The RBC Avion Visa Infinite is RBC’s mainstream travel rewards card: a $120 annual fee, a flat earn rate, and a fixed-points flight chart that works on any airline. This review sets out what the welcome offer includes as of October 6, 2026, what Avion points are worth in dollars, and where rival cards do better, so you can judge whether the fee fits how you travel.
For context, YieldMaple also reviews the Amex Cobalt, the American Express Aeroplan Reserve and the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite, and ranks them together in the guide to the best travel credit cards in Canada.
RBC Avion Visa Infinite at a glance
| Feature | RBC Avion Visa Infinite |
|---|---|
| Annual fee | $120 (better on this row) |
| Additional card | $50 |
| Welcome offer | up to 70,000 Avion points |
| Apply by | November 25, 2026 |
| Travel earn rate | 1.25 Avion points per $1 on travel-related purchases |
| Base earn rate | 1 Avion point per $1 on all other eligible purchases |
| Flight chart (Canada/US) | 35,000 points for a round-trip flight almost anywhere in Canada or the United States, with a maximum ticket price of $750 |
| Other travel | 100 points = $1 |
| Minimum income | $60,000 personal or $100,000 household income |
| Purchase interest rate | 20.99% |
Source: rbcroyalbank.com, RBC Avion Visa Infinite product page and legal disclaimers, checked October 6, 2026.
In sentence form: the card costs $120 a year, each additional card costs $50, and the purchase interest rate is 20.99%. Applicants need $60,000 personal or $100,000 household income.
What is the RBC Avion Visa Infinite welcome bonus in 2026?
The RBC Avion Visa Infinite welcome bonus is up to 70,000 Avion points for applications RBC receives by November 25, 2026. RBC values the full offer at up to $1,500 in travel. It is paid in three parts:
- 35,000 Avion points on approval.
- 20,000 bonus points when you spend $5,000 in your first 6 months.
- 15,000 one-time anniversary bonus points, credited 12 to 16 weeks after the one-year anniversary of account opening.
The timing of the third part matters. The first two parts add up to 55,000 points in year one. The anniversary points only post after the account’s first birthday, by which point a second annual fee has been charged, so collecting all three parts means paying $240 in fees.
What the first-year points can buy
Using RBC’s own flight chart, the 55,000 first-year points stretch to one long-haul round trip and one short-haul round trip: up to $1,100 of base airfare, with 5,000 points left over. Net of the first annual fee, that is up to $980. Two caveats apply: the figure assumes tickets priced right at the chart’s maximums, and RBC’s terms leave taxes, fees and surcharges with the traveller.
How much are Avion points worth?
Avion points are worth between 1 cent and a little over 2 cents each, depending on whether they are redeemed through RBC’s flight chart or at the flat travel rate. The three reference points from RBC’s page:
- Long-haul chart: 35,000 points for a round-trip flight almost anywhere in Canada or the United States, with a maximum ticket price of $750. At the maximum ticket price that is about 2.14 cents a point.
- Short-haul chart: 15,000 points for a round trip within or to an adjacent province, territory or U.S. state, with a maximum ticket price of $350. At the maximum that is about 2.33 cents a point.
- Everything else: hotels, car rentals and other travel convert at 100 points = $1, or 1 cent a point.
The chart rewards expensive tickets. A $500 long-haul fare booked for 35,000 points returns about 1.43 cents a point, about two-thirds of the headline value. The practical test before redeeming is to divide the cash fare by the points required.
RBC says the points book flights on over 500 airlines, with no blackouts or seat restrictions, which is the card’s main selling point against airline-specific programs. Points also convert to WestJet Rewards, American Airlines, British Airways and Cathay Pacific.
How does the RBC Avion Visa Infinite earn points?
The RBC Avion Visa Infinite earns 1.25 Avion points per $1 on travel-related purchases and 1 Avion point per $1 on all other eligible purchases. There are no grocery, dining or gas categories, which makes the earn rate the card’s weak spot.
RBC’s own illustration shows the scale. A cardholder who puts $3,000 a year on travel and $12,000 a year on everything else earns 15,750 points a year, which is less than half of one long-haul chart flight. Compare that with the Amex Cobalt, which earns 5 points per $1 at eligible restaurants, coffee shops, bars, stand-alone grocery stores and food delivery in Canada, subject to a cap of $2,500 in combined net purchases a month, then 1 point per $1.
That gap is why the Avion card is often held alongside a category card: the category card collects points on food, and the Avion card covers travel bookings and insurance. The page lists coverage for emergency medical, travel accident, trip cancellation and interruption, delayed baggage and flight delay, rental car collision and loss damage, hotel burglary, purchase security and extended warranty, and mobile devices. Limits and conditions are in RBC’s certificate of insurance.
Does the RBC Avion Visa Infinite have lounge access?
No, the RBC Avion Visa Infinite does not include airport lounge visits. RBC’s page points to the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege for that benefit. The Privilege card costs $399 a year, includes six lounge visits per membership year, and requires $200,000 personal or household income. For a card in that Privilege tier from another bank, the BMO Eclipse Visa Infinite Privilege review covers its fee and lounge benefits.
The fee gap between the two cards is $279 a year. Whether that is good value depends on how many of the six visits you would use and on the Privilege card’s other benefits, which this review does not cover.
RBC Avion Visa Infinite vs Aeroplan and Scotia Passport cards
Three comparisons come up most often:
- American Express Aeroplan Reserve. The Reserve’s annual fee is $599, several times the Avion card’s $120. It is built for frequent Air Canada flyers. The full breakdown is in Amex Aeroplan Reserve vs RBC Avion.
- Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite. The Passport card costs $150 a year and its foreign transaction fee is none: only the exchange rate applies to foreign-currency purchases. RBC’s product page lists no equivalent waiver for the Avion card. See Scotia Passport vs RBC Avion.
- Amex Cobalt. The Cobalt earns far more on food spending, but American Express is accepted at fewer merchants than Visa, and its points work differently on flights.
Who the RBC Avion Visa Infinite fits (and who it doesn’t)
The card tends to fit if:
- You take a few trips a year and want to book any airline with points.
- You can use the flight chart close to its maximum ticket prices, where points are worth the most.
- You want a bundled travel insurance package for a $120 fee.
It tends not to fit if:
- Most of your spending is groceries and dining, where a category card earns several times more.
- You want airport lounge visits, which sit on the $399 Privilege card.
- A large share of your spending is in foreign currencies.
The verdict
The RBC Avion Visa Infinite is a flexible mid-tier travel card with a strong welcome offer and an ordinary earn rate. The first-year points alone can cover up to $1,100 of base airfare against a $120 fee, as long as the tickets are priced near the chart’s limits. After year one, the value depends on how much travel spending goes on the card and how well the flight chart matches the fares you actually buy. This review is general education, not financial advice; confirm the current offer on RBC’s site before applying.