program for Canadians

By Meagen Seatter | Published on 24 Jul 2023

When it comes to credit card reward programs aimed at travellers, Aeroplan is likely the first to pop into most Canadians’ minds. However, the Avion Rewards Program might be more attractive if you primarily travel within Canada. Avion points are easy to collect and redeem for travel rewards, merchandise and more. Members can even transfer their points to other airline loyalty programs.

Avion Rewards are exclusively available to RBC customers, so it’s not as well-known as Aeroplan or Air Miles. Here, we’ll break down how the Avion Rewards Program works, discuss point value, and reveal what kinds of rewards are available to point collectors.

What is the Avion Rewards Program?

The Avion Rewards Program is a reward program owned and operated by the Royal Bank of Canada. It is sometimes referred to as RBC Rewards, an RBC loyalty program previously offered to non-Avion credit cardholders but no longer exists. RBC Rewards was renamed ‘Avion Rewards’ on August 25, 2022.

Cardholders can join Avion Rewards if they hold a select RBC Avion credit card. Travel rewards, discounts at partner retail stores, and using your points to bank with RBC are just a few features that make RBC Avion credit cards a great choice for Canadians, especially those who love to travel.

The program has two tiers; Avion Premium and Avion Elite. RBC ION credit card holders are at the Premium level, while RBC Avion cardholders have access to the Elite level. For this article, we will focus on Avion Elite, which gives members the option of redeeming their points for travel rewards.

How The Avion Rewards Program Works

The major difference between the two tiers is how collectors can redeem their points. Cardholders of either tier can trade Avion Reward points in for WestJet Dollars or Hudson Bay Rewards . Avion Elite Rewards collectors, on the other hand, have access to the Avion Reward Travel Center. Here, members can cash in a set number of points for flights worldwide. Different regions require a different amount of points. For example, a quick trip to an adjacent province or state requires just 15,000 RBC Avion Reward points, while a getaway to a European destination requires 65,000 points. Holidays to far-flung destinations like Australia or the Pacific Islands cost 100,000 points.

Here’s a quick peek at RBC’s Air Travel Redemption Chart:

The number of points required to travel is set by region and covers a maximum base fare only. So, for example, if you want to travel from Alberta to British Columbia, you can cash in 15,000 points for a ticket that costs up to $350, excluding taxes and fees. If a ticket costs more than that, you’ll have to pay out of pocket or cash in more reward points. Also, taxes, surcharges, and other fees charged by the airline that are not included in the exchange rate will have to be paid either out of pocket or you can use the ‘Pay with Points’ option and cash in your Avion Rewards points at an exchange rate of 100 points = $1 CAD.

While on the surface, it may seem like the Avion program doesn’t provide good value (after all, your ticket from Alberta to B.C. costs 15,000 points even if it costs less than $350, too), one major advantage to the program is that it lets collectors travel on any airline, anytime. Unlike other reward programs that blackout peak travel times or place other limits on when you can use your travel rewards, with Avion Rewards, there are no black-out dates or seat or airline restrictions. Plus, rewards aren’t limited to airline tickets; you can use your points like cash to pay for any travel-related expenses, including hotels, car rentals, and even taxes and fees. Points are converted at a ratio of 100 points for $1 CAD. Avion points can also be converted to West Jet Dollars at the same conversion rate.

Are Avion Points Valuable?

The value of Avion Reward points depends on how you use them. If you can find a flight that falls within the sweet spot of Avion’s flight redemption schedule, points hold more value than if you were to convert them to West Jet Dollars or pay with points as cash. The flight redemption schedule can make Avion Reward points incredibly valuable – up to 2.33 cents per point if you can find a ticket that falls within the right price range – it can also have the opposite effect if you can’t find a reasonably priced ticket to where you want to go when you want to travel.

That brings us to the second, and arguably the most valuable, difference between Avion’s two tiers. Avion Elite members can also trade their Avion Reward points for points with 3 other frequent flyer programs:

• American Airlines AAdvantage
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles , and
• British Airways

This handy feature greatly expands the range of destinations collectors can visit with Avion Reward Points. That flexibility alone adds value to the program, even if transferring them gives them a lower monetary value than they have using the Avion grid.

Avion points can be traded for British Airways and Cathay Pacific Asia Miles at a ratio of 1:1. The exchange rate for Avion Rewards to AAdvantage points is 10:7. Still, being able to transfer points to a different rewards system is a major advantage of the Avion Rewards Program, especially for Canadian travel hackers looking to stretch the value of a point as far as it can go.

The bottom line is that Avion points can be very valuable when leveraged correctly. However, their value changes depending on where you’re travelling. Long-haul flights within Canada typically yield the greatest return. For shorter flights, the value is almost on par with Avion’s travel purchase exchange rate of 1 cent per point. Collectors must do a little research before booking to get the highest value from their points.

How To Transfer Points

The flexibility to transfer points to other reward programs is one of the best features of the Avion Rewards Program. To complete a transfer, you’ll need to sign in to your RBC Online account. Underneath your account information, click ‘Avion Rewards’, and you’ll be taken to the Avion Rewards page.

At the top of the screen, you’ll see a row of options. Click ‘Transfer,’ and you’ll be shown a list of all of Avion’s available transfer partners. Simply click the program you want to transfer your points to and allow 4 weeks for the transfer to complete.

Ways to Collect Avion Points

The only way to accumulate Avion Reward points is with an RBC Avion credit card. For every $1 charged to your card, you’ll get between 1 and 1.25 Avion Reward points. Qualifying purchases earn extra points, and new cardholders will get bonus points just for being approved. There are 6 Avion Rewards cards available through RBC to choose from, but we’ve compared their best credit cards in the next section. All 3 are currently offering a welcome bonus of 35,000 welcome Avion Reward points.

Top 3 RBC Avion Credit Cards

Rbc avion visa infinite.

The RBC Avion Visa Infinite card earns you 1.25 Avion points per dollar spent on all travel-related purchases and 1 point per dollar spent on everything else. This card is by far the best travel credit card on the list. Although the annual fee of $120 is steep, the features (like 12 types of comprehensive insurance, including travel and mobile phone coverage) are well worth the cost, and it has reasonable income requirements.

RBC Avion Visa Platinum

The RBC Avion Visa Platinum credit card is very similar to the Avion Visa Infinite, but if you don’t make a lot of travel purchases, this one might be a better fit. It also doesn’t have any income requirements, so it’s a good option for part-time or freelance workers. With this card, you’ll earn 1 Avion point for every dollar spent on all purchases.

RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege

The RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege card has the highest earning potential of the 3, with 1.25 points on all purchases. However, at $400 per year and a minimum income requirement of $100,000, it’s also the most expensive RBC Avion credit card on this list and slightly out of reach for the average Canadian. However, by shelling out for this card, you’ll be rewarded with some lofty perks like a free Priority Pass membership and 6 free airport lounge passes, dedicated parking at Canadian airports, priority service at airport security, and extensive insurance across a range of categories. You’ll also be able to redeem your Avion Reward points for travel expenses at a rate of 100 points = $2 CAD.

Ways to Redeem Avion Reward Points

There are a number of ways to redeem your Avion Reward points, including travel rewards, credits for travel-related expenses, banking, and shopping.

To redeem your points for travel, you’ll first need to sign into your RBC account. Navigate to the Avion Rewards tab to be taken to the Avion Rewards homepage, where you can redeem points for flights, hotels, vacation packages and more. You can also book travel through the Avion Rewards Travel call centre, but a $30 fee applies to all bookings.

If you want to convert your points and redeem them through a different reward program, you’ll need to navigate to the ‘transfer points’ section of the Avion Rewards home page. Follow the prompts to make the transfer to your selected airline program. After the conversion is complete (which can take up to 4 weeks), you’ll redeem points through the airline program’s website.

Avion Elite members can make credit card payments, pay back purchases with points, and use points to pay other eligible bills like the Internet and TV. Points can also be used to send Interac e-transfers, pay down loans and invest with RBC.

Using the Avion Rewards website, app, the RBC Rewards homepage, or the RBC Launch app, you can use your points to purchase products from brands such as Apple, Best Buy, Dyson, and more, either in-person or online. There is also a browser extension called Avion Rewards ShopPlus that automatically searches the web and finds deals suitable for you.

Additionally, you can use your points to purchase gift cards from partner retailers like Amazon, Petro-Canada and Lululemon or donate them for cash value to charities like Ronald McDonald House or the Canadian Olympic Foundation.

FAQs about the Avion Rewards Program

Avion Rewards , sometimes referred to as RBC Avion Rewards or RBC Rewards, is a reward program offered by the Royal Bank of Canada. It is available through RBC’s line of Avion credit cards.

Questions about Avion Travel Rewards can be resolved by phone at the Avion Rewards Travel Centre at 1-877-636-2870 . For other inquiries related to the program, call Royal Bank Visa Avion at 1-800 ROYAL 1-2 (1-800-769-2512) .

Avion Reward points are accumulated through purchases made with an RBC Avion credit card . Points can then be redeemed for travel rewards through the Avion Travel Centre, transferred to other frequent flyer programs, or traded in for West Jet Dollars or Hudson Bay Rewards. You can also use Avion Rewards to pay for merchandise or gift cards , pay bills or investment in RBC financial products.

No, Avion Rewards don’t expire.

Cardholders can manage their points online by logging into their RBC account and clicking on the ‘Avion Rewards’ icon to redeem points for travel purchases, gift cards , and merchandise or use points to make credit card or bill payments. Avion points can also be managed with the easy-to-use Avion mobile app.

Avion Rewards are incredibly valuable if you can find a flight that falls within Avion’s travel redemption grid. Not only do Avion points have a high cash value when leveraged correctly, but with Avion, you can fly on any airline, anytime and in any seat. Avion Rewards can be transferred to other frequent flyer programs, which further extends their value.

The number of points needed for a flight depends entirely on where you want to go. If you’re travelling through the Avion Travel Centre, one-way tickets within Canada and the continental United States start at 7,500 points. Travel to further-away destinations requires more points. Between 35,000 – 55,000 are needed to travel in North America and the Caribbean, and 65,000 points will get you to Europe. For 100,000 points, you can travel to Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, South America or the South Pacific islands.

Avion Reward points are worth between 2 – 2.5 cents on the Avion grid. If you transfer them to Cathay Pacific Asia or British Airways, their value sinks to around 1.75 – 2 cents. Points transferred to the American Airlines AAdvantage program retain a value of around 1.25 – 1.5 cents. Avion points can be converted to West Jet dollars at a ratio of 100:1.

You can transfer Avion Reward points to British Airways, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, or American Airlines AAdvantage programs. Avion points can also be converted into WestJet Dollars or to Hudson Bay Rewards.

You’ll need 65,000 Avion points to fly to Europe using the Avion grid.

An Avion Rewards member can transfer Avion points to any account that’s in their name, and secondary cardholders can use the points. You can also transfer points to another person if that person has an Avion Rewards account.

Avion points cannot be transferred to Aeroplan.

To convert Avion points to WestJet Dollars, sign in to your RBC online banking account and navigate to the Avion Rewards tab, which will bring you to the Avion Rewards home page. Click ‘Transfers’ at the toolbar at the top of the screen and scroll to the list of Avion partner programs. Select ‘WestJet’ to convert your points to WestJet Dollars, and allow up to 4 weeks for the transfer to be complete.

Yes, you can use Avion points for flights, hotels and vacation packages, including all-inclusive packages, through the Avion Rewards travel portal .

You can use Avion points for a wide range of travel rewards, including hotel stays.

You’ll need between 45,000 and 55,000 Avion points to fly to Mexico.

There are over 60 retail partners where cardholders can redeem their Avion Reward points for gift cards. Major partners include Amazon , The Keg, Indigo, Petro-Canada, Winners and Starbucks .

Meagen Seatter

RBC Avion Rewards

Earn Avion Rewards points

Formerly known as RBC Rewards, the RBC loyalty program has been renamed Avion Rewards since August 2022 .

You can earn Avion Rewards points on a number of RBC credit cards linked to this loyalty program.

Note that there are 2 types of RBC Avion Rewards credit cards:

• Avion Elite
• Avion Select : points earned with these cards cannot be used for point transfers to other programs, and the redemption rate for travel is lower.

The most popular Avion Elite card is the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card :

RBC Avion Elite cards are:

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

Other RBC Avion Select cards include:

• RBC ION Visa Card
• RBC ION+ Visa Card
• RBC Rewards Visa Preferred

Use Avion Rewards points

There are three main uses for Avion Rewards points:

• For the purchase of trips
• For the transfer of points to other programs
• For the purchase of gift cards

Other uses are not optimal.

Purchasing travel with Avion Rewards points

There are two ways to use Avion Rewards points for travel purchases:

• Through the fixed reward chart
• Through the flexible reward chart

The Avion Rewards fixed reward chart

This is where you’ll get the most out of your Avion Rewards points .

RBC offers a fixed reward chart divided into six levels depending on the type of flight :

What is most interesting, is when the fare of the flight you want to book is close to the maximum amount (excluding taxes and surcharge ).

For example, here’s an airline ticket I booked to redeem 70,000 RBC points that I had earned.

This is a flight from Montreal to Las Vegas for a weekend. The fare is 35,000 Avion Rewards points (“Discover North America” level in the chart above ) and $164.85 in taxes.

Flights were direct, operated by Air Canada Rouge (but sold by United).

When looking at the details of the fare on ITA Matrix (to get the ticket price + taxes applied), we see that the ticket price is $370 + $345 = $715 (below the maximum allowed by RBC of $750 for 35,000 point tickets):

The taxes are within a few cents of those charged by RBC (approximately $165).

Here, 35,000 RBC points saved me $715.40. This values my use at 2 cents / RBC point (you can hardly get more!).

$880.25 (public ticket price) – $164.85 (taxes paid) = $715.40.

Flexible pricing with Avion Rewards

RBC points can also be used through the flexible reward chart.

For Avion Elite cards, 100 points = $1 .

For Avion Select cards, 172 points = $1 .

Just use this when you:

• Redeem points for travel rewards without using the Air Travel Rewards Redemption Schedule;
• Redeem points for a hotel stay, car rental, cruise or vacation package;
• Redeem points for one-way, business or first class flight;
• Book your trip less than 14 days in avance;
• Pay more than the maximum dollar value set for a category;
• pay taxes, fees and surcharges (Avion Elite cards only)

It’s not the most expensive way to use your Avion Rewards points, but it’s the easiest way to buy a trip.

Converting Avion Rewards points to other programs

One of the highlights of the Avion Rewards Travel program is the ability to convert Avion Rewards points to other partner programs such as American Express or Marriott Bonvoy .

Here are the transfer partners and the normal exchange rate.

From time to time, Avion Rewards runs point conversion promotions such as +30% to British Airways Executive Club . So keep an eye out for these promotions to convert your points at the best possible rate!

Purchase of gift cards with Avion Rewards points

If purchasing travel with points is not for you… there is another way to use your Avion Rewards points: by purchasing gift cards.

We generally don’t recommend this method for points as valuable as American Express Membership Rewards points, but Avion Rewards has regular promotions for gift cards!

The most interesting one lately was found in the milesopedia facebook group by Maxime about hotels.com gift cards.

And indeed, it was a good plan: with 18,750 points you could get a $250 hotels.com gift card.

As mentioned above, in addition to these 3 options for redeeming RBC points, there are other ways… but they are not advantageous: purchasing products on the online store, redeeming points for a statement credit, etc.

Credit cards

With this offer for the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card, you can earn 35,000 Avion points upon approval . No purchase necessary!

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

The current welcome offer, for example, gives you the equivalent of 35,000 British Airways Avios or 350 WestJet Dollars .

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

What’s more, you’ll benefit from a wide range of insurances: trip cancellation and interruption insurance, out-of-province or out-of-country emergency medical care insurance, collision and damage insurance for rental vehicles, and mobile device insurance.

Other credit cards

• Book Travel
• 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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Avion Rewards Guide | Formerly RBC Rewards

Avion Rewards  is Royal Bank of Canada’s loyalty program. The program used to be known as RBC Rewards, but a name change was introduced to simplify things.

To be honest, the program is likely popular since RBC is one of the big banks in Canada and has an insane number of clients. That’s not to say the program isn’t any good. Heck, I think it’s one of the better bank programs available since it’s easy to earn points, and you have multiple redemption options.

That said, like any loyalty program, RBC Rewards has different ways to earn and redeem points. What you use your points for can make a big difference when it comes to value. Way too many people burn their points on basic travel redemptions or statement credits when they could easily get more value for their points. Here’s how to maximize your RBC Rewards points.

Avion Rewards points value

Since it costs 1,000 points to redeem $10 in travel, the base value of one RBC point is 1 cent. That’s similar to other bank travel loyalty programs. That said, if you have an RBC ION Visa card, it costs 172 Avion points for $1 in travel, so that’s a value of .71 cents per point.

As you can see, travel redemptions and travel gift cards are clearly the ones that give you the most value for your points. The Air Travel Redemption Schedule is especially worth noting since you can more than double the value of your points. Although financial rewards may have a lower initial value, you could come out ahead in the long term.

One thing to note is that RBC Rewards and RBC Avion are slightly different. Even though many RBC credit cards allow you to earn RBC Rewards, you may not get the full benefits thatcpme with RBC Avion credit cards.

With standard RBC Rewards points, you don’t get as many travel benefits/options. Since RBC Avion points are more valuable, you’ll want to hold one of the three RBC Avion cards, which are as follows:

• RBC Avion Visa Platinum
• RBC Avion Visa Infinite
• RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege

How to redeem RBC Avion points for travel

With RBC Rewards, you must book through their travel portal or via the phone, but RBC will charge you $30 for that privilege. While this will annoy many people since you may have specific travel sites you prefer, RBC Rewards is a full-service travel agency, and you can book any of the following:

• Car rentals
• Vacation packages

You can use your RBC Avion Rewards points for any seat on any flight, and there are no blackout periods or seat restrictions. Points can be used to pay the entire price of airfare, including taxes. If you don’t have enough points to pay for the whole redemption, you can use as few points as you wish since no minimum redemption is required. The remaining balance will be charged to your RBC Rewards credit card. Unfortunately, RBC Rewards can’t be applied to travel booked on your own.

RBC Avion Air Travel Redemption Schedule

If you have an RBC Avion card (not a RBC Rewards card), you can use your points on the  RBC Air Travel Redemption Schedule , which allows you to book flights for fewer points. The catch is, that the redemption has a maximum ticket price and you can’t do a partial redemption. You must have all the points required to make a redemption. Even with the limit in place, you can get a greater value than 1 cent per point via the redemption schedule, which is why it’s appealing. Additionally, you book business or economy class tickets. Here’s the redemption chart and what you’ll get:

The chart may appear complicated but look strictly at the value. Depending on how you redeem your points, you could get a value of up to 2.33 cents per point which is more than double the regular redemption rate. Using the redemption schedule is handy whenever you need to book an expensive flight such as a long-haul. There has been more than one occasion where I’ve had to fly from Toronto to Ottawa at the last minute. Instead of paying the insane $500-600 that Air Canada and WestJet were charging, I redeemed RBC points to help offset my short-haul flight costs.

There are no blackout dates, and every seat is available on every carrier with the Redemption Schedule, so it can be easy to value. Quite often, I’ll compare the cost of a flight on  Aeroplan  to RBC before deciding which points I should use.

The RBC Air Travel Redemption Schedule and the ability to convert your RBC Rewards points to other loyalty programs is why I rank RBC Rewards ranks #2 on my list of  Canada’s best bank travel rewards programs .

How to redeem Avion Rewards points for gift cards

RBC Rewards has a wide variety of merchants where you can use your RBC points for gift cards. Unfortunately, there are different values depending on the gift card you redeem. Here are some of the redemptions and merchants available.

• 1,400 RBC Rewards points = $10 Amazon gift card
• 3,500 RBC Rewards points = $25 Bath & Body Works gift card
• 3,500 RBC Rewards points = $25 Beer Store gift card
• 7,000 RBC Rewards points = $50 Best Buy gift card
• 10,000 RBC Rewards points = $100 Air Canada gift card
• 10,000 RBC Rewards points = $100 Fairmont Hotels & Resorts card
• 14,000 RBC Rewards points = $100 Food Basics gift card
• 35,000 RBC Rewards points = $250 Golf Town gift card

Since the value of each gift card is different, you need to calculate the value of one point so you know what you’re getting. To do that, you take the dollar value of the redemption and multiply it by 100. You then take that number and divide it by the points required. For example, with Food Basics, it would be $100 X 100 / 14,000 = .71 cents per point.

What you’ll quickly notice is that travel gift cards are usually worth 1 cent per point, whereas any other merchant is .71 cents each. RBC often has gift cards redemption bonuses (10% to 30% bonus) including travel related gift cards that make them an attractive option. There was a good promo on Petro Canada gift cards one summer, so I cashed in a bunch of points and gave the gift cards to my dad.

How to redeem Avion Rewards points for financial rewards

When logged into RBC Rewards, if you look under the Shop & Redeem menu, you’ll see there’s an option to use your points for RBC financial rewards. Assuming you have financial products with RBC, you can use your points for the following:

• Add to your existing investments
• Mortgage payments
• Repayment to your line of credit.

It takes 12,000 RBC points to get $100 in financial products which gives you a value of .83 cents per point. At first glance that may seem like a lot, but think about the long term. With mortgage and line of credit payments, you’re basically paying off your loan earlier which you immediately save on the interest. If you’re adding to your investments, you can take advantage of  compound interest  which could make your redemption very valuable in the long run.

If you use your points for a financial reward that’s put towards your  RRSP , you could also get a tax break. Putting in your  TFSA  would allow you to invest with tax free gains. It’s a win-win situation, but you won’t see the reward for many many years.

Redeeming Avion Rewards points for merchandise, statement credits, and charitable donations

The final three redemption options for your RBC Rewards points are merchandise, statement credits, and charitable donations. Although the RBC Rewards merchandise catalogue is quite large and there are some quality products available, the number of additional points required for the value is not worth it at all. I would advise avoiding using your points for merchandise. That said, there are occasionally discounts on merchandise redemptions, so sometimes the transactions aren’t a terrible deal.

Using your points for a statement credit is an even lower value. It takes 17,200 points to get $100 off your statement. That means your points would be worth .58 cents per point. Unless you’re facing financial difficulties, you’re better off redeeming your points for anything else.

RBC Avion points   transfer partners

I love programs that let you convert points to other loyalty programs since it adds flexibility and value. Avion Rewards has one of the most extensive and valuable lists of conversion partners when it comes to Canada’s bank travel reward programs. American Express Membership Rewards is better, in my opinion, but RBC Rewards isn’t far behind.

Here is the list of programs you can convert Avion points to, but note that except WestJet Rewards, only Avion cardholders can transfer their points to the following partners:

• WestJet Rewards : 1,000 RBC points = $10 WestJet dollars
• Hudson’s Bay Rewards : 1,000 RBC points = 2,000 HBC Rewards points (worth $10 at Hudson’s Bay)

If you are an Avion cardholder you can also benefit from these conversion options:

• American Airlines : 10,000 RBC points = 7,000 AAdvantage miles
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles : 10,000 RBC Points = 10,000 Asia Miles
• British Airways : 10,000 RBC points = 10,000 Avios miles

It’s hard to put an exact value on airline miles since there are so many variables, but generally speaking, their value is around a minimum of 1.5¢ per mile for economy tickets. Often you can get double the value if you’re booking in business class. That said, WestJet Rewards uses a dollar system, so they have a fixed value.

It’s a good idea to log into RBC Rewards often since they have many redemption promotions throughout the year, which boost your points’ value. In addition, RBC Rewards had a few transfer bonuses (10% to 30% bonus points) for Westjet, Asia Miles, British Airways Avios Miles, and American Airlines AAdvantage Miles. That meant you got extra value when transferring your points to a partner.

Of particular interest is how you can transfer your points to WestJet dollars. Nothing stops you from holding an RBC Avion card and the RBC WestJet World Elite Mastercard. Both cards come with good sign up bonuses so you could quickly rack up those WestJet dollars. For example, the RBC Avion card typically has a welcome bonus of 15,000 points which can be transferred to WestJet for $150 WestJet dollars. The WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard’s standard bonus is $250 and a companion voucher. When you combine the two, you’ll have $400 in WestJet dollars without having to spend much. No purchase is required to get the bonus with the Avion card, and you only need one purchase with the WestJet Card.

Do RBC Rewards points expire?

There’s a lot of conflicting information out there about when RBC Rewards points expire. I have confirmed that  RBC Avion points don’t expire  as long as you have an active eligible RBC Royal Bank credit card. If you cancel your card, you have 90 days to redeem them before losing them. The first-in, first-out rule you may have read about online is an old outdated article. RBC really needs to delete that page. If you’re unsure when your points expire, you could always call customer service to confirm.

How RBC Avion compares to others

RBC Avion Rewards is easily one of the best travel loyalty programs of Canada’s big five banks. There are many reasons why I rank RBC Rewards so high, including:

• No blackout dates
• No minimum number of points to redeem
• A fixed points flight program
• Many transfer partners to convert points to
• Many promotions for redemptions
• Value of points

In my opinion, RBC Rewards is only second to  American Express Membership Rewards . American Express holds the first place because RBC Rewards lacks an option to book travel on your own (you can only book through their portal) and because RBC Rewards credit cards don’t really have any increased earn rates which limit how fast you can earn points. You can also read my reviews of  CIBC Rewards ,  BMO Rewards ,  TD Rewards  and  Scene+  to see how RBC Rewards compares.

How to earn RBC Avion Rewards

To earn RBC Rewards, you must have a credit card account that earns you RBC Rewards. As you can imagine, the easiest ways to earn points are via credit card sign up bonuses and everyday purchases you make on your RBC Rewards credit card. Currently, there are six personal credit cards and two business credit cards that will earn you RBC Rewards points. To make things a bit complicated, RBC Rewards has two tiers of RBC Rewards points: regular and Avion RBC Rewards points. Points from an Avion account have more redemption options, and these options are the most valuable ones. With this in mind, the RBC Visa Infinite Avion card is arguably the best card to earn Avion points and is one of the  best RBC credit cards .

RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card

• $120 annual fee
• 35,000 Avion points on approval
• Earn 1.25 Avion points for every $1 spent on travel purchases
• Earn 1 Avion point per $1 on all other purchases
• Comprehensive travel insurance
• Mobile device insurance up to $1,500

The sign up bonus for new cardholders is typically 15,000 points which isn’t much compared to some of the  best travel credit cards in Canada . That said, the  RBC Visa Infinite Avion Card  often has promotions where the welcome bonus is 25,000 – 35,000 points, and the annual fee for the first year is waived. Whenever a promo like that comes around, it’s worth signing up for the card.

The earn rate of 1.25 points per $1 spent on travel is decent, while the 1 RBC Reward point earned per dollar spent on all other purchases, including bill payments, is pretty common. Here’s something that many people don’t realize. You don’t need to make any purchases to get the bonus. The terms and conditions say you get it after the first statement.

Another little-known trick is that you can  switch  from the RBC WestJet World Elite Mastercard to the RBC Visa Infinite Avion Card and vice versa. This is useful if you’re not able to maximize your points and want to try something new. That said, be sure to use up your points before you make any changes.

The RBC Visa Infinite Avion Card also provides good travel insurance when travelling outside Canada. Not only do you get travel medical, but you’ll also be covered for trip cancellation/interruption, delayed and lost baggage, hotel/motel burglary and more. Obviously, some exclusions apply, so read the certificate of insurance for complete terms.

Link to your Petro-Points card

RBC has a deal in place with Petro-Canada where you can save 3 cents per litre at Petr-Canada, 20% extra Petro-Points, and 20% extra RBC Rewards points.

To be eligible, you just need to add your Petro-Points number to your RBC online banking account. You would link your Petro-Points card to all of your eligible RBC debit or credit cards. 

Final thoughts

Avion Rewards is one of the  best bank travel rewards programs . The RBC Visa Infinite Avion card may not give you the best signup bonus or have the highest earn rate, but there’s no denying that once you have the points, they’re easy to use. There are no blackout dates and no minimum points required to make a redemption, so you’ll never run into any issues using your points. If you’re a fan of RBC, check out my  RBC InvestEase review  and find out how you can reduce your investment management fees.

About Barry Choi

Barry Choi is a Toronto-based personal finance and travel expert who frequently makes media appearances. His blog Money We Have is one of Canada’s most trusted sources when it comes to money and travel. You can find him on Twitter: @barrychoi

97 Comments

Can you explain more on the comprehensive cancellation insurance for traveling? For flight

What I mean is you get travel medical, trip accident, trip cancellation, lost luggage, etc. You cAN READ THE FULL DETAILS HERE.

https://www.rbcroyalbank.com/credit-cards/travel/rbc-visa-infinite-avion/rbc-visa-infinite-avion-certificate-of-insurance.pdf

Barry choi, What about outright flight cancellation by company with no booking possibility ? this happened to me 5 years ago and Avion card could not do anything!

When saying trip cancellation … talking from whom??

What do you mean by company with no booking possibility? With fight cancellation, it only applies to reasons that are outlined in your insurance policy.

When should I pay for a flight as opposed to redeeming points. I want to go to Vancouver – Honolulu -L.A. – Vancouver. Points 45000 plus $266 Cash $960 Plse advise and thx,Lawrence

45,000 Rewards points would be worth $450 + $266 for taxes = $716. Since the value of your redemption via the fixed travel program is $960, you come out ahead using the fixed program.

How much is 28906 rbcrewards point please

10,000 points = $100 so you have $289 at the base value. Your points are worth more if you use the RBC Rewards Air Travel Redemption Schedule

Hi. I have 10500 pts and I purchased my ticket for $2000 whose base fair is $1400. What’s the best way to go with the schedule?

You need 15,000 points to make a claim within or to an adjacent Province/Territory/U.S. State. That fare has a maximum base price of $350 so you can’t use the fixed redemption schedule.

you could just 10,000 points to redeem $100.

Sorry Barry. I have 105000 points. I missed a zero. Can you please update your response?

If you’ve already paid for your ticket, you can’t use the air redemption schedule. Assuming you didn’t 100K points gets you a flight from any major gateway in Canada/U.S. to destinations in Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific, Middle East, Africa, South America

Hi Barry, thanks for the article and for all the Q&A work as well !!

I’m looking at making the switch to Amex. I have 160k reward points I’ve saved up over the years. Looking to cash out or use these points up somehow with the best value. Appears as tho 10,000 points for $100 value is about the best offer from RBC rewards? Also, do you know if these points expire if I got rid of my RBC Avion card?

Yup, 10K points for $100 is indeed the best value. You lose all your points if you cancel your card. Your best bet would be to transfer your points to WestJet Dollars or hotels.com giftcards as they have good value.

I product switched to the RBC British Airways Visa almost 4 months ago. My account has remained in good standing however, I haven’t received the welcome bonus of 15k points yet. I have called RBC multiple times and each time I have been told that BA awards the points but when I speak to BA, they say that RBC needs to award the points. Do you have any idea who should be awarding the points? Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

In theory, it should be BA that actually issues the points but RBC would have to authorize it.

I would advise escalating the case with RBC first to see if that resolves anything.

If I wish to use my Avion Rewards points to pay off my credit card bill, is it straight 100 points/per every $1?

No, it takes 172 points to claim $1 in statement credit so you’re devaluing your points quite a bit if you were to go that route.

Is this card best to earn miles to book a points first class flight from Vancouver to Tokyo?

I just noticed RBC is offering 50% more points if converted to Avios, does the same offer ever happen with AA points?

The 50% bonus is quite rare. I’ve never seen it with AA.

Is it worth it to convert your Avion points to BA Avios given the 50% bonus on until Dec 15th? I live in Vancouver and typically fly to Hawaii in Winter and Europe in summer. Your insight is much appreciated.

If you plan on using those BA points, then yes, it’s a great deal. That said, I’m not sure which airlines you can use BA Avios points to get you from Vancouver to Hawaii.

Hi, is it worth buying the air Canada gift cards at a 10% discount? Are they easy to use and are there any hidden charges / rules to these we should know about?

Buying the gift cards gives you a guaranteed discount of 10%, but you might get better value if you used your points on the fixed travel program. It’s honestly a personal choice but I imagine you wouldn’t have any issues with using the gift cards. As far as I know there are no additional charges or rules, but read the fine print before you commit.

Do my RBC rewards expire at any point

Not as long as you have a credit card account that earns you RBC Rewards active with them that’s in good standing.

RBC Reward points expire after 3 years on a First In, First out basis.

That is incorrect. If you refer to handbook, the first page states that RBC points don’t expire.

https://www.rbcroyalbank.com/credit-cards/travel/rbc-visa-platinum-avion/rbc-visa-platinum-avion-benefits-guide.pdf

The reference to points expiring after 3 years is old and should have been removed from the website.

my mistake, you are correct. I believe my knowledge was outdated.

I just logged into my RBC Rewards and I see that I have a – 69K point balance. How is it possible to end up with a negative reward points balance?? I have never even used my rewards and forgot that it was even available. Any help would be appreciated.

You’d have to check with RBC about that

Do you think it is worth keeping the RBC Infinite Avion card beyond the first year? Is it worth the $120 per annum annual fee considering that I am also paying fees for amex gold card and BMO cash back card?

Thanks for your insight

Hi Viviene,

I personally wouldn’t keep three credit cards with annual fees. Of the three cards you mentioned, I’d probably drop the BMO cash back card but that’s because I prefer travel points. Who do you bank with? Do they waive the fee for any cards?

I bank with BMO but it’s a joint account and the waiver goes towards my partner’s BMO MC world elite card. I figure the cashback we get each year more than pays for the annual fee.

What does RBC Avion offer that justifies its fee? It seems as if it would take a long time to build up any significant number of points.

Well it’s really for you to decide based on your spending. E.g. if you moved all the spending from your cash back card to the RBC card, you could more in points for flights than what the annual fee would cost you. I think the RBC Rewards fixed flight travel chart offers good value especially if you’re looking at short haul flights. However, that may be redundant since you have the Amex Gold which also has a fixed points program.

How would you compared the two fixed points program? I tend to focus on transferring my Amex points to Avios and haven’t really looked at the Amex fixed points program. I also feel that the Amex Gold has more to offer than the RBC card in terms of travel insurance and flexibility on how to use points. But I may be wrong….

Both programs have their sweet spots. Amex is arguably better since you have more transfer partners. The Amex Gold has a slightly higher earn rate on travel. but RBC Rewards has occasional promos where if you transfer your points to BA, you get 25 or 50% more points.

I do agree that the Gold Amex is a better overall card.

Is there anyway I can browse through options for say a vacation package, that would be qualified for if I had 150000 points? For example my 150000 points would allow me to go to Cayo Largo Cuba, or Puerto Plata Dominican Republic or Cozumel Mexico…you get the idea.

It doesn’t give you an option to search for results based on X points. All really allows you to do is search by price from low to high after you’ve selected a country.

I have always been a fan of the RBC Avion program until today when I tried to change a departing flight and was told that all the flights I chose were “not available” although there were clearly seats for sale on both the airline website AND Expedia. RBC only offered a few very poor flight options. I thought “any flight” meant “any flight”. I have never encountered this before. We ended up buying new flights from the airline after spending over 30 minutes on hold, suffering through a painfully frustrating conversation with an agent and draining the battery on my phone.

I’m going to bail on Avion after learning that they recognize an Air Canada fuel surcharge of 570$ per ticket to europe in a time of extended, sustained low fuel prices. It was going to cost me 1100$= in fees when flights can be purchased outright for just over 1600$.

Value lost due to poor decisions at Avion….. adios!

That’s Air Canada’s fault, not Avion.

How long does it take to convert RBC points into Asia Miles? Is it instantaneous or do you have to wait 6-8weeks?

It usually takes 4-5 days for the transfer to Asia Miles

I have around 200k in avion points. I am trying to figure out the best option for using them as we are moving to Europe for a year. I looked into the flights but almost 1/2 goes to the taxes, etc. I was wondering if it was best to use them while we are there for short trips. So, what would be the best value? (ie rental car, hotels, ?), anything else?

Points for flights to Europe are typically of low value due to the fees. Using them within Europe is also not a good value since you wouldn’t be able to use the fixed travel program. You could use the RBC travel portal when you’re abroad and book points at 10,000 points = $100 in travel.

Alternatively, you could convert your points to WestJet dollars at a 1:1 ratio. On occasion, there are promos where you can convert to hotels.com giftcards which can be a good value.

Hi Barry, we have ~250,000 RBC Avion points and I’m trying to maximize getting to FCO (Rome) this summer from YYZ (Toronto.) We also have 90,000 in Aeroplan.

Traveling with a 15 month old so really wanted to optimize for lie-down seats. But they are pricey. ($8000 for two seats on AC’s direct flights.)

Can you suggest a way to optimize our points to make it work?

Flying from Toronto to Europe is one of the worst redemptions regardless of the program due to high airport taxes. With Aeroplan, you need 110K points for a return business flight so that won’t really work.

For RBC, I don’t think you can use your points for business so that doesn’t really help.

The best value I can think of right now and this is honestly not the greatest solution is to consider transferring your points to WJD. If you have the WestJet World Elite Mastercard, you can use the companion voucher for premium economy. I just booked two flights from YYZ to LGW for $2400. Of course, you would still need to get a flight to Rome and you’d only be redeeming your points at a 1% value.

IMO, you’re better off paying cash for this route and saving your points for later.

Help. We have 175000 Avion points. Looking to use them from YVR to LHR. If I use the points for 3 fares return it looks like another $700 each on top !!!! With Aur Canada. Flights in September are approximately $700 each return. Can you give any advice. I have not checked if BA charges the same.

Flights to Europe are a terrible value due to the high taxes. You’re better off saving your points for a different redemption.

Is it possible to use Avion points to pay for an upgrade on an already booked flight? Is it worth it? Looking at this for a flight from Houston to Auckland on Air New Zealand.

You’d have to call and ask. You definitely can’t do upgrades via the RBC Travel portal.

Is there a time limit to redeem accumulated points? And I wld like to purchase a gift card for electronics?

Your points don’t expire as long as you have an active RBC credit card that’s in good standing.

I am a bit lost with car rental points… if my rental was $800.00 how many points would I need

That falls under travel so it would cost you 80,000 points.

Barry, Can RBC Avion Visa Infinite cardholders redeem for a Premium Economy class seat instead of Economy class? Thanks!

RBC Rewards is a full service travel agency so you can book premium economy, but it’ll cost you more points. It’s unlikely you’d be able to book premium under the Air Travel Redemption Schedule since the price would exceed the maximum base price.

Barry, RBC Avion Visa Infinite redemption schedule From Canada to Hong Kong: 100,000 points. Maximum ticket price: $2,000.

Normally the Air Canada Premium Economy ticket from Canada to Hong Kong costs close to (less than) $2,000. It’s not worth to redeem Economy class, which is about $1,000 or less. That’s why I would like to know whether I can redeem Premium Economy class or not.

As long as the base ticket price is below $2,000, you should be able to redeem a premium economy flight using your RBC Rewards points.

Hi Barry, I’m totally torn between Scotia Passport and RBC AVion? Which one do you really prefer if we plan on going US visits and Asian Countries as well?

Both cards a bit different. The Scotiabank card is a good all-in-one card since it has no forex fees, but the RBC Avion has a fixed points travel chart which can be of good value. Since you’re based in Canada, Air Canada/Aeroplan cards are good for US travel thanks to the new Buddy Pass. WestJet companion vouchers can also be handy.

Barry, early thanks for answering my question. I am contemplating on utilizing approx. 111,000 Avion points for Best Western gift cards. I presume the gift cards are in Canadian funds? Travel contemplated is in the U.S. once the ban is lifted. How is the difference in currency handled by U.S. based Best Westerns?

The gift cards are only worth it if you’re getting an equal value to your RBC Avion points. E.g. 1,000 points = $10. Yes, the cards would come in CAD. If you use them outside of Canada, you would be subject to the exchange rate at the hotel which will definitely have a markup.

Avion $350 air fare fee for interprovincial travel is useless to many Canadians outside the Upper / Lower Canada belt. Many interprovincial one way tickets are $350 or more. I’ve amassed nearly a million dollars over the years on my Avion card, and travel with my family of 6, using the points. I always have to wait for airlines to post sale prices before I can use the points, because their reward amount is set too low. Its not a cheap card either. I’ve never complained, but its been the same price system for over 10 years. Hello! Inflation!

Paying the taxes on flights is also a bummer. I’ve often just bought sale priced flights with cash, because the Avion rewards taxes where close to half the flight cash amount. Didn’t see the point in wasting them.

How do I book a business class seat? We’d like to go back to Europe next year and want to fly business class. I have over 300,000 points with Avion.

Two years ago we booked two business class seats after transferring points to British Airlines, What a nightmare!

I swore that I’d move to another point card to get better service, connections, etc.

Please help.

RBC has a travel rewards portal where you’d book your flights and then redeem your points.

Aeroplan is a lot easier these days, it’s worth considering switching to a card that earns you Aeroplan points.

We have 215000 points with RBC and travel to Mexico, US and are thinking of going from Edmonton to Amsterdam and returning to Edmonton from Rome. What are the best way to use our points. Is transferring points to Westjet a better deal than buying Westjet gift cards .

To maximize your value, you should use the RBC Air Trave Redemption schedule – https://www.rbcrewards.com/#!/travel/redemptionSchedule

It’ll cost 65,000 points to get to Europe with a max ticket value of $1,300. That works out to 2 cents a point which is double the normal value.

Ad for WJD, it’s a better value to transfer your points directly instead of buying gift cards

Any luck with product switching lately and receiving the welcome bonus of 15,000 points for Avion Infinite?

Darn. Seems to still work for WJ MC. Perhaps makes sense to PS to a no AF card and then cycle back.

I recently “purchased” airline tickets using Avion points. Unfortunately I mistakenly selected the Flexible Points Pricing and as a result ended up using roughly twice as many points as would have been needed under the Fixed Points Pricing. The difference is somewhere around 35,000 points. I requested that Avion reverse this mistake but was advised that it was their policy to not allow such a change. I requested to talk to a manager, but they basically advised that this wasn’t going to happen (they told me it would take 6 weeks). Any advice.

Unfortunately, it’s unlikely they’ll reverse the charges. This happens with all points programs.

Hi Barry… I have over 1 Mil points… and on flight can I upgrade to Exec or 1st Class with my points ?? I don’t see it anywhere when i am looking at the booking … Any ideas. Thanks Mike

In the RBC Avion travel portal, you should be able to choose premium economy or business class seats for your flights.

What are the pros & cons of flex points vs flexible points booking w Avion? How do I know which we should use?

All rbc rewards and avion rewards points can be used on any travel purchase made through the RBC travel portal.

I have been reading your awesome feedback from Avion customers! I recently tried to receive information from the RBC Rewards program call centre and it was horrific – unprofessional and unknowledgeable agents, transferring me first to Expedia and then to Air Canada. They wore me down. I then went online and read reviews on the performance of the program – from what I saw, every customer who had to make a change on their travel booking experienced exactly the frustration I did.. Has this program gone down hill in recent years on their customer service assistance?

The program itself is fine, but I imagine every travel operator is experiencing customer service issues. I guess the real problem is knowing who to call. If you book travel through the Avion travel portal, technically speaking, you will go through them to make changes even if you booked an Air Canada flight.

Hi Barry, I’m unsure whether to use my avion infinite Visa card to pay a Europe bike tour purchase as the surcharge is 4 percent or pay with an e-transfer. The foreign currency rate I’m billed at was 1.49. I look forward to your response. Also, if I pay with an e-transfer will I have any travel protection? Thanks in advance! Barbara

Hey Barbara,

A 4% surcharge is quite a bit. That said, an e-transfer may come with fees too. I personally would just choose what’s cheaper. That said, if you don’t pay with your credit card, you don’t get any protection if you need to cancel your tour for a qualifying reason.

Hi Barry, Thank you for your responses. I really appreciate it! Barbara

Regarding financial rewards, more specifically applying a credit to an existing RBC mortgage: is the cash value going to be considered a lump sum payment or something else? I ask this because the options to pay down a mortgage faster are limited to double-up payments upon each scheduled payment, and one lump sum payment (aka prepayment) of up to 10% of the initial principal per year. I already used my yearly lump sum and I’m concerned that I wouldn’t be allowed to redeem my Avion points towards my mortgage or I may be allowed to do so, but I could be issued a penalty for not following the rules. I couldn’t find anything online about what the value of the points redeemed is considered to be.

Hey Stephanie,

If I had to guess, it would count as a prepayment. You’d have to call them to find out for sure.

Too old to travel. So thinking of using my Avion points to buy RBC merchandise. How can I see what is available if I don’t do any banking transactions on a computer?

You need to go to the RBC Avion website to see what items are available for redemption – https://www.avionrewards.com/index.html

On the web site that I see, the first thing that they want is your Visa number. And that is exactly why we don’t do money matters on line.

Avion Rewards is a credit card rewards program. Using your credit card number is how you log in.

Hello I redeemed 130,000 points for a flights to Barcelona from Toronto and had to cancel. What is the value of these points so that I can make a travel insurance claim

That’s a value of $1,300.

Hi Barry, Thought you might be interested in my experience being transitioned from HSBC World Elite MC to RBC Avion Visa. Since I don’t have anything that spells out the fees, conversion rate, etc. I called the RBC conversion team. They are waiving the $120 annual fee for the first year and that’s it. Although the HSBC card did not charge the 2.5% foreign conversion fee, the RBC card does. The extra points which HSBC gave for travel expenses are likewise not available with the RBC card. It seems to me that if I wanted this card I would be better off applying for it and getting the bonus. Very disappointing.

You should have received paperwork about the details of your new card. HSBC World Elite MC holders being switched the Avion Visa Infinite will still get no FX fees on their card.

You’re correct about losing the travel credit after the first year.

The Avion card is a clear downgrade, I mention a few other options in this article – https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/household-finances/article-hsbc-clients-may-not-love-their-new-rbc-credit-cards-but-rbcs-avion/

Thanks Barry. I don’t subscribe to the Globe but I assume you suggested the Scotiabank Passport Visa as an alternative. I don’t want to take up your time with all this but I applied for the Scotia card and it developed into a real mess. I’m still trying to find out what happened, currently waiting to hear back from their Escalated Customer Concern team.

I suggested a few.

The Amex Cobalt for high earn rate, Rogers Mastercard for Costco (if you use Rogers), and Platinum for high end travel benefits. If you want no FX, the Scotiabank card is indeed good, but I like the EQ Bank card cuz it has no fees.

I’ll def check into the EQ card, thanks again.

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Avion Rewards travel

Redeem your points for flights, hotels, car rentals, and more.

How many Avion points do you need to travel?

Rbc avion visa credit card holders.

Choose any airline, any flight, any time. There are no blackout dates or advance booking restrictions, even during peak periods.

Quick Getaways

• Within or to an adjacent province/territory
• Within or to an adjacent U.S. state

Max Ticket Price* $350

Explore North America

• Anywhere in Canada/U.S. except Hawaii and Alaska

Max Ticket Price* $750

Holiday Destinations

• Western Canada/U.S. to Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska
• Eastern Canada to Bermuda, Central America, Caribbean

Max Ticket Price* $900

Take a Vacation

• Eastern Canada/U.S. to Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska
• Western Canada to Bermuda, Central America, Caribbean

Max Ticket Price* $1,100

Visit Europe

• Major gateway in Canada/U.S. to destinations in Europe

Max Ticket Price* $1,300

100,000 pts

See the World

• Major gateway in Canada/U.S. to destinations in Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific, Middle East, Africa, South America

Max Ticket Price* $2,000

*Excluding any applicable taxes, surcharges and fees.

Max Ticket Price* $175

Max Ticket Price* $375

Max Ticket Price* $450

Max Ticket Price* $550

Max Ticket Price* $650

Max Ticket Price* $1,000

Avion credit card holders can also redeem for all type of travel, using this simple conversion:

Redeem points using this conversion rate for hotel stays, car rental, cruises, and more. You can also use it for flights when you don’t want to redeem from the Air Travel Redemption Grid above.

Still have questions? Visit our Travel FAQs page

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Redeeming Avion points for your travel needs is easy

Just use this conversion rate if you’re:

• redeeming for a flight not using the Air Travel Redemption Schedule;
• redeeming for a hotel stay, car rental, cruise or vacation package;
• paying any amount above the maximum dollar value within a category;
• paying taxes, surcharges and fees.

If you are an RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege for Private Banking, RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege, RBC Avion Visa Infinite Business or RBC Commercial Avion Visa cardholder, you can redeem your points at the rate of 100 points = $2 CAD for first or business class air fare, including paying taxes and surcharges and fees.

Don’t forget, if you’re short a few points, you can always purchase travel by redeeming your points and using your credit card.

For more information, see our Avion Rewards Terms and Conditions .

Eligible Avion Rewards Core Product Account Clients are not eligible to redeem Avion points for travel.

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