RBC Avion Credit Cards: Fall 2023 Offers for 55,000 Avion Points!

For the past year or so, RBC has offered very impressive welcome bonuses on its trio of Avion personal credit cards: the RBC Avion Visa Infinite, RBC Avion Visa Platinum, and the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege.

The Summer 2023 offers have expired, and we’re now seeing a return to the record-high welcome bonuses for up to 55,000 RBC Avion points on all three cards.

Fortunately, these great offers are available until November 27, 2023, which leaves plenty of time to take advantage of these sizeable bonuses.

RBC Avion Visa Infinite: Up to 55,000 Avion Points!

Historically, the standard offer on the RBC Avion Visa Infinite is for 15,000 RBC Avion points upon first purchase.

However, the current offer for this card matches the record-high welcome bonus for up to 55,000 Avion points, which is broken down as follows:

• Earn 35,000 RBC Avion points upon approval
• Earn 20,000 RBC Avion points upon spending $5,000 in the first six months

We value RBC Avion points at 2 cents apiece, given their flexibility and frequent transfer bonuses to airline loyalty programs.

Using this valuation, the welcome bonus of 55,000 RBC Avion points is worth at least $1,100. Subtract the $120 annual fee from that, and the overall value of the offer is at least $980, which is certainly worth considering.

If you factor in the minimum spending requirement of $5,000 in the first six months, you’d earn at least 5,000 more RBC Avion points, which brings the total first-year value up to $1,080 using our valuation.

RBC Avion Visa Platinum: Up to 55,000 Avion Points with No Minimum Income!

The RBC Avion Visa Platinum is the entry-level product in the Avion family; however, it’s similar to the flagship Visa Infinite in many ways.

Currently, its record-high welcome bonus is also set at up to 55,000 Avion points, with the same breakdown as the Visa Infinite, making now a great time to apply:

• Earn 35,000 RBC Avion points upon approval
• Earn 20,000 RBC Avion points upon spending $5,000 in the first six months

There are a few minor differences between the RBC Avion Visa Platinum and the RBC Avion Visa Infinite, including:

• 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 less comprehensive insurance package — emergency medical insurance and mobile device insurance aren’t included, whereas they are included on the Visa Infinite
• The Visa Platinum doesn’t offer the unique dining, hotel, and events benefits that are exclusive to Visa Infinite cards

However, 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.

RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege: Up to 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 record-high action.

You’ll earn up to 55,000 RBC Avion points, with the same breakdown as the Visa Infinite and Visa Platinum products:

• Earn 35,000 RBC Avion points upon approval
• Earn 20,000 RBC Avion points upon spending $5,000 in the first six months

The welcome bonus of up to 55,000 Avion points surely 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 many 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 of a time as any to apply for the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege with this bonus in play. 

The Best Ways to Redeem RBC Avion Points

RBC Avion is a transferrable points currency, which allows you to transfer the points you earn from any of these Avion cards to four frequent flyer programs:

Therefore, you have the option of converting the 55,000 Avion points you’d earn from the welcome bonus into any 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.

If you’re able to wait until the next transfer bonus, you could combine it with another sweet spot of the British Airways Executive Club program, such as booking a Qatar Airways Qsuites flight from North America to the Middle East or points beyond, starting at 70,000 Avios.

For example, with a 30% bonus in play, this booking would only cost 53,846 Avion points.

The current welcome bonus of 55,000 Avion points would be enough to get you on Qsuites, which is widely considered to be the world’s best business class product, as long as you’re able to find award availability.

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 it’s generally recommend maximizing your opportunities with RBC’s frequent flyer partners instead.

Indeed, that’s where the bulk of the value in the Avion program lies, since you can transfer to any of their partners for a desired booking and aren’t locked in to a single loyalty program.

If, however, you find yourself in a situation in which you’re looking to book a one-way or round-trip flight within North America and the Caribbean, and you aren’t able to find any satisfactory options via British Airways Executive Club or WestJet Rewards, then the RBC Travel Redemption Chart can act as a solid fallback option.

It’ll allow you to use the 55,000 points from one of the RBC Avion cards to cover the base fare of any flight within North America and the Caribbean, 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 set at 55,000 Avion points across the board, matching the all-time-high welcome bonus on all three cards.

If you’re able to combine the offers with a potential transfer bonus to one of RBC’s frequent flyer partners, you’re all set to be booking some spectacular travel in 2023 and beyond.

Be sure to take advantage of these offers by November 27, 2023. 

Refer to RBC page for up to date offer terms and conditions.