How to book a flight with RBC Avion Rewards points

One of the options for redeeming Avion Rewards credit cards is to use your points towards airfare anywhere in the world. Here’s how this works for a fixed-point exchange.

RBC Avion Rewards Points

There are several RBC Avion Rewards credit cards. The one used for this example is the RBC Visa Infinite Avion Card.

RBC Avion Rewards points can be used to travel anywhere in the world with a round-trip ticket. A one-way trip requires half as many Avion points. Here is the airfare table for a round-trip flight:

On average this equals about 2 cents per Avion point .

How to Book an Airline Ticket with RBC Avion Rewards Points

With 35,000 Avion points, I could afford a plane ticket to Canada or the United States.

From your RBC Online Banking profile, click on the blue Avion Rewards button.

Then, on the Trips page, click on Book a Trip.

Avion Rewards acts like a travel agency. Generally, the prices are the same as the ones found on the sites of the carriers and tour operators.

Its search tool allows you to use RBC Avion Rewards points to book :

After entering your desired dates and destinations, the results will be displayed. On the left, there is a filter for options.

In this example, the non-stop and no change fee options are selected.

35,000 points can be redeemed on a flight costing up to $750.

In this example, I have chosen a higher class. This exceeds the $750, the remaining balance is added to the taxes and fees.

In my case, the same flight cost about $1,000 on the Air Canada website. This equates to 2.14 cents per point, ($750 divided by 35,000 points) which is excellent!

On the checkout page, RBC shows the points required to book this airline ticket. Any remaining point balance can be used to reduce the tax and fee balance.

For example, 90 points were used to lower the balance by 90 cents. The rest is to be paid with a credit card.

Enter the traveler’s information and make the payment.

An email from RBC Avion Rewards will be sent moments later to confirm. A few minutes later (or a few hours for some), the airline will send confirmation in a separate email. All the details will be there, including the reservation number.

How to Manage an Airline Ticket Purchased with RBC Avion Rewards Points

The booked trip can be found in the My Trips section of the RBC Avion Rewards portal. A link redirects you to the airline’s website.

You will be able to link this reservation to your frequent flyer profile. Here I entered my Aeroplan membership number.

Since I had taken the Comfort fare on Air Canada, I was able to choose a Prefered seat at no charge. This must be done directly on the Air Canada website.

There is also the option to chat with a virtual agent on the RBC site in the Help section.

In addition, if you have eUpgrades with Air Canada, you have the option to apply them at check-in 24 hours prior to your flight.

When your flight is completed, points and qualifications are deposited into your account based on the fare booked.

For example, the Comfort rate booked through RBC gave :

This counts towards your Aeroplan Status.

Here are other ways to use RBC Avion points.

Another way to redeem RBC Avion Rewards points for travel

Occasionally, the Avion Rewards site may experience technical difficulties or your flight may not appear in the search results.

At that time, call Avion Rewards Customer Service at 1-800-769-2512.

Avion Rewards will then deduct the required points from your RBC Rewards points account to credit the cost of your airline tickets, according to their airfare table.