RBC Avion Visa Infinite Review: Worth the Annual Fee?

The last time I had this credit card was probably 10 years ago. Here I am again as we have recently changed our RBC Westjet World Elite Mastercard over to the RBC Avion Visa Infinite. The welcome bonus without having to make a minimum amount of purchases with the card was too enticing. However, there is the annual fee to pay. Here is my RBC Avion Visa Infinite review.

RBC Avion Visa Infinite Welcome Bonus

Until April 18 (today) you can get 35,000 RBC Rewards points when you are approved for an RBC Avion Visa Infinite card. What does 35,000 RBC Rewards points get you? You can fly anywhere within Canada or the United States with 35,000 points (except Alaska and Hawaii) and you would just have to pay taxes. The maximum flight cost is $750.

When do you get the 35,000 RBC Rewards points? It shows up on your first monthly statement, so not immediately after activation of the credit card, but pretty soon after.

If you are changing over your Westjet card like me to the Avion unfortunately you only get 15,000 RBC Rewards points (and still have to pay the annual fee).

RBC Avion Annual Fee

The annual fee for this card is $120 per year. Sometimes they have a first year free but right now there is no first year free promotion.

Eligibility Criteria

The minimum income to apply for this card is $60,000, or you could apply if you have minimum household income of $100,000.

RBC Avion Visa Infinite Features

Here are some of the RBC Avion Visa Infinite features:

With the RBC Avion Visa Infinite, you get 1 RBC Reward Point for every $1 you spend on your credit card.

You get 1.25 RBC Reward Points for every $1 you spend on your credit card related to travel.

There are insurance features that the Avion has similar to other travel credit cards, and these are:

• Out of province or Country travel medical insurance
• Auto rental collision/ loss damage insurance
• Trip cancellation and trip interruption insurance
• Mobile device insurance (for up to $1,500 cost of your phone)
• Purchase security and Extended Warranty protection

Additionally, RBC has partnered with other partners to provide perks such as:

• Discounts when you fill up at Petro Canada gas stations (you have to link your card with Petro Canada though for this)
• $0 delivery fees on orders that are more than $12 with Door Dash so you can save money on takeout and delivery in Canada. The caveat is that you have to pay with this RBC linked credit card. You will receive a 3 month or 12 month Complimentary DashPass subscription if you link your RBC credit card to Door Dash. This subscription normally costs $9.99/month.
• 50 BeWell points for every $1 you spend at Rexall (so you can earn more points with the Rexall loyalty program)

RBC Rewards Redemptions

• Pay bills with RBC Rewards points
• Donate to charity
• Financial Rewards (such as paying down an RBC loan, paying down an RBC mortgage
• Redeeming for gift cards (minimum is 1,400 RBC Rewards points)
• Use your RBC Rewards towards Apple store products
• Use your RBC Rewards towards Best Buy products
• Also you can redeem for merchandise (classically like a lot of other rewards catalogues)

An example of what you can find in the RBC Rewards catalogue are Winnipeg Jets socks for 2,719 RBC Rewards points.

The “mileage” on these RBC Rewards redemptions do not stretch as far as redeeming for travel or converting to points program like British Airways.

Other Ways to use the RBC Reward Points

Probably the more fruitful way to use the RBC Reward points is to convert them to another airline program.

These are:

• American Airlines
• Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific)
• British Airways Avios
• Westjet Rewards
• Hudson’s Bay Rewards

The minimum amount of RBC Rewards you convert depends on which one you are converting to. For British Airways Avios, it is 10,000 points.

The RBC Rewards points are transferrable on a 1:1 basis with American Airlines, Asia Miles, British Airway Avios.

If you convert to Hudson’s Bay Rewards, it is a 1:2 basis, so 10,000 RBC Rewards points gives you 20,000 Hudson’s Bay Rewards.

If you convert to Westjet Rewards, it is a 10:1 basis. So 10,000 RBC Rewards points gives you $100 Westjet Reward dollars.

The RBC Rewards portal has a handy RBC Rewards converter calculator.

After you submit your request to convert the points, it may take 4 weeks to have the points reflected after the transfer.

One interesting thing to note is that often there are promotions when you transfer your RBC Rewards points to British Airway Avios.

For example, in the fall of 2021, there was a 30% transfer bonus if you converted RBC Rewards points to the British Airway Avios. In 2019 it was a 50% transfer bonus.

The Prince of Travel has a great article on the best way to use Avios. He even suggests that you can go to Seattle or Bellingham and fly to Hawaii (with return) for 26,000 Avios points (Alaska Airlines is a partner).

This will really stretch your RBC Rewards dollars.

That makes this sign up welcome bonus of 35,000 points for a $120 a free return flight to Hawaii (provided you get your way down to Seattle or Bellingham if you live in Vancouver), with some points left over!

Now that’s travel hacking Hawaii.

Genymoney.ca’s verdict

What’s the final RBC Avion Visa Infinite review? Although this card requires an annual fee, there are some positives with this card, and this includes having 35,000 RBC Reward points just for getting approved (and these 35,000 RBC Reward points show up pretty quickly, with the first statement) and this is helpful for those who are in more of a rush to collect points.

Some other credit cards take sometimes a few months for the points to add on (for example, bonus points are added after the 3 months of $1000 minimum purchase, or something like that).

Also, the great thing is that when you use your points there are no blackouts or seating restrictions, and you can use your points towards paying for taxes and fees.

We transferred the RBC Westjet World Elite Mastercard to this credit card and paid another pro-rated annual fee, but will likely cancel this card after transferring out the RBC Rewards points to something like British Airways Avios- with the transfer you only get 15,000 RBC Rewards points so you have to decide whether it’s worth it! Definitely much less than the 35,000 points for a new card application.

So in short, depending on what you plan to use this card for it is worth paying the annual fee. If you have the patience to wait for a potential Avios conversion bonus, it is worth the sign up annual fee, even more.

Other credit card reviews you may be interested in:

• CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite review
• TD First Class Travel Visa Review
• HSBC World Elite Mastercard review

What is your RBC Avion Visa Infinite review?