The RBC® Avion Visa Infinite Privilege† is RBC®‘s flagship premium travel credit card, geared towards high-income earners and frequent travellers who are interested in maximizing RBC Avion points.
Offering a uniform 1.25x earning rate and a unique redemption pathway for premium flights, this card is a great fit for high-spenders who prefer to keep a single credit card in their wallet while being able to redeem points for higher value in a variety of ways.
Bonuses & Fees
The current welcome bonus on the RBC® Avion Visa Infinite Privilege† card is up to 70,000 RBC Avion points,† structured as follows:
- Earn 35,000 Avion Points upon approval†
- an additional 20,000 bonus Avion points when you spend $5,000 in your first six months†
- Lastly 15,000 one-time anniversary bonus Avion points after 12 months of account opening†
The card has an annual fee of $399 for the primary cardholder†, with supplementary cards priced at $99 apiece†.
Earning Rewards
The RBC® Avion Visa Infinite Privilege† Card offers a flat earning rate of 1.25 RBC Avion points per dollar spent on all purchases†.
This is one of the strongest uniform earning rates on any credit card in Canada, matched only by the American Express Business Platinum Card (which earns 1.25x Membership Rewards points) and RBC’s premium business card, the RBC® Avion Visa Infinite† Business Card (which earns 1.25x Avion points as well).
Redeeming Rewards
There are a variety of ways to redeem RBC Avion points for a high value.
As a transferable currency, RBC Avion points can be converted into British Airways Executive Club† and Cathay Pacific Asia Miles† at a 1:1 ratio, WestJet Rewards† at a 100:1 ratio, as well as American Airlines AAdvantage† at a 1:0.7 ratio.
Avios, Asia Miles, and AAdvantage will all provide a means to book business class and First Class flights on Oneworld airlines, which will be by far the best value for your Avion points if you’re interested in travelling internationally in style.
Look out for 10–50% transfer bonuses to these partners too, which can boost the value of your points even further.
These can be some of highest value uses of RBC Avion points. If you signed up via the current offer for 70,000 Avion points, for example, and transferred the points over to Avios during a 30% promotion, you’d get 91,000 Avios — good for a number of short-haul flights, a one-way flight in Qatar Airways Qsuites from North America to Doha, or enough to make solid progress towards a multi-carrier ticket.
You can also redeem via the Air Travel Redemption Schedule†, which lets you use Avion points to book round-trip economy class tickets departing from Canada, up to a certain maximum ticket price. As a baseline, you can also apply Avion points to any travel purchase at a rate of 1 cent per point†.
With this card, you can also redeem your Avion points for business class or First Class flights at a rate of 2 cents per point. If you can find a great deal on premium flights, this can make for a very valuable redemption!
Your RBC Avion points never expire for as long as you’re a cardholder†. If you cancel or switch to a different RBC® product, you have 90 days to redeem your Avion points before they go away†.
Perks & Benefits
As with all Visa Infinite Privilege† products, this card offers a DragonPass lounge membership with six complimentary lounge visits per year†.
Cardholders also enjoy priority airport services† (including fast-track security) at select Canadian airports: Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver, and Toronto Billy Bishop.
The card comes with access to the Visa Infinite Privilege Concierge†, which can help you do things like book restaurant reservations, select gifts or obtain event tickets right when they go on sale.
You’ll also have access to a series of dedicated Visa Infinite Privilege† perks for dining, wine tasting, golf, and hotel stays. Another great perk for cardholders is the flexibility to book flights last-minute: up to 24hrs before departure.†
All RBC cardholders can save 3¢/L on fuel at Petro-Canada†, and will earn 20% more Petro-Points and RBC Avion points upon linking their card to their Petro-Points account†.
And lastly cardholders get a 12-month complimentary DashPass subscription± which is a value of almost $120. This allows eligible cardholders unlimited deliveries with $0 delivery fees on orders of $15 or more, when you pay with your eligible RBC credit card.
Insurance Coverage
As RBC’s highest-end travel rewards credit card, the RBC® Avion Visa Infinite Privilege† Card offers an industry-leading set of insurance provisions.
The card offers a very impressive 31 days of emergency medical travel insurance† for travellers aged under 65, and seven days of coverage for travellers aged 65+. There is no maximum coverage amount. Moreover, there’s coverage for car rental loss or damage for vehicles up to a MSRP of $85,000
There’s also trip cancellation† and trip interruption insurance† of up to $2,500 and $5,000 per person, respectively, along with $500,000 of common carrier accident insurance†.
While flying, cardholders are covered for up to $1,000 in flight delay insurance†, up to $3,000 for delayed baggage†, and up to $2,500 for lost or stolen baggage†.
(The travel insurance items will take effect as long as the full amount of the trip is charged to your card, booked directly using your RBC Avion points, or some combination of the two.)
And when making purchases, the card offers extended warranty† of up to two additional years, purchase protection† that insures you against damage or theft of an item for up to 120 days after your purchase, and dedicated mobile device insurance† with two years of protection of up to $1,500.
Does Premium Economy qualify for the 2 cents per point redemption?
I think the 25k or 30k bonus points you get is worth 500-800 in points? I got the same offer but only got offered 25k in points. Funny how it differs from client to client.
RBC really wants me to upgrade to this from my regular RBC Avion visa infinite as there is notices when I sign to online banking and now they’re mailing me letters offering 30,000 points if I upgrade but I can’t justify it for the $399 fee. I already get unlimited lounge access with amex and the 1.25 earn rate vs 1.00 doesn’t spark me enough to sign up.
Feel free to downgrade later on back to your RBC VI if you don’t feel you are getting “value” for your new $399 fee card.
Might be worth it before they inevitably bump it to $599 to match TD and CIBC.