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50,000 Bonus Avios is Back with RBC British Airways Visa Infinite Card

Royal Bank is once again offering a 50,000 sign up bonus Avios promotion with its British Airways Visa Infinite card. We saw this once back in the fall of 2015, so within 6 months, this promotion is back again.

Highlights

Let’s take a look at the highlights of the credit card:

  • $165 annual fee
  • $75 fee for supplemental cardholders
  • Earn 15,000 sign up bonus Avios upon approval
  • Earn 35,000 additional bonus Avios after spending $9,000 in the first 3 months (if you apply before May 31, 2016)
  • Earn 250 bonus Avios when you rent a car with Avis
  • Earn 2 Avios for every $1 spent on British Airways and British Airway Holidays purchases
  • Earn 1 Avois for every $1 spent on all other purchases
  • Get 10% off British Airways flights departing from Canada
  • Receive a Companion Award Ticket (eVoucher) for a reward flight operated by British Airways when you spend $30,000 or more during a calendar year

Thoughts

In the past, the 50,000 bonus sign up Avios promotion was usually not shown on the regular Royal Bank website, but it is this time around, which tells me that they really are pushing to promote this credit card system wide. The annual fee and the high spending requirement probably makes this credit card fairly profitable for them.

I value Avios at 1.7 cents a piece, so 50,000 Avios is worth about $850 in value, which definitely offsets the $165 annual fee. If you can complete the spending requirement to receive the Companion Award Ticket, the end result will look something like this after 1 year of having this credit card:

  • Paid $165 fee
  • 80,000 Avios (50,000 sign up bonus + 30,000 from spending requirement)
  • Companion Award Ticket

I would note that the Companion Award Ticket can only be used for reward flights operated by British Airways, which normally has high taxes and fuel surcharges. It could be worthwhile anyway, depending on what your reward redemption is. For example, if you need to book a last minute flight with a companion and the normal ticket price is too high. You can probably just use your Avios and absorb the high taxes and fuel surcharges since you are getting a free companion ticket anyway.

As usual, always do your personal calculations first before moving ahead.

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