Royal Bank is introducing its new Avion Visa Infinite Privilege card. Below are the highlights of the credit card:

• $399 annual fee
• $99 for supplementary cardholders
• Earn 25,000 sign up bonus points
• Earn 1.25 point for every $1 spent on all purchases

That is obviously a pretty hefty fee for a credit card that only earns you 1.25 point for every $1 spent on all purchases, where 1 point is worth about 1 cent a piece (depending on how you leverage your points), which means you are getting around 1.25% return.

Furthermore, you get more value out of your points when you redeem travel expenses, which include, but not limited to: holiday packages, hotel certificates, car rentals, cruises, tours and flights.

Otherwise, you can redeem your points for merchandise, which will generally get you less than 1 cent per point in value, which is not a great return, so I do not recommend it.

The $399 fee covers the following privileged benefits:

• Receive a complimentary membership and 6 complimentary visits to your choice of over 500 airport lounges worldwide through Airport Angel
• Dedicated VIP security fast track lane at select Canadian airports
• Airport parking, valet discounts and dedicated taxi limo lines at select Canadian airports
• Automatic enrolment into Elevated membership status in the Fairmont President’s Club
• Receive 7 VIP benefits at over 900 prestigious properties
• Receive $60 in complimentary credits to start the meter at zero on the first 12 taxis you order through Hailo in Canada.
• Save 20% when you book an Airport Limousine Services through the Visa Infinite Privilege Concierge
• Personal assistance who can help book event tickets, restaurants, help plan your travels, research your requests and locate hard-to-find items

There are definitely some valuable benefits to be had. So if you can find a way to take advantage of most of these benefits, the $399 can be worth it.

Personally, I am not a fan of Avion or RBC points. The reason is because I would be stuck with the credit card if I wanted to continue to earn enough Avion points to be able to redeem them for anything, which means that I will have to pay the annual fee year after year.

I generally prefer third party loyalty programs, such as Aeroplan, where you do not need to be stuck with 1 particular credit card to earn enough points to get reward flights. That way, I can cancel the credit card when I no longer feel that those points are worth it any more.

See also:

• [ANALYSIS] RBC Visa Infinite Avion

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