Avion Cards
Updated: Sep 24
Every card stack needs a strong Visa or Mastercard as its foundation. No matter how much I love the Amex points and the high multipliers of the Cobalt, Amex acceptance will always be a potential barrier.
For a lot of Canadians this is less of an active decision and more "what's the best my bank can offer". When pivoting to focus on travel rewards, a common question I get is "should I switch to Aeroplan?". While Aeroplan is one of my favourite programs, we certainly shouldn't count out Avion; used properly it can be one of the strongest and most versatile options for Canadians. In late 2026 Avion is particularly interesting for high spending business owners - all time highest sign up bonuses, back to back transfer bonuses, some of the strongest partners for travel to Asia, large non-Amex Chexy categories like payroll, and Aeroplan's annual credit card SQC cap.
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Jump Ahead
Avion
The biggest misconception about RBCs Avion program is that you can only use the points through the Avion portal. While this gives you flexible travel options, this may not be the best value depending on the travel you have in mind, so lets go over the options you have.
Fixed Value
First is their "flexible point redemptions", what I would refer to as a "Fixed Value Redemption", a cash-like redemption at 1c each towards travel.
While certainly flexible, this should be viewed as an absolute floor value - if you're routinely redeeming in this way, there are likely better programs for you with higher point earn rates of fixed value points/cash back.
Note: If you hold the Avion VIP or the Business Avion VI, you also have the option to redeem at 2c per point for business and first class redemptions. I periodically share exceptional cash ticket deals on the RewardsMD Facebook Group often sourced from Thrifty Traveller for this reason (discount code RMD).
Variable Value
Next is their "fixed points" Air Travel Redemption Schedule. I would consider this a "capped upside variable value point" redemption. This gives value that can be as high as 2-2.33 cpp depending on the destination and ticket price.
To compare this flight chart against competitors and learn how to optimize it better, check out my flight chart article.
But for people like me seeking aspirational luxury travel, even 2c per point fails to sufficiently discount most longhaul business class flights. The flight chart is great for expensive inflexible economy or even premium economy travel, but outside of rare cash deals I need a lot more than 2cpp to make business class feel "affordable".
Fret not, Avion, like Amex, has their own transfer partners where, used properly, you can unlock dramatically more value.
Transfer Partners
Transferring to a partner is the only way to redeem for higher value than their flight chart maximums. Avion notably transfers to American Airlines (1:0.7), British Airways (1:1), and Cathay Pacific (1:1). British Avios can further transfer to/from Qatar, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and Finnair. These programs all have their own strengths and weaknesses but critically give access to the Oneworld alliance ecosystem and its partners.
At first glance this may seem deficient compared to Amex, with no comparable access to Star Alliance (via Aeroplan) or SkyTeam (via Flying Blue and Delta) and their partners. This leaves Amex as uniquely positioned for high potential value across the three major alliances and many additional special partners.
Despite this, Avion has a better exchange rate to Cathay (1:1 versus Amex 1:0.75), direct access to American, and runs transfer bonuses with far more regularity. In fact, at the time of updating this (Sept 2026) there is an active 15% bonus to Cathay that started right as a 15% bonus to American ended. This means that combining Avion and Amex can allow you to preferentially use Avion for Oneworld redemptions such as Qatar, Royal Air Maroc, Iberia, Finnair, and many more, while saving your Amex to top them up, or for Aeroplan, Flying Blue, and Delta.
With current reward flight availability, Cathay and Qatar are particularly interesting programs for those looking to travel to Asia. Unfortunately, the full depths of uses for these currencies exceed the scope of this article and I wouldn’t transfer points speculatively. Instead, like Amex, value comes from optionality. However, suffice to say there is significant opportunity for the motivated traveller with excess Avion points.
But what if you don't have many Avion points?
Which Avion Card Should I Get?
There are three personal listed Avion cards that are marketed, the entry level Platinum, core tier Visa Infinite, and the premium tier Visa Infinite Privilege. My audience skews towards Canadian professionals so I will focus on the latter two.
$120 annual fee (AF)
Sign up bonus (SUB) usually 35-55k points. In late 2026 up 55k in year 1 and 15k anniversary, an all time high
Earn rate 1x base and 1.25x on travel
$399 AF
SUB usually 55k year 1 and 15k anniversary. In late 2026 up to 55k in year 1 and 45k anniversary, an all time high
Earn rate 1.25x base
Ability to redeem points at a fixed 2cpp for business-class and first-class flights
Enhanced insurance coverage and six lounge passes
If we target a value of 2 cpp for our redemptions (easy to consider with the VIP’s fixed 2 cpp option), and compare the cards based on their base earn rates and $279 annual-fee difference, we find a crossover point at around $55k of annual spending. Above that threshold the VIP is the natural choice, but it may still be the right choice below it if you value the card’s other benefits.
Tip: Previously holding an Avion card does not necessarily make you ineligible for a new welcome offer. RBC’s public Avion offers generally do not contain the once-per-lifetime restrictions seen with some other issuers.
Business Avion Cards
RBC offers two Avion business cards: a standard Visa and a Visa Infinite.
$120 AF
Welcome bonus typically 20k points on enrollment
1x earn
$175 AF
SUB 35k points plus waived first AF. Currently up to 100k with waived AF, an all time high
1.25x earn on first $75k/yr, then 1x after that
Ability to redeem points at a fixed 2cpp for business-class and first-class flights
On an ongoing basis, the annual-fee difference is only $55, making the Business VI already easy to justify. At a valuation of 2cpp, just over $11k would earn enough additional points to offset the higher fee. The current record-high SUB and waived first annual fee make the first year decision it even easier.
Unfortunately for big spenders the $75k cap on 1.25x may prove restrictive, but note this cap resets with the January statement, so your first year of card-membership could double dip this limit. But if your spend is particularly high, such as those using Chexy for payroll, commercial rent and other non-Amex categories, even this may fall short. Consider instead dedicating a personal Avion VIP to business spending with its uncapped 1.25x, or reach out to me to discuss other options and offers, particularly if your spend is over $20k/mo. This also helps you avoid the potential annoyance of having to open a business profile with RBC.
TIP: RBC can approve multiple of the same card, allowing you to simultaneously/separately have an Avion VIP for personal and business uses for ease of bookkeeping. This can also be accomplished via product changing your existing RBC cards.
Don't Put Everything on Your Avion Card
While Avion points may be very useful, and Visa acceptance is broad, the Avion VI/VIP fail to compete on “bonus category spending”. For example, food spend could earn 5x Amex points on the Cobalt which would blow the Avion VIP’s 1.25x out of the water. Gas is similar, though less dramatic, at 2x on the Cobalt.
If your local vendors don't take Amex, or you have exceptionally high gas spend, you could consider RBC ION+ card which earns 3x Avion on groceries, dining, and gas. Just note that these points must be first transferred 1:1 to an Avion card before being used for the travel redemptions discussed above.
Pro tip: Instead of applying directly for the Ion+, consider getting an Avion VI/VIP for its elevated offer, collect the sign-up bonus, and then using the self-service product-change option in your RBC account to switch to the ION+. Depending on the opportunity cost you may or may not want to wait for the anniversary bonus first. Even better, if you already have an older Avion card lying around you could product-change that card while opening a new one for the elevated offer.
For high travel spend you could consider the Amex Gold or Platinum for 2x, or the Business Aeroplan Reserve for 3x Air Canada and 2x hotels and car rentals (with bonus earn on Hyatts).
Your Avion VI/VIP is best suited for welcome-bonus spending and general non-bonused or non-Amex spend, such as Chexy payroll.
Fitting Avion into Your Points Portfolio
Once you have completed your welcome-bonus spending and used the best card for each bonus category, where should the rest of your "uncategorized" spending go?
If you don’t hold a strong position on which airlines you’re likely to travel with, and the merchant takes Amex, there is a strong argument to bias towards Amex. Membership Rewards points are the only major Canadian bank currency capable of transferring to programs in all three major airline alliances, creating the largest opportunity set for high-upside value.
For non-Amex spend however, the choice might lie between a premium Aeroplan card and the Avion VIP. The primary advantage of an Aeroplan card is that spend helps accelerate Aeroplan status – generating SQC towards status at a rate of 1000 SQC per $5k spent, up to an annual cap of 25k SQC after $125k spend. Beyond that point, additional spend is simply earning Aeroplan points. From holistic point-portfolio perspective, Aeroplan points at best displace an equal number of Amex points (Amex transfers 1:1 to Aeroplan). Avion however can, at times, displace more than one Amex point per Avion point. For example, a 63k Cathay Asiamiles redemption can be funded with 63k Avion or 84k Amex (Amex transfers to Cathay at 1:0.75 versus Avion’s 1:1).
At spend levels at or below the SQC cap, the decision is a balance between Star Alliance and Aeroplan status versus Avion’s Oneworld oriented access and 2 cpp fixed-value redemption option. Fortunately, high-volume non-Amex Chexy categories like payroll and office rent and overhead can generate enough spending to support all of the ecosystems in parallel.
Other Ways Avion Can Pay Off
If you link an eligible RBC card to Petro-Points, you save 3¢ per litre, and earn 20% more Avion AND Petro-Points when buying gas at Petrocan. On the ION+ this is especially powerful as it stacks with the already strong 3x earn rate on gas.
It is also worth checking RBC Offers before a large purchase or hotel stay. One current targeted offer gives 15k Avion points on a Marriott Bonvoy booking of $1000 or more in the Caribbean and Latin America . These offers vary by card and need to be loaded, so it's worth checking.
Separately, until October 31, 2026, eligible RBC cards earn 3x their usual Avion points on hotel bookings made through the platform, on up to $2,500 of qualifying spend. I would still compare the full price and benefits against booking directly, particularly if you hold hotel status, or via Rove to earn some of my favourite points.
Downsides
While there are many ways to redeem at or near 2c per point, Avion's transfer partners can take a bit more work to optimize versus Amex. There is no Canadian Oneworld member despite Porter's growing partnerships with American and Alaska. That leaves a real weak spot for someone seeking greater than 2c value on domestic, cross border, and sun destination travel . Furthermore, in my experience, search tools like Roame have less reliable access to the Oneworld award inventory compared to Aeroplan and Flying blue, making the search for high value redemptions less straightforward.
Conclusion
Avion cards have strong insurance, broad Visa acceptance, and multiple ways to redeem - this positions them well to be a primary card in your wallet. There is no need to master every Avion transfer partner to benefit from the card, but knowing those options exist lets you explore them when the right trip comes along. Having a strong flight chart and the fixed value redemption give your points strong value with low effort and high flexibility.
Consider combining an Avion VI or VIP with an Amex Cobalt or ION+ to enhance your overall earn rates.
If you're new to travel hacking however, and want more options from Canadian airports for domestic, transborder and Sun destinations, and additional status elevating benefits, then check out my article on the Aeroplan Cards.
Referrals
Check out the latest sign up bonuses for Avion and Ion cards such as the Avion VI.
With its best in market 5x multiplier Amex Cobalt is a powerful point earner that can get you on flying for free 5 times faster than much of the competition. And since they convert 1:1 to BA Avios and and 1:0.75 to Cathay Asiamiles it makes a natural combo with an Avion visa - sign up here.
If you're on the fence, or wondering about other cards reach out to me for a free consult, and if you sign up for a card through my link, let me know and I will walk you through advanced tricks and personalized advice to help you get the maximum benefit both from earning and redeeming points - getting your travel journey going faster than you ever thought possible.
Check out my Keeper Cards series to see other cards worth exploring
Disclaimer
This should not be taken as financial advice and details are subject to change. I have made good intentioned efforts to be accurate but ultimately consult card terms and conditions
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