Who Should Skip the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card

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The RBC Avion Visa Infinite is one of Canada’s most recognizable travel credit cards, plastered across airport billboards and bank branches from Vancouver to Halifax. It offers flexible Avion points, solid insurance and frequent welcome bonuses that can be tempting for frequent flyers and casual travelers alike. Yet for many Canadians, especially certain types of travelers, this card is not the best fit. In some cases it can even be an expensive mismatch. This guide breaks down exactly who should skip the RBC Avion Visa Infinite and which alternatives might deliver better value in real life.

What the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Actually Offers

The RBC Avion Visa Infinite is positioned as a mid-tier travel rewards card with flexible points and robust insurance. As of mid 2026, the annual fee is about $120 and the standard earning structure is 1 Avion point per dollar on everyday purchases, with 1.25 points per dollar on travel-related spending such as flights, hotels and car rentals. New cardholders are frequently targeted with large welcome bonuses worth tens of thousands of Avion points when they meet a minimum spend in the first few months.

The main selling feature is flexibility. Avion points can be used through a fixed “Air Travel Redemption Schedule” or as a simple statement credit against any travel booked with airlines, hotel chains or online agencies like Expedia or Booking.com. On paper, that seems perfect for travelers who do not want to be locked into one airline program. RBC also promotes the ability to transfer Avion points to programs such as WestJet Rewards or British Airways Executive Club, which can be attractive to people flying WestJet domestically or booking British Airways and Oneworld partners to Europe.

The card includes emergency medical travel insurance for many trips, plus trip cancellation and interruption benefits, flight delay coverage, lost or delayed baggage and rental car collision coverage. For a traveler buying a last-minute Air Canada ticket from Toronto to New York or renting a car in Calgary for a Banff road trip, these protections can save hundreds of dollars compared to buying insurance separately.

Despite these strengths, the Avion Visa Infinite is not universally ideal. The earning rate is modest compared with some rivals, there is a foreign transaction fee on purchases in other currencies, and the famed Air Travel Redemption Schedule comes with price caps that can make peak-season flights far more expensive in points than many realize. For certain types of travelers, these drawbacks outweigh the card’s headline perks.

Travelers Who Prioritize No Foreign Transaction Fees

One of the biggest pain points for Canadian travelers is the standard 2.5 percent foreign transaction fee that major banks layer on top of the exchange rate for purchases in U.S. dollars, euros and other currencies. The RBC Avion Visa Infinite charges this fee, which means every hotel bill in New York, tapas dinner in Barcelona or train ticket in Japan quietly costs more.

Consider a couple from Montreal who spend three weeks in Europe each summer and put about 4,000 Canadian dollars worth of hotels, train tickets and meals on their card. At 2.5 percent, they are paying roughly 100 dollars per trip in foreign transaction fees alone, on top of the regular currency exchange cost. Over several years, that easily outstrips the annual fee on a competing card that waives those charges.

If your travel plans frequently take you outside Canada or involve booking in foreign currencies online, a card with no foreign transaction fee is usually a better fit. Examples in the Canadian market include travel cards like the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite or certain niche cards from smaller institutions that waive the 2.5 percent surcharge on all non-Canadian-dollar purchases. Travelers who regularly pay for U.S. Airbnb stays, Disney park tickets in Florida or boutique hotels in Europe will often save more from the waived forex fee than they would earn back in extra Avion points.

For these cardholders, the RBC Avion Visa Infinite’s otherwise solid package is overshadowed by that hidden foreign-currency cost. They would be better served pairing a no-forex card with a strong but flexible rewards program rather than paying a premium every time they tap their card abroad.

Budget Travelers and Occasional Flyers

The RBC Avion Visa Infinite is built around the idea that you will travel often enough to exploit its flight chart, transfer partners and insurance. If your trips are infrequent or firmly budget focused, the annual fee and complexity can be hard to justify. Many Canadians take one short flight every year or two, or they drive to visit family and stay with relatives rather than in hotels. For these travelers, cash-back or low-fee cards often win.

Imagine a family in Winnipeg that flies once a year to visit relatives in Vancouver, usually on sale fares outside peak holidays. They might charge about 10,000 dollars per year in groceries, gas and bills to their card. With Avion, that would earn around 10,000 points, which is far from enough for a flight on the fixed chart and translates to roughly a hundred dollars in travel credit if used as a simple statement credit. Deduct the annual fee, and the net value is limited.

By contrast, a no-fee or low-fee cash-back card that returns around 1 to 2 percent on everyday spending could quietly accumulate 100 to 200 dollars in cash each year with no need to learn a rewards chart or watch for transfer bonuses. A simple example would be using a basic no-fee cash-back Visa that yields a flat return on groceries and gas, which can then be used to offset the occasional WestJet or Air Canada ticket without the mental overhead.

If you are not booking flights multiple times a year, do not enjoy optimizing reward redemptions and are unlikely to use secondary benefits like rental car insurance or trip delay coverage, the Avion Visa Infinite’s annual fee is likely wasted. In that case, a straightforward rewards or cash-back card is more aligned with your travel style and financial habits.

Points Maximizers Who Want Higher Earn Rates

Loyalty enthusiasts who obsess over points per dollar and transfer sweet spots often expect more than 1 point per dollar on most everyday categories. The RBC Avion Visa Infinite offers 1 point on general spending and a modest bump to 1.25 points on travel purchases. While Avion points can be valuable when transferred to airline partners or used on high-value flights, the base earning rate lags behind several competitors in the Canadian travel card landscape.

For example, a traveler in Toronto who spends significantly on groceries, dining and streaming subscriptions might earn more with a card that offers 4 or 5 points in those categories, even if the underlying points currency has a similar value to Avion. Some American Express cards aimed at Canadian consumers, such as widely known mid-tier travel or dining-focused cards, offer elevated multipliers on restaurant and grocery spending, which can quickly outpace the Avion earn rate for people whose budgets skew towards food, entertainment and digital services.

Another concrete scenario: a frequent flyer who spends 30,000 dollars a year on work and leisure travel, including flights, hotels and car rentals. On the Avion Visa Infinite, that might yield around 37,500 points if everything is coded as travel. If instead they used a premium travel card that earns 2 or more points per dollar on travel (and sometimes more on specific airlines or hotel brands), they could easily end the year with 60,000 points or more in a competing program. Those extra points can translate into another round-trip economy ticket within North America or a substantial discount on a business class fare.

If you are the type of traveler who tracks cents-per-point value in a spreadsheet, chases transfer bonuses and is comfortable juggling multiple card products, the Avion Visa Infinite is more of a solid all-rounder than a top-tier earn machine. You may be better off with a combination of high-multiplier cards, such as a premium airline co-branded Visa for flights, a no-forex travel card for international purchases and a rich grocery card for everyday spending.

Airline Loyalists Chasing Elite Status and Perks

The Avion program sells itself as flexible and airline-agnostic. That flexibility is useful if you hop between WestJet, Air Canada and foreign carriers depending on price and schedule. However, if you are loyal to a single airline and care deeply about elite status, free checked bags, priority boarding and in-flight perks, an airline co-branded card often provides more direct value than Avion.

Take an Edmonton-based traveler who flies Air Canada or its Star Alliance partners ten or more times a year for work. They care about eUpgrades, priority check-in and waived baggage fees. An Aeroplan Visa Infinite card, for example, typically offers Aeroplan-specific benefits such as free first checked bag on Air Canada flights for the primary cardholder and sometimes companions on the same booking, along with bonus points on Air Canada purchases. Over a year of business trips to cities like Calgary, Toronto and San Francisco, these perks can easily save several hundred dollars in baggage fees alone.

Similarly, a Calgary family that flies WestJet to Mexico every winter might be better suited to a WestJet co-branded card that includes an annual companion voucher and free checked bags on WestJet-operated flights. Using that voucher on a peak-season Calgary to Puerto Vallarta route can yield outsized value compared with the more generalized Avion points needed for similar flights, especially when tickets are expensive during school holidays.

While Avion points can be transferred to airline partners, transfers typically do not come with extra on-the-ground benefits such as free luggage or priority boarding. If those airline-specific perks matter more to you than flexible redemptions, skipping the RBC Avion Visa Infinite in favor of a strong airline co-branded product will usually lead to a smoother and cheaper travel experience.

Travelers Who Want Built-in Lounge Access and Luxury Perks

Many travelers equate premium travel cards with airport lounge access, fast-track security and other VIP-style benefits. The RBC Avion Visa Infinite itself does not provide broad, unlimited lounge access. Instead, lounge perks in the Avion lineup are concentrated at the more expensive Avion Visa Infinite Privilege level, which carries a significantly higher annual fee and targets high-income clients, including private banking customers.

If your vision of a good travel card includes relaxing in lounges during layovers in Toronto Pearson or Vancouver, sipping espresso and using quiet workspaces before a flight, you will likely be disappointed by the Avion Visa Infinite on its own. To replicate those perks, you might need to either upgrade to an Avion Privilege product if you qualify or add a separate lounge membership such as a Priority Pass plan paid out of pocket.

Competing premium cards in Canada, including certain Visa Infinite Privilege products from other banks and top-tier American Express cards, often bundle comprehensive lounge access with other luxury touches like hotel status upgrades or concierge programs. For travelers who are on the road twice a month and frequently face long connections in major hubs, these perks can dramatically improve comfort. A consultant flying repeatedly between Toronto, Montreal and New York, for instance, may prioritize guaranteed lounge access and priority lines over the specific flexibility of Avion points.

If you are less concerned with flexible redemptions and more interested in the airport and hotel experience itself, a card that makes lounge visits automatic and consistent is likely a better match than the RBC Avion Visa Infinite.

Existing RBC Clients vs New-to-RBC Customers

The overall value of the RBC Avion Visa Infinite can hinge on whether you already have a relationship with RBC. Existing clients sometimes receive targeted offers such as annual fee rebates, bundled banking discounts or elevated welcome bonuses for upgrading from an entry-level card like an RBC ION Visa. In those cases, the effective cost of trying Avion can be low, at least in the first year.

Consider a long-time RBC chequing account holder in Ottawa who is offered the Avion Visa Infinite with the first year’s annual fee rebated and a sizable welcome bonus if they meet a realistic spending target. That person might use the card aggressively in year one, redeem the bonus for a round-trip flight within Canada and enjoy the insurance coverage on a family trip. If they are satisfied, they may keep the card and accept the ongoing fee; if they do not see continued value, they can downgrade or cancel after the first anniversary with little regret.

By contrast, a traveler who is entirely new to RBC and receives no targeted offers should weigh the Avion Visa Infinite strictly on its standard features and fee. Without bank-relationship perks, the card competes directly against similarly priced travel cards from other major banks and American Express. In many of those comparisons, alternatives with stronger category multipliers, no-forex benefits or richer airline partnerships can win out, especially for people who do not care which bank issues their card as long as it delivers the best mix of rewards and protections.

If you are not already linked to RBC through everyday banking or investments, it becomes particularly important to compare the Avion Visa Infinite against rivals from TD, CIBC, Scotiabank and American Express using your own spending pattern. In many real-world cases, a traveler who spends heavily on groceries and dining in Canada and books several trips a year in foreign currencies will find that a competing product better aligns with their habits.

The Takeaway

The RBC Avion Visa Infinite is a long-standing Canadian travel card with a respected points currency, solid insurance and appealing welcome offers. For some travelers it delivers precisely what they need: flexible points, straightforward flight redemptions and reliable coverage when they rent cars in Alberta or fly to see family in Ontario. Yet it is not a one-size-fits-all solution.

You should likely skip the RBC Avion Visa Infinite if you prioritize no foreign transaction fees, travel only occasionally, obsess over maximizing points in specific spending categories, depend on airline-specific perks for your preferred carrier or expect comprehensive lounge access as part of your travel routine. In those scenarios, alternatives such as no-forex travel cards, cash-back cards, airline co-branded Visas or premium lounge-focused products often provide more tangible, day-to-day value.

The right travel card should match how you really travel, not how glossy brochures imagine you will. Before applying for the Avion Visa Infinite, take a close look at your last year of spending: where you shop, how often you fly, whether you pay in foreign currencies and which perks genuinely affect your trips. If the answers line up with Avion’s strengths, the card can be a reliable companion. If not, you are better off exploring the growing roster of alternatives in the Canadian market that may fit your habits and travel dreams more closely.

FAQ

Q1. Is the RBC Avion Visa Infinite worth it for someone who travels once a year?
For most people who take only one short trip a year, the annual fee and complexity of Avion points are hard to justify. A simple cash-back or low-fee travel card usually offers similar or better value without needing to study redemption charts.

Q2. Does the RBC Avion Visa Infinite charge foreign transaction fees?
Yes. Purchases in foreign currencies typically incur a foreign transaction fee on top of the exchange rate. If you spend heavily in U.S. dollars or other currencies, a no-forex card is likely a better fit.

Q3. How good is the Avion flight redemption chart in real life?
The Air Travel Redemption Schedule can offer good value on certain routes, especially economy flights within Canada and to nearby U.S. cities. However, it has maximum ticket price caps, so expensive peak-season or last-minute fares may require extra points or a different redemption method.

Q4. Can Avion points be transferred to airline programs?
Yes, Avion points can be transferred to select partner programs, commonly including options like WestJet Rewards or British Airways Executive Club. Transfer ratios and promotions can change, so it is wise to check current terms before moving points.

Q5. Who benefits most from the RBC Avion Visa Infinite?
Frequent or semi-frequent travelers who value flexible redemptions, want solid travel insurance and are comfortable managing points will get the most from the card, especially if they receive a strong welcome offer or fee rebate.

Q6. What are stronger alternatives if I want no foreign transaction fees?
Travelers who regularly pay in foreign currencies might prefer Canadian cards that waive the standard 2.5 percent foreign transaction fee. Several bank-issued Visa and American Express travel cards in Canada offer this perk, often alongside competitive rewards on travel and dining.

Q7. Are airline co-branded cards better than Avion for loyal flyers?
If you mostly fly one airline such as Air Canada or WestJet, a co-branded card can be more rewarding. Benefits like free checked bags, priority boarding and airline-specific bonus earning can outweigh the flexibility of Avion points.

Q8. Is lounge access included with the RBC Avion Visa Infinite?
The standard Avion Visa Infinite does not include broad, unlimited airport lounge access. More extensive lounge benefits are concentrated in higher-tier Avion Privilege products, which carry higher fees and stricter eligibility.

Q9. What if I already bank with RBC?
Existing RBC clients may receive targeted promotions such as fee rebates or larger welcome bonuses, which can make trying the Avion Visa Infinite more attractive for the first year. After that, it still makes sense to compare its ongoing value against alternatives.

Q10. Can I downgrade if I decide the Avion Visa Infinite is not right for me?
In many cases, RBC allows cardholders to switch to a lower-fee or no-fee card within its lineup. If you are unsure, you can start with Avion for the welcome bonus and insurance, then reassess after the first year and adjust if needed.