It’s once again a great time to transfer your RBC Avion points to British Airways Executive Club, as RBC is offering a 30% transfer bonus when converting Avion (Elite) points to Avios. This time, you have until June 21, 2024 to make a conversion, which is when the bonus is set to expire.
If you’ve been holding out on making a transfer, be sure to look for award availability and then leverage the transfer bonus before it ends.
30% Transfer Bonus from RBC Avion to British Airways Executive Club
The usual conversion ratio from RBC Avion to British Airways Executive Club is 1:1, so this bonus makes it an effective ratio of 1:1.3.
You need to transfer a minimum of 10,000 Avion points (which would equal 13,000 Avios), but you can transfer in increments of 1 point thereafter.
Remember that if you want to earn additional RBC Avion points to take advantage of this bonus, there are currently offers for 35,000–70,000 Avion points on the personal RBC Avion cards.
Fortunately, on all three cards, 35,000 Avion points are awarded upon approval, which means that you could then convert them into 45,500 British Airways Avios with the current 30% transfer bonus.
It’s worth noting that the bonus doesn’t show up on the RBC Avion Rewards website when you initiate the transfer. When you input the number of Avios you’d like to convert, it’ll show the regular 1:1 ratio.
However, the conversion indeed shows up when the points land in your Avios account. As long as you initiate the transfer within the valid time period, you’ll receive the 30% bonus.
Is It a Good Deal to Convert Avion Points into Avios?
The best way to leverage this 30% bonus is to take advantage of existing sweet spots within the British Airways Executive Club program (i.e., redemption opportunities that would’ve been a good deal even without the 30% bonus in place).
Let’s remind ourselves of the best Avios sweet spots for Canadian travellers, and how they can be supercharged to even greater value by the current 30% bonus from RBC Avion:
- North America to Doha on Qatar Airways Qsuites normally costs 70,000 Avios, which is equivalent to only 53,847 Avion points with the 30% bonus.
- North America to the Maldives on Qatar Airways Qsuites normally costs 85,000 Avios, which is equivalent to only 65,385 Avion points with the 30% bonus.
- North America to Bangkok on Qatar Airways Qsuites followed by Qatar Airways First Class normally costs 95,000 Avios, which is equivalent to only 73,077 Avion points with the 30% bonus.
- Toronto to Dublin on Aer Lingus normally costs 13,000 or 50,000 Avios in economy or business class, which is equivalent to only 10,000 or 38,462 Avion points with the 30% bonus.
- North American short-haul flights normally start at 9,000 Avios in economy class, which is equivalent to only 6,923 Avion points with the 30% bonus.
- oneworld short-haul flights around the world normally start at 6,000 Avios in economy class, which is equivalent to only 4,615 Avion points with the 30% bonus.
- oneworld multi-carrier awards allow you to build a fairly comprehensive round-the-world award in “economy class” for 100,000 Avios all-in, which would be equivalent to 76,923 Avion points with the 30% bonus.
If some of these Avios sweet spots sound appealing to you, then it’s a great time to take advantage of the 30% transfer bonus and book an Avios sweet spot for your upcoming travel.
Plus, if you recently had your HSBC Rewards converted into RBC Avion points, now is the time to ensure you get outsized value from the conversion.
Conclusion
The recurring transfer bonus from RBC Avion to British Airways Executive Club is back again for Spring 2024, offering those of us who’ve built up a stash of RBC Avion points the opportunity to book flights through Avios with a 30% boost.
Despite some devaluations here and there, British Airways Executive Club still offers its fair share of sweet spots on oneworld and its associated airlines around the world, and it remains the primary diversification option for Canadians who are largely tied to Air Canada and Star Alliance.
If you plan to book one of these sweet spots over the foreseeable future, then the 30% transfer bonus from RBC Avion is a great opportunity, so make sure to take advantage by June 21, 2024.
