Avion rewards is worse than cashback!
TLDR at the bottom.
Used AI to make my ramblings shorter and concise but completely my own experience.
My last post called Avion a scam, which was frivolous — I was mid-way through booking a family return flight to China, Avion let me down badly, and I ended up dumping my points into RRSP/TFSA transfers and cancelling the card for a fee refund.
Why Avion loses to cashback:
1. Fixed points redemptions are rigged by the fare breakdown. 100,000 points for $2,000 off base fare sounds great until you look at real fares. Jan–Mar 2027 non-stop to Hong Kong on Cathay: $1,600 base, $800 surcharges. China Southern to Guangzhou: $1,100 base, $700 surcharges. Same pattern for Europe and Africa — low base, high surcharge. If the split weren't deliberate, why not just have one redeemable ticket price? To anyone claiming fixed beats flex: name one flight where fixed beats flex before you comment sometimes fixed beats flex!
2. Without fixed redemptions, you're on flex at 100 pts = $1 — matching a 1% cashback card, except worse, because not every airline is bookable through Avion. RBC advertises "over 500 carriers" and publishes no list. Air China (China's flag carrier) isn't bookable, online or by phone — and it had the cheapest direct option for me at $1,400 to Beijing. So my points were worth nothing on the best flight available.
3. RRSP/TFSA transfers are 120 pts = $1, worse than 1% cashback. Promos occasionally hit 100:1, but Avion cards start at $120/year — versus free 1% cards everywhere.
4. Transfer partners don't fix it. Cathay was $2,400 direct to HKG; China Southern $1,800 to CAN, an hour from Hong Kong by high-speed rail. Transferring your balance on a promo locks you into a narrow set of carriers that may not be the cheapest route to where you're going. Plus, it is more hoops to jump through, more reliance on promotion timings for both points transfer and air fare discounts.
TLDR:
Skip Avion, get a flat cashback card. Cashback wins the large majority of the time, and the rare cases where Avion wins require hoops, luck, and perfect timing.
If RBC gives you points (mortgage, etc.), if you are willing to pay the $120 annual fee, value them at 120 pts = $1 cash, or 100 pts = $1 for travel — otherwise its 172 pts = $1.