RBC has implemented some changes to the earning rates on the RBC® British Airways Visa Infinite†, effective April 15, 2024.
We’ve seen a boost the earning rate for purchases with British Airways and British Airways Holidays, as well as the introduction of a category earning rate for dining and food delivery purchases.
Improved Earning Rates on the RBC® British Airways Visa Infinite†
RBC has made some changes to the earning rates on the RBC® British Airways Visa Infinite†.
Up until now, the card had the following earning structure:
- Earn 2 Avios per $1 (CAD) spent on British Airways and British Airways Holidays
- Earn 1 Avios per $1 (CAD) spent on all other eligible purchases
Effective April 15, 2024, the earning rate on the RBC® British Airways Visa Infinite† has a 3-2-1 earning structure, outlined as follows:
- Earn 3 Avios per $1 (CAD) spent on British Airways and British Airways Holidays†
- Earn 2 Avios per $1 (CAD) spent on eligible dining and food delivery purchases†
- Earn 1 Avios per $1 (CAD) spent on all other qualifying purchases†
With the changes to the earning rates, you’ll get a further boost to any of your spending with British Airways compared to before, and you’ll also now earn more Avios per $1 (CAD) spent on dining and food delivery purchases.
Aside from these changes, the card’s welcome bonus, perks & benefits, and insurance coverage remain the same as before.
As a reminder, British Airways improved the Companion Award eVoucher in July 2023, which was when the last changes to the card were implemented. As a cardholder, you can earn a Companion Award eVoucher each year by making at least $30,000 (CAD) in eligible purchases on the card in a calendar year.†
Previously, the Companion Award eVoucher was only valid for waiving the cost in Avios for a second passenger on an eligible British Airways Avios booking. Ever since July 2023, it can also be used to reduce the cost in Avios by 50% when applied to a solo booking.
The RBC® British Airways Visa Infinite† is the only card in Canada that directly earns Avios on day-to-day spending. However, it’s worth noting that you can also access British Airways Executive Club through Canada’s two transferrable points currencies: American Express Membership Rewards and RBC Avion Rewards.
For Whom Is The RBC® British Airways Visa Infinite† Best Suited?
If you often fly with British Airways on revenue fares, the new earning rate of 3 Avios per $1 (CAD) spent† is an excellent return on your spending.
We value British Airways Avios at 2 cents per point (CAD), and using this value, we’d estimate an approximate 6% return. However, you can also get more or less value from an Avios redemption, depending on what you use them for.
Plus, the Avios you earn on the RBC® British Airways Visa Infinite† will stack with the Avios you earn from your revenue fare, which ranges from 6–9 Avios per £1 spent, depending on your status with British Airways.
This combination works best in your favour if you tend to book premium fares with British Airways, since the earning structure rewards those who spend more on flights than those who look for the best deal.
Keep in mind that you’ll also get 10% off British Airways round-trip flights originating in and returning to Canada† by paying for them with your RBC® British Airways Visa Infinite†. This perk has been extended for flights booked through to December 31, 2024, for travel through to December 15, 2025.
To benefit from the 10% discount, you need to book flights using your RBC® British Airways Visa Infinite† on a dedicated landing page on the British Airways website, as outlined in the terms and conditions:
10% off British Airways flights round-trip flights originating in and returning to Canada when you book on ba.com/RBC10 and pay with your RBC BA Visa Infinite card. In order to take part in the 10% promotion, RBC® British Airways Visa Infinite† cardholders must log in at ba.com/RBC10 using their Executive Club username and PIN and make a round-trip booking now through December 31, 2024 and enter the promotion code CARDOFFERC in the marked box on the Price Quote page of the booking process.
With the introduction of the 2x earning rate for eligible dining and food delivery purchases, the RBC® British Airways Visa Infinite† is in line with or better than other airline co-branded cards in Canada when it comes to earning points in these categories.
However, it’s worth noting that the American Express Cobalt Card still offers the best return for dining, grocery, and food delivery purchases, as it earns 5 Membership Rewards points per $1 (CAD) spent. Plus, you can transfer them to British Airways Executive Club at a 1:1 ratio, or sometimes at a heightened rate with a transfer bonus applied.
It’s great to see improved earning rates added to the RBC® British Airways Visa Infinite†, as prior to now, it’s only accelerated earning rate applied to British Airways flights and British Airways Holidays. Even then, you could get the same rate of return with another card that earns 2 points per dollar spent on travel.
The RBC® British Airways Visa Infinite† is a great card to add to your wallet if you fly with British Airways on revenue flights, especially with the new enhanced earning rate and if you spend $30,000 on the card each year to earn a Companion Award eVoucher.†
Conclusion
RBC has made improvements to the earning rates on the RBC® British Airways Visa Infinite†.
As a cardholder, you’ll now earn 3 Avios per $1 (CAD) spent on British Airways and British Airways Holidays,† 2 Avios per $1 (CAD) spent on dining and food delivery†, and 1 Avios per $1 (CAD) spent on all other qualifying purchases.†
If you’re someone who books a lot of revenue flights with British Airways, be sure to get this card for an unmatched return on British Airways flights, as well as a 10% discount on flights.
† Terms and conditions apply. Please refer to the RBC website for up-to-date information.
Can someone confirm the earning rate. The T&Cs specifically state 2 points per dollar on dining. No grocery or food delivery are mentioned. Yet the actual product webpage does say it includes groceries and dining. How is that a company which has $12 billion in profit per year is unable to maintain an accurate website? Allowing them to acquire HSBC was a huge fail on the part of the Canadian government. This “merger” should have never been allowed to happen.
On the RBC website, and materials the 2 Avios earn per $1 seems to refer only to dining.
Where would it show the 2 for 1 rate is also applicable to other food purchases?
Hi Larry, this is pasted directly from RBC’s website: “ Earn 2 Avios for every $1 CAD you spend on Grocery, Dining and Food Delivery Purchases.”
RBC is confused, once again, about their BA card. The top of the page says, “2 Avios for every $1…on Grocery, Dining and Food Delivery Purchases.” But the T&Cs say “2 Avios per $1 CAD spent on dining,” and lacks any mention of grocery or food delivery.
Plus, RBC needs to get the insurance on this card sorted. Their documentation mentions coverage for trips paid with cash or RBC reward points…yet the card earns Avios not RBC rewards. So does the card cover redemptions made with its native currency or not? RBC agents don’t know, they refer you to the insurance company. The insurance company agents don’t know either and have been trained to just read the policy as written without further comment or details. Thus, you just have to make the redemption and hope you’re covered if something happens? Yikes.
Hi John, sorry for the delay in getting back to you. We can confirm, the RBC British Airways Visa Infinite card insurance is NOT valid for British Airways Executive Club (Avios) bookings. Rather, as the insurance certificate mentions, the card insurance is valid on RBC Avion bookings, when the fees & taxes are paid with the British Airways Visa Infinite card. Very disappointing, indeed. You may want to consider using a card like the National Bank World Elite Mastercard for paying the taxes and fees on an award booking with British Airways Avios. https://wp.princeoftravel.com/guides/which-credit-cards-offer-insurance-on-award-travel/
Steven,
Wow. That’s baffling. You cannot earn Avion points in any way with the BA VI because RBC won’t let you link it to Avion Select (even though they let you link Aeroplan cards…)
If you have both an Avion card and the BA card, but are making an Avion redemption, why would you choose to pay taxes and fees on the BA card? The BA card is missing trip interruption/cancellation insurance that the Avion card has. Sure the BA card has 31 days emergency medical but that kicks in regardless.
Anyway, thank you for looking into this!
We have reached out to RBC for clarification related to spending categories and insurance. We will report back once we have received an answer.
I think we can say the grocery question is solved. RBC’s website was updated to remove grocery as a 2x category and I see this page has also been updated to remove groceries.
The more important question, insurance on Avios redemptions, remains outstanding.
Tested a groceries purchase, and today posted as 1x…Somewhat disappointing, seems like 2x is only dor dining…
Indeed, would be great to get RBC’s clarification re what exactly earns 2x…
Nice to see earning rates going up. It’s still a big fail that this card doesn’t provide insurance coverage for flights booked using the Avios points earned by the card!
Hi George, sorry for the delay in getting back to you. We can confirm, the RBC British Airways Visa Infinite card insurance is NOT valid for British Airways Executive Club (Avios) bookings. Rather, as the insurance certificate mentions, the card insurance is valid on RBC Avion bookings, when the fees & taxes are paid with the British Airways Visa Infinite card. Very disappointing, indeed. You may want to consider using a card like the National Bank World Elite Mastercard for paying the taxes and fees on an award booking with British Airways Avios. https://wp.princeoftravel.com/guides/which-credit-cards-offer-insurance-on-award-travel/
Thanks for checking that. Disappointing indeed and very misleading given the similarity of the points names!
We have reached out to RBC for clarification regarding insurance on British Airways Avios redemptions. We’ll report back once we get clarification.
George,
Has someone been able to confirm this definitively?
PoT team,
Could you confirm this and for all with RBC?
The insurance requires the full cost for a trip to be paid using “RBC British Airways Visa Infinite card and/or Avion points”, notwithstanding that the card doesn’t even earn Avion points. But it’s moot anyway as almost uniquely for a visa infinite card, the BA card doesn’t even include cancellation or interruption insurance. It’s decent for accessing Avios and the companion voucher but hopeless as a travel card. This doesn’t affect RBC Avion cards, just the BA card.
We all live in a world where multi-billion dollar corporations invent words to describe their loyalty programs (AVION & AVIOS) and somehow they end up with the same made up word except for the last letter??? No wonder no one at RBC knows what’s going on.
I hope that’s what it is – they entered “Avion” where they intended “Avios” – but that’s sloppy and potentially dangerous depending on how they handle claims. Imagine being denied coverage on the basis of using the “wrong” type of points!
Do you know if your BA Avios account has to have a Canadian address to get the points transferred? UK Amex requires a UK address so wondering if it’s possible to have both.