Program Guides
How to Redeem RBC Avion Points: Every Option, Ranked
Avion is a chart currency: almost all of its value above the 1¢ floor lives in one place, RBC's Air Travel Redemption Schedule. Use the chart well and points clear 2¢; ignore it and you're holding a 1¢ currency with extra steps. Here's every option ranked by realistic value, using our July 2026 index numbers — we value Avion at 1.6¢ per point. For your specific balance, use the calculator in our Avion points value guide.
The ranking
| # | Redemption | Realistic value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Air Travel Redemption Schedule at the fare maximum | 1.75–2.33¢ |
| 2 | Transfer to British Airways Avios (short-haul sweet spots) | 1.5–2.0¢ |
| 3 | Any travel booked through Avion Rewards | 1.0¢ |
| 4 | Gift cards | 0.8–1.0¢ |
| 5 | Merchandise | 0.6–0.8¢ |
1. The Air Travel Redemption Schedule: where Avion earns its keep
Available on Visa Infinite and higher Avion cards, the schedule is a fixed award chart: a set number of points covers a round-trip flight up to a maximum base ticket price. The short-haul band is the famous one — 15,000 points for a flight with a base fare up to $350.
Here's the math that makes or breaks the program:
- Book a $350 base fare against that band and you're at 350 ÷ 15,000 = 2.33¢ per point — the program's ceiling.
- Book a $180 seat-sale fare against the same band and you're at 1.2¢ — barely above the floor.
Same chart, same points, nearly double the value. The rule: redeem the schedule when cash fares are high, and pay cash when they're on sale. Note the chart covers the base fare — taxes and fees are on you either way.
2. Avios transfers: the escape hatch
Avion converts to British Airways Avios (and to WestJet), and RBC periodically runs transfer bonuses of 30% or more. When a short-haul Avios partner award is the target — where Avios can run 1.7–3.0¢ — a bonused transfer can beat the schedule outright. Like all transfers, it's one-way: price the specific award before you move anything.
3–5. Portal travel, gift cards, merchandise: the descending staircase
Any travel booked through Avion Rewards pays a flat 1¢ — the floor, and a perfectly acceptable fallback for hotels or routes the chart doesn't fit. Gift cards drift below 1¢, and merchandise lands at 0.6–0.8¢. Nothing in this tier is a disaster; it's just paying chart-currency effort for cash-back value.
Worked example: the welcome bonus, two ways
The RBC Avion Visa Infinite pays 35,000 Avion points on approval as part of its up-to-70,000-point offer. Those 35,000 points are worth:
- $350 through the portal or as gift cards — the floor.
- Two short-haul round trips against the schedule (15,000 points each) with fares near the $350 maximum: about $700 of flights, at 2.33¢ per point, with 5,000 points left over.
Same bonus, double the outcome, and the only difference is which screen you booked on.
Order of operations
- Check the schedule first. Find your route's band and its fare maximum.
- Compare the cash fare. Near the maximum, redeem; well below it, pay cash and save the points.
- Price an Avios transfer if there's a bonus running and your route is a short-haul partner flight.
- Use the 1¢ portal only when the chart genuinely doesn't fit your trip.
The cards that earn Avion
The mainstream route is the RBC Avion Visa Infinite at $120/year — 1.25x on travel, 1x elsewhere, and full access to the redemption schedule. The Avion Visa Infinite Privilege adds lounge access and bigger bonuses at $399, but the standard Infinite captures most of the program's value at 30% of the fee.
Valuations are editorial estimates based on observable award pricing, not guarantees. Methodology: The Points Standard Index.