For those who don’t already know, I am a huge advocate of credit cards for people who are capable of using them responsibly as a means of earning thousands of dollars in rewards each year. More importantly if you choose to have a credit card then you should have one of the best credit cards available that gives you the maximum return for the money you spend on the card. If you are unfamiliar with credit cards or unsure if you have the best possible card for your needs, then you should read through our comprehensive credit cards section to get up to speed.
The Royal Bank Avion Platinum or Infinite credit card is one of the best and most flexible travel rewards credit cards in Canada. It is actually the card ranked 3rd in the travel category of our study of the best credit cards available in Canada.
One of the main reasons this card is so good is that you can transfer your points at a 1:1 ratio to either the British Airways Executive Club or the American Airlines AAdvantage rewards programs. Doing so is already a good idea because it eliminates the dollar amount caps on point values that are part of the standard RBC Avion point redemption process. This allows you to book the most expensive routes within a given part of the world without paying more points and thus giving you much greater value.
This is where the, typically, twice annual Avion points transfer promotions come in. This promotion allows you to transfer your points to the British Airways Executive Club at a ratio of 1:1.5 and to American Airlines AAdvantage at a ratio of 1:1.25. Obviously this increases your value substantially because now a reward that used to cost 100,000 avion points = 100,000 British Airways miles now only costs 66,667 Avion points!
Once you have your points converted to miles then there is a lot more ways to increase their value which is outside the scope of this post but I do talk about it further in our credit cards section and different strategies are also discussed in the RedFlagDeals thread where I first discovered that this promotion was on again.
Promotion Dates
Oct. 15, 2010 to Nov. 30, 2010 - 1.25x Avion to American Airlines Promotion
Oct. 26, 2010 to Dec. 31, 2010 - 1.5x Avion to British Airways Promotion (link)
Links For More Information
- Forum thread with many more details and tips @RedFlagDeals.com
- Royal Bank Avion credit card information @HowToSaveMoney.ca
- Royal Bank Avion Infinite credit card @rbcroyalbank.com
- The Best Credit Cards In Canada @HowToSaveMoney.ca
- Complete guide to Canadian credit cards (includes credit card primer) @HowToSaveMoney.ca
- British Airways Executive Club @ba.com
- American Airlines AAdvantage @aa.com
Do you have an RBC Avion credit card? Do you take advantage of these promotions? How do you spend your points?
If you like the site, please subscribe for free email updates.
Your support will ensure that I can continue to provide top quality free content.
Il semble que vous soyez un expert dans ce domaine, vos remarques sont tres interessantes, merci.
- Daniel
January 02, 2011 @ 9:04 amMerci beaucoup. Too bad this promotion has now ended for the time being. I'm sure there will be another one sometime in 2011.
January 02, 2011 @ 10:26 amI'm just wondering if the RBC - BA Miles promotion will be back this fall. I've transferred point through this a couple times and it make flying to Europe amazing! BA has great flights. I'd just caution to book early, as finding flights home can be challenging!
September 15, 2011 @ 3:00 pmIt's really hard to say Elaine. They ran the promo twice last year, which is a first for them I believe. Who knows if that means they won't be running it at all this year or if it will show up around the usual time this fall. Let's hope they announce it soon!
September 15, 2011 @ 3:08 pmPost new comment