RBC Avion Rewards Guide | Points Value, Transfer Partners & Redemptions

RBC Avion Rewards is Royal Bank of Canada’s points program. Avion points are earned on RBC credit cards and some RBC bank accounts, and what a point buys depends on two things: your membership level and how you redeem. Avion Elite, the level that comes with an RBC Avion Visa card, is the only level with fixed-points flight pricing and the only one that can convert points to British Airways, Cathay Pacific and American Airlines. Avion Premium members can convert to WestJet only, and RBC ION and ION+ cardholders redeem travel at a lower rate than other Premium members.

This guide covers each membership level, the three ways to use points for travel, the airline conversion ratios in RBC’s own terms, the other redemption options, how points are earned, and what happens to a balance when an account closes. Every Avion rate below comes from RBC’s or Avion Rewards’ own pages. Where RBC doesn’t state a rate for an option (gift cards, merchandise, paying back purchases), this page says so rather than estimating one. For how Avion fits among other programs, see the rewards programs hub.

RBC Avion Rewards at a glance

The membership level follows the product you hold. RBC’s membership page says Elite access ends when the Avion card does: “If you cancel your RBC Avion credit card, you will no longer have access to the benefits associated with the Avion Elite membership level.”

Three ways to use Avion points for travel

1. The Air Travel Redemption Schedule (Avion Elite only)

The schedule prices flights in a fixed number of points by destination band, on any airline Avion Rewards Travel sells. RBC’s card page puts it this way: “Only Avion cardholders have access to fixed-points pricing.” Each band has a maximum ticket price, which excludes taxes, surcharges and fees.

The rules in RBC’s Avion Rewards terms that shape a schedule booking:

• Taxes and fees are extra. The points cover the ticket only. Taxes, fees and surcharges can be paid in cash or with points at 100 points per $1.
• A ticket above the maximum price can still be booked. You either charge the difference to your card or top up with more points at 100 points per $1.
• A North American destination is required. The terms say “Air Travel Rewards must include a North American destination.”
• RBC picks the routing and the band. “The airline or carrier and the flight route for your destination are determined solely by us.” RBC also decides which band a requested trip falls into, and every flight is subject to availability.
• Tickets are non-refundable under the terms.
• Booking by phone costs extra. RBC’s terms add a booking fee of $30 plus taxes per ticket when a flight is booked by phone rather than online, and a change or cancellation fee of $25 per alteration, per airline ticket.
• A shortfall can be bought. If you hold at least 50% of the points a flight needs, RBC sells the rest at $40 plus tax per 1,000 points, up to 15,000 points per booking. You have to use all the points you already hold for that booking, the points can only be bought through Avion Rewards Travel, and the purchase is final.

When the schedule beats the fixed rate. A band’s points go furthest when the ticket costs close to the band’s maximum price. Divide a band’s points by the fixed rate and you get the ticket price above which the schedule uses fewer points: for the Explore North America band that is $350 (35,000 ÷ 100). Below that price, booking at 100 points per $1 takes fewer points.

2. Any travel at a fixed points-per-dollar rate

Through Avion Rewards Travel you can book flights, hotels, car rentals, packages and activities and pay with points, cash or both. There is no maximum ticket price and no band to fit. The rate depends on your level:

The booking has to go through Avion Rewards Travel (or, for one private-banking card, an RBC concierge). RBC’s terms say travel reserved any other way does “not qualify as RBC Travel Rewards and cannot be made using Points”, so booking on an airline’s own site and expecting a points credit at this rate isn’t how the program works. Paying back a purchase with points is a separate option, covered under other redemptions below. As with schedule flights, booking by phone rather than online adds a booking fee.

Two card-specific rates sit outside this table. RBC’s terms give holders of the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege, the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Business and Commercial Avion cards a better rate on first and business class flights booked through Avion Rewards Travel (100 points per $2.00), and holders of the Privilege card for Private Banking a better rate on flights booked through their RBC Avion Concierge Advisor (100 points per $1.50).

3. Convert points to an airline program

Avion Elite members can convert to four airline programs; Avion Premium members only to WestJet. These are the standard ratios and minimums in RBC’s terms:

Before converting, keep these terms in mind:

• Conversions are final. “A conversion of Points is final and may not be reversed.” Once points reach the airline program, that airline’s rules on pricing, availability and expiry apply.
• It can take time. RBC asks you to allow up to 4 weeks for the miles or points to post, so confirming the award seat with the airline first avoids converting for a flight that’s gone.
• Names must match, and the account must be in good standing. You need an account with the airline program in the same name as the RBC account, and the RBC card or account has to be in good standing when you convert.
• RBC sets the rate. The terms say “the rate of conversion of Points in each case will be determined by Royal Bank.” So the ratios in the table can change. RBC can also limit or refuse a conversion, and may charge a service fee, which it says it will show before you confirm.

Once converted, points follow the airline program’s own terms, including those on flight booking, seat availability and blackout periods, so what a converted point buys depends on that program on the day you book. Checking the price on the airline’s own site before converting matters, since the points can’t come back. The WestJet side of a conversion, including what WestJet points are worth on a booking, is covered in the WestJet Rewards guide.

No Aeroplan. Air Canada’s Aeroplan is not among the airline programs RBC lists for conversion. If Aeroplan is the program you want to build, the Aeroplan guide and the Amex Membership Rewards guide cover the ways to earn it.

Other ways to redeem Avion points

Pay Back Purchases has conditions of its own. The credit it puts on the card isn’t a payment, so the minimum payment is still due separately. Cash advances, money orders, wire transfers, traveller’s cheques, gaming transactions and fees can’t be paid back with points, and neither can a purchase on an RBC installment plan. A redemption is final, even if the purchase is later returned.

Because RBC’s terms set a rate for only a few of these (its terms page gives a 12,000-point minimum for a $100 voucher), comparing the points the screen asks for with the 100-points-per-dollar travel rate shows what a redemption gives up. Canadian Tire Money has a rate stated in RBC’s terms, and it takes more points per dollar than Elite travel.

How to earn Avion points

Points are earned on purchases made with RBC credit cards. The two personal Avion Visa cards below carry Avion Elite:

RBC also sells the RBC Avion Visa Platinum and business Avion cards; their fees and earn rates are on RBC’s own pages. The RBC ION Visa (no annual fee) and the RBC ION+ Visa ($48/year annual fee) also earn Avion points, at the Avion Premium level with the ION travel rate of 172 points per $1.

A few earning details from RBC’s pages:

• Net purchases only. “Avion points are earned on net purchases only; they are not earned on cash advances”, which RBC defines to include balance transfers, cash-like transactions and bill payments that aren’t pre-authorized charges set up with a merchant. Interest and fees don’t earn points either, and returns reverse the points.
• Petro-Canada. Linking an RBC card to a Petro-Points card saves 3¢ per litre on fuel and earns 20% more Avion points and 20% more Petro-Points at Petro-Canada.
• Offers. Avion Rewards members can load offers from partner brands for extra points or cash back; the offers change.
• Lounge visits on the Privilege card. The RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege includes six lounge visits per membership year, per RBC’s card page. Its income requirement is $200,000 personal or $200,000 household.

Welcome bonuses. RBC runs sign-up offers on its Avion cards, but the amounts and conditions change, so this page doesn’t list them. The current offer and its spending requirement are on RBC’s card page. If you’re weighing several sign-up offers, credit card churning covers how issuers limit repeat bonuses, and are credit card rewards worth it covers whether an annual fee pays for itself at a given level of spending. The RBC Avion Visa Infinite review and best RBC credit cards cover the cards in more depth.

What happens to points when an account closes

Avion points don’t expire while the card account is open. RBC’s card page says “Plus, Avion points never expire”, and the program terms set out what happens on closure:

How Avion compares with TD Rewards

Points from different programs don’t compare one for one, because each program earns and redeems at different rates. Putting both through the same spending shows the difference.

The structural differences matter more than that example: Avion Elite adds fixed-points flights and four airline conversions, while TD Rewards’ highest published rate comes from booking through Expedia For TD. The TD Rewards guide covers TD’s rates in full.

Common Avion mistakes

Related guides

• Credit card rewards programs in Canada: the hub for every program guide
• TD Rewards guide: TD’s points program and its redemption rates
• WestJet Rewards guide: what WestJet points buy after an Avion conversion
• Aeroplan guide and Aeroplan points value: the program that isn’t on Avion’s airline conversion list
• Amex Membership Rewards in Canada: a separate points program, covered in its own guide
• Cash back calculator: compare points with cash back on your own spending
• Best travel credit cards in Canada and points vs cash back