RBC has stepped up the welcome bonuses yet again on their trio of Avion personal cards: the Visa Infinite, Visa Platinum, and Visa Infinite Privilege.
With these offers extended until April 30, 2023, you can earn a staggering total of 55,000 Avion points with each of these three products, which easily surpasses the previous all-time highs.
RBC Avion Visa Infinite: Up to 55,000 Avion Points!
Historically, the standard offer on the RBC Avion Visa Infinite was only 15,000 Avion points upon first purchase.
However, until April 30, 2023, RBC has bumped up the welcome bonus to a total of 55,000 Avion points:
- 35,000 Avion points upon approval
- 20,000 Avion points upon spending $5,000 in the first six months
To earn the first chunk of 35,000 Avion points, there isn’t even a need to make a single purchase. Simply apply for the card, and the 35,000 points should post to your account by the first monthly statement.
Meanwhile, 20,000 Avion points is a healthy return on $5,000 of spending, especially considering that you have a longer six-month period to meet the spending requirement rather than the traditional three months.
We value RBC Avion points at 2 cents apiece given their flexibility and frequent transfer bonuses, making the 55,000 Avion points worth a cool $1,100. Subtract the $120 annual fee from that, and the overall value of the offer is $980, and that’s definitely the highest we’ve ever seen this card go.
Furthermore, even though there’s no First Year Free offer here, you could still leverage the RBC VIP Banking Account to get your annual fee waived on this card.
RBC Avion Visa Infinite
- Earn
15,00035,000 Welcome points when you get approved for the card - Also, earn an additional 20,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 in the first six months
- Earn
1x1.25x RBC Rewards points on travel purchases - Transfer RBC points to British Airways Avios and other frequent flyer programs for premium flights
- Minimum income: $60,000 personal or $100,000 household
- Annual fee: $120
RBC Avion Visa Platinum: 55,000 Avion Points with No Minimum Income
The RBC Avion Visa Platinum is the entry-level product in the Avion family, and it’s similar to the flagship Visa Infinite in many ways.
Until April 30, 2023, it has also bumped up its welcome bonus to 55,000 Avion points with the same breakdown as the Visa Infinite, making it an excellent time to apply.
There are a few minor differences between the Avion Visa Platinum and the Avion Visa Infinite:
- The Visa Infinite earns 1.25 Avion points per dollar spent on travel, whereas the Visa Platinum earns a flat 1 Avion point per dollar spent on all purchases
- The Visa Platinum offers a weaker insurance package; emergency medical insurance and mobile device insurance are not included compared to the Visa Infinite
- The Visa Platinum doesn’t offer the unique dining, hotel, and events benefits that are exclusive to Visa Infinite cards
The most important difference is that the RBC Avion Visa Platinum has no minimum income requirement, so this would be the right choice for you if you don’t meet the $60,000 or $100,000 in personal or household annual income, respectively, required for the Visa Infinite.
And even if you do meet those requirements, you can hold both the Visa Infinite and the Visa Platinum at the same time – earning a total of 70,000 Avion points for no minimum spend, or 110,000 Avion points upon spending $10,000 across both cards – since they’re two separate products.
RBC Avion Visa Platinum
- Earn
15,00035,000 RBC Rewards points when you get approved for the card - Also, earn an additional 20,000 RBC Rewards points after spending $5,000 in the first six months
- Earn 1 RBC Rewards point per dollar spent on travel purchases
- Transfer RBC Avion points to British Airways Avios and other frequent flyer programs for premium flights
- No minimum income requirement
- Annual fee: $120
RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege: 55,000 Avion Points + VIP Benefits
The high-end premium product in the Avion family, the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege, is also getting in on the action.
You’ll earn 55,000 Avion points upon signing up, with the same breakdown as the Visa Infinite and Visa Platinum products.
The welcome bonus of 55,000 Avion points certainly outweighs the $399 annual fee on this card, although it’s obviously not quite as good of a deal as only paying a $120 annual fee on the lower-tier Visa Infinite or Visa Platinum cards.
Moreover, the $200,000 minimum personal or household income requirement may also be prohibitive for the majority of applicants.
Nevertheless, if you’re looking to earn 1.25x Avion points on all purchases and try out the ability to redeem points directly against premium fares at 2 cents per point, now’s as good a time as any to apply for the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege with this elevated bonus in play.
RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege
- Earn
25,00035,000 RBC Rewards points when you get approved for the card - Also, earn an additional 20,000 RBC Rewards points after spending $5,000 in the first six months
- Plus, earn 1.25x RBC RBC Rewards points on all purchases
- Use your rewards for any business class flight with no restrictions on dates, seats, or airlines
- Transfer points to one of four airline partners
- DragonPass membership with six free lounge visits per year
- Minimum income: $200,000 personal or household
- Annual fee: $399
The Best Ways to Redeem 55,000 RBC Avion Points
RBC Avion is a transferrable points currency, allowing you to transfer the 35,000 points you earn from any of these Avion cards to a wide range of frequent flyer programs:
Thus, you have the option of converting your 55,000 Avion points into one of the following:
- 55,000 British Airways Avios
- 55,000 Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- 38,500 American Airlines AAdvantage miles
- 550 WestJet Dollars
On top of the usual transfer ratios, RBC is known for offering occasional transfer bonuses of 20%, 30%, or even 50% to its transfer partners.
You could take advantage of a transfer bonus like this and combine it with another sweet spot of the Avios program, such as booking a Qatar Airways Qsuites flight from North America to the Middle East or points beyond, starting at 70,000 Avios.
With a 30% bonus in play, this booking would only cost 53,846 Avion points, so the current signup bonus of 55,000 Avion points would be enough to get you on Qsuites!
In addition, RBC’s very own Travel Redemption Chart operates similarly to the Amex Fixed Points Travel program, in that you can redeem a fixed number of points for a flight to a certain region with a maximum cash ticket cost allowance.
With this chart, the value is capped due to the maximum ticket cost, so I’d generally recommend maximizing your opportunities with RBC’s frequent flyer partners instead.
That’s where the bulk of the Avion program lies, since you can transfer to any of their partners for a desired booking and are not locked in to a single loyalty program.
If, however, you do find yourself in a situation where you’re looking to book a one-way or round-trip flight within North America, and you aren’t able to find any satisfactory options via Avios or WestJet Rewards, then the RBC Travel Redemption Chart can act as a fallback option.
It’ll allow you to use your 55,000 points from one of the RBC Avion cards to cover the base fare of any flight within North America, up to a maximum of $1,100, so that you don’t have to worry about any availability constraints – even though the overall upside may be limited.
Conclusion
The welcome bonuses on RBC’s major Avion credit cards have been bumped up to 55,000 Avion points through to April 30, 2023.
Keeping in mind that RBC will only approve you for one credit card every 90 days, I’d recommend picking a second Avion product to apply for before the offers expire.
Combine these generous offers with a potential transfer bonus to one of RBC’s frequent flyer partners, and you’re set to be booking some spectacular travel in 2023 and beyond.
