The next card to lay claim to fame with a best ever welcome bonus is the RBC British Airways Visa Infinite Card. We’ve seen this card sit steady with its current offer of up to 50,000 Avios offer since October of 2017, but that all changes now. RBC has bumped the offer up by 10,000 Avios so that new applicants can earn up to 60,000 Avios, which is the best ever welcome bonus seen on this card.
This new 60,000 bonus offer is structured the same as the 50,000 offer we’ve seen for the last few years, and that is as follows
- Step 1: Receive 15,000 Avios as welcome bonus upon approval
- Step 2: 35,000 bonus Avios when you spend $6,000 CAD in the first 3 months
- Step 3: Another 10,000 bonus Avios after your first yearˆ
Step 2 is where we see the additional 10,000 Avios being added to this limited time welcome bonus. Yes, it is only a limited offer that is set to end on February 28, 2022. That gives you a bit of time to decide if this card is right for you. The card has a niche market, and that is for the frequent or semi-frequent British Airways flyers, as it is more sought after for some of the benefits it has rather than the earn and burn profile.
Outside of the welcome bonus here is what the RBC British Airways Visa Infinite Card offers:
Earn rates:
- Collect 1 Avios for every $1 CAD spent on qualifying net purchases*
- Collect double Avios when you shop with British Airways and British Airways Holidays*
Travel benefits
- Earn a Companion Award eVoucher when you spend $30,000 CAD or more in any calendar year˜
- 10% off British Airways flights when you book and pay with your card∞
- Redeem for flights and more – you can spend your Avios on all of the travel things you love, including cabin upgrades with British Airways or reward flights with British Airways, and any of the oneworld partner airlines to almost 1,000 destinations worldwide**
Insurance
- Comprehensive Insurances including 31–day out of country/province emergency medical insurance1, flight delay insurance2, hotel burglary3 and rental car4 insurance. Even eligible purchases you make with the card are protected3.
Additional benefits
- Luxury Visa Infinite benefits5 such as first in line service for exclusive events and hotel and dining exclusives via www.visainfinite.ca
- Complimentary 24/7 Concierge Service5
- Link your RBC card with a Petro-Points membership to instantly save 3₵ per litre on fuel at Petro-Canada stations and earn 20% more Petro-Points and 20% more RBC rewards points
- Get $0 delivery fees for 12 months from DoorDash
- Link your RBC British Airways Visa Infinite card with a Rexall Be Well account and get 50 Be Well points for every $1 spent on eligible products at Rexall. Redeem Be Well points faster for savings in store on eligible purchases where 25,000 Be Well points = $10
If we start at the top you see the earn rates – 1 Avios per dollar and 2 per dollar for British Airways purchases. If you are only into the earn and burn of the British Airways Executive Club program, you are better off with other cards like Amex’s Cobalt Card or Platinum Card (their points transfer 1:1 to British Airways, and you can earn up to 5x points per dollar spent) or the HSBC World Elite Mastercard, whose base earn rate translates to 1.2 Avios per dollar. That’s why we say this card fits a niche market – most people aren’t getting it for the earn rates. They are getting it for what comes next.
The two top features of this card come from the travel benefits it provides, and these benefits are what people get this card for. The 10% off British Airways flights is the biggie. The discount is off the total cost of the fare (including taxes, fees,
and carrier charges) for travel in any cabin from economy (World Traveler) to premium economy (World Traveler Plus) for business (Club World) or even First Class. So if you buy several British Airways tickets a year, that 10% off can provide big savings – especially if it is for business or first class. Think about a business class flight between Toronto and London that is nearly $6,000 (as shown below). Ten percent of that is almost $600, which more than pays for the $165 annual fee on this card.
The second feature is the annual Companion Award eVoucher. This was one of the first cards in Canada to offer a Companion Voucher, which you receive when you spend $30,000 or more in any calendar year. This voucher can be used to save you a lot of Avios as it is used when you make a reward booking. This means you can use the voucher when you redeem Avios in full or in part (Avios and Cash option) to take a companion along. All you pay are the taxes and fees for the companion fare.
Add in insurance benefits, concierge service, and RBC’s exclusive offers with Petro-Canada, DoorDash, and Rexall, and you have a really good card for the British Airways flyer. So take note, if you are said British Airways flyer and you don’t have this card yet, now is the time to grab it so that you can earn up to 60,000 Avios.
Click here to learn more about and apply for the RBC British Airways Visa Infinite Card
Corresponding legal references and product terms are available on the RBC website, which will be available and agreed upon in the customer onboarding process.
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