Some of you asked when this bonus would return and we guessed it would be today and it was! We are happy to let you know the much loved transfer bonus from RBC Rewards to
British Airways Executive Club is back. Once again the bad news is the bonus is lower
just like we saw last May, only 30% versus the 50% we were accustomed to. The bonus
is harder to find after RBC changed their website and the only
indication of it is the BA banner stating ‘30% More’. We would greatly appreciate if any of readers who are Avion cardholders could let us know what the end date of the offer is! Thanks to Jovi for the end date details!
The offer is for all of you RBC Avion cardholders (Infinite and
Platinum) and runs until December 31. Despite the BA devaluations and only being 30%, this
promotion is still a decent deal as BA Avios are a great option
for flights to
Asia (via Cathay Pacific), short to medium haul within North America
(short haul offer is great on Alaska Airlines or American Airlines
see this post here) and even though huge surcharges are
added to their UK/Europe redemptions they can still be an alright value
because of this bonus based on your spend with the credit card
(see my post about Earn & Burn
for an explanation). As always though with any frequent flyer program
you will have to be flexible in your options when redeeming due to seat
availability issues (ie it may be hard to get tickets to Europe in
Summer etc.) so take this into consideration before transferring. Another to take into consideration is Executive Club will be introducing dynamic award pricing next year (think Aeroplan Market fare awards) we just don’t know all the details yet.
Also consider reading our post on How you can easily get a free flight between Toronto and Dublin, Ireland (pre taxes/fees) or 4 flights for $240+fees as this transfer bonus will work well with it. With the 30% you only have to
transfer 20,000 RBC Rewards points to get to the 26,000 Avios level to
redeem for these Dublin flights. Compare this to the 65,000 RBC Rewards
points it would take to get the same flight and you can quickly see why
there is value in the BA program. Heck if you have 65,000 RBC Rewards
Points that’s three flights to Dublin and back!