RBC Avion Visa Infinite Review
If you want to earn points fast and travel for less, you’ll want to read my RBC Avion Visa Infinite Review. The card is one of the most underrated travel credit cards in Canada. It comes with an impressive welcome bonus, and Avion Rewards is one of the most flexible travel programs in Canada.
The other standard benefits included, such as travel insurance, mobile device insurance, and extended warranty, are also impressive and handy in the event you need to make a claim. Read my RBC Visa Infinite Avion review now and find out why this may be one of the best-kept secrets when it comes to credit cards.
RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card
- $120 annual fee
- 35,000 Avion points on approval
- 20,000 Bonus points when you spend $5,000 in the first 6 months
- Earn 1.25 Avion points for every $1 spent on travel purchases
- Earn 1 Avion point per $1 on all other purchases
- Comprehensive travel insurance
- Mobile device insurance up to $1,500
Welcome bonus and earn rate
What’s fascinating about the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card is that you get 35,000 Avion Rewards points on approval. Unlike other cards, there’s no minimum spend required to get your points. Occasionally, there’s an enhanced welcome bonus where you can earn an additional 15,000 – 20,000 points. The welcome offer will typically appear on your first statement, but it can take up to two statements to show up.
The earn rate of 1.25 Avion points for every dollar spent on travel and 1 point for every $1 spent on all other purchases. Admittedly, there are many credit cards out there, but Avion Rewards has a lot of value (more on that below).
Benefits and perks
Even though the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card doesn’t often make the list of the best travel credit cards in Canada, you shouldn’t sleep on it. It has a few interesting and unique benefits that will interest many people.
Petro-Canada discounts
When you link your RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card to your Petro-Points card, you’ll save 3 ¢/L on gas with every fill-up and get 20% more Petro-Points.
Earn Be Well points at Rexall
Linking your RBC Avion Visa Infinite to your Rexall Be Well account allows you to earn 50 Be Well points per $1 spent on eligible purchases at Rexall.
$0 delivery fees with DoorDash
As an RBC Avion Visa Infinite cardholder, you get a free DashPass subscription for 12 months. This entitles you free delivery on orders of $15 or more with DoorDash and additional discounts throughout the year.
Mobile device insurance
When you purchase a mobile device (cellphone or tablet) with your RBC Avion Visa Infinite card, you’re entitled to up to $1,500 in mobile device insurance. This applies to loss, theft, and damage. That said, a depreciation rate of 2% applies to each completed month from the time of purchase.
Travel insurance
- Travel medical – unlimited for 15 days / 3 days if you’re 65 or older
- Trip cancellation – up to $1,500 per person / $5,000 total
- Trip interruption – up to $5,000 per person / $25,000 total
- Flight/trip delay – up to $250 / 4 hours
- Delayed and lost baggage – up to $500 / 4 hours
- Auto rental collision/loss damage – 48 consecutive days / $65,000
- Hotel/motel burglary – $2,500
- Common carrier travel accident – $500,000
Interestingly enough, the RBC Avion Visa Infinite travel insurance is some of the best out there since you get unlimited medical protection. However, the card doesn’t get nearly as much attention as other cards since you’re only covered for 15 days if you’re under the age of 65.
Purchase protection
- Purchase security – 90 days
- Extended warranty – Up to one additional year
When you pay for your purchase in full with your RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card, you get purchase protection for 90 days. This covers your purchases from loss, theft, and damage. In addition, your manufacturer’s warranty is doubled up to one additional year.
How to redeem your points
Avion Rewards, formerly known as RBC Rewards, allows you to redeem 1,000 Avion points for $10 in travel booked through their travel portal. Like other bank travel portals, you’ll find almost every type of travel available, including flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises, and more. The downside is that you can’t book travel outside the portal and apply your points later. That means you can’t shop for the lowest prices or take advantage of status benefits.
On a positive note, you can double the value of your points by using the RBC fixed points program. For example, you can claim 15,000 Avion Rewards points for a round-trip flight within or to an adjacent province or U.S. state with a base ticket value of up to $350. If you maximized this option, your points would now be worth 2.33 cents each, more than double the regular rate.
Avion Rewards also allows you to convert your Avion points to British Airways Avios, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, WestJet dollars and American Airlines AAdvantage miles. Because of the airline transfer partners, the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card is one of the best airline credit cards in Canada.
As you can imagine, RBC Rewards is one of the best bank travel loyalty programs in Canada.
RBC Avion Visa Infinite eligibility
The RBC Avion Visa Infinite eligibility is straightforward, as it outlines what’s required on the application page.
- You must be a resident of Canada
- You must be at least the age of majority in the province or territory in which you reside
- You must have a minimum personal income of $60,000 or a household income of $100,000.
Like other credit card providers, no formal credit score requirement is listed. That said, you likely want your credit score to be 660 or higher since that would put you in at least good standing.
How the RBC Avion Visa Infinite compares
Finding comparable cards to the RBC Avion Visa Infinite can be a bit tricky since other cards are popular for different reasons. Some people will focus on the earn rate, while others will look at the flexibility of the points.
RBC Avion Visa Infinite vs. American Express Cobalt
Using the American Express Cobalt Card as a comparable is necessary since it has the highest earning rate in Canada with 5 points per $1 spent on eats and drinks, 3 points per $1 spent on streaming services and recurring bills, 2 points per $1 spent on travel and transit, and 1 point per dollar spent on everything else. Simply put, there’s no comparison. In addition, American Express Membership Rewards is more flexible than Avion Rewards.
RBC Avion Visa Infinite vs. TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite
The TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite Card gives you 3 points per $1 spent (1.5% value) on all your purchases except those made via Expedia for TD, which gives you 9 points per $1 spent or a 4.5% return. Clearly, the TD card has a higher earn rate compared to the RBC Avion Visa Infinite. However, TD Rewards aren’t nearly as flexible.
Although I like the RBC Avion cards and Avion Rewards, there are many cards out there with a much higher earning rate.
Final thoughts
My RBC Avion Visa Infinite review is positive. Although the card doesn’t have the best earning rate, it’s a good card overall and is ideal for people in the following situations:
- You bank with RBC – This is RBC’s flagship credit card that earns you Avion Rewards.
- You want flexible points – You can book any travel found on the travel portal, through the fixed points program, or you can transfer your points to select partners.
- You shop at Rexall regularly – When you link your card, you can earn Be Well points at Rexall.
In the end, RBC is one of the most flexible travel loyalty programs in Canada. If you’re looking to build your credit and travel for less, then the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card is worth considering.
Regarding your comments about the “INSURANCE BENIFITS”, I am Sorry but from my experience with over 20 years as a “RBC Visa Infinite Avion” card holder you are totally wrong.
My experience dealing with “the insurance” for the first and only time has been nothing but STRESSFUL and MONTHS of delays and EXTREMELY slow response times only to be told that I am not covered for a reimbursement of a “Airline Cancelled” flight.
John,
The insurance benefits I’ve listed are accurate. However, every insurance policy has different rules in place when it comes to making a claim.
A topic not discussed is that RBC Avion charges on average over 2 percent more on US purchases over 3 of my other credit cards. Very dissapointing to say the least for using my card for foreign travel.
Chad,
RBC cards charge the standard 2.5% FX fee. This is standard with many credit cards in Canada. Here’s a list of cards that don’t charge FX fees – https://www.moneywehave.com/the-best-no-foreign-transaction-fee-credit-cards-in-canada/
Barry,
You mention the TD card is effectively 1.5% reward value for every day spending and book your own way travel, but i beleive TD changed their redemption rates slightly a few years back to a tiered scale where redemptions under $1200 are charged at one rate and above $1200 (in the same redemption transaction) are charged at a the better, original redemption rate. I beleive it is 250 points per dollar below $1200 and 200 points per dollar above $1200. Wouldn’t this mean 200/$1, I’d spend $200 for 600 points, then redeem 600 points for $3, which is 1.5%. but if i was under the threshold I’d instead spend $500 for 1500 points, then redeem 1500 points at 250:1 for $6, which works out to 1.167%. so your redemption rate is a sliding scale between 1.167% and 1.5% depending on how long you save points to redeem in a large transaction. Can you confirm your understanding and my math and perhaps do an updated comparison? TD still is a better “raw return rate” but the gap is smaller to the improved partner options RBC has.
Hey Syd,
I made a comment earlier that wasn’t entirely clear. So the 1.5% return on every day spending assumes you’re using your points on Expedia for TD. As for the sliding scale, the way I read it is that any redemption under $1,200 is 250 TD points for $1 and then 200 point for $1 for anything that costs $1201+. However, that lower redemption rate doesn’t apply for the full amount. It appears the first $1,200 will always be 250 points for $1. So if your purchase is $1,300, only $100 will be 200 points for $1.
So yes, your return when using Book any kind of travel is 1.2% – 1.5%.
As for how it compares to others, Scene+ and American Express Membership Rewards are better since it allows you to redeem your points on any type of travel purchases with no devaluation to your points.