Earn 30,000 RBC Avion Points

• $120 annual fee
• $50 annual fee for a supplementary cardholder
• Earn 30,000 points sign up bonus upon approval (if you sign up before December 31, 2017)
• Earn up to 5 points for every $1 spent on the RBC Rewards eMall
• Earn 1.25 point for every $1 spent on eligible travel related purchases
• Earn 1 point for every $1 spent on all other purchases

What is significant in this promotion is that you earn 15,000 sign up bonus points, after approval, and you can qualify for another 15,000 bonus points on your anniversary year. Essentially, you would pay the annual fee twice, and you would get the sign up bonus twice.

What I like about this offer is that it is a great start to something similar to what I have been hoping to see for years. I always wish to see more incentives to retain the credit card beyond the first year. Paying the annual fee after the first year is always a hot topic. Any time credit card companies can sweeten the pot during renewal, I must give it praise!

Unfortunately, this is a very limited time offer. You need to sign up before December 31, 2017, so existing cardholders will not even benefit from this offer. Furthermore, the incentive is only good for the second year, after that, we are back to square one. Keep in mind that RBC Rewards is offering a 30% transfer bonus that expires as the same time, so you may not be able to take advantage of the bonus, because the 15,000 bonus points will only show up after the first statement.

As I mentioned earlier, this is a good start (better than nothing). I hope that RBC builds on this limited time offer to something more permanent.