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New 50,000 Avios Bonus For the RBC British Airways Visa Infinite Card

by on March 2, 2012 · 14 comments

in British Airways, Canada, RBC Rewards

I said how much I loved Canada and the variety of credit cards Canadians can take advantage of a couple weeks ago, and those choices have gotten even better with a piece of news I got from a contact at British Airways on Tuesday. The airline is partnering with the Royal Bank of Canada to launch the British Airways Visa Infinite Card on March 1.

Here’s the deal for new cardholders approved between March 1-May 31, 2012:

-50,000 Avios bonus. 15,000 upon approval, and 35,000 by spending $5,000 CAD in the first three months.
-British Airways Companion Voucher when they spend $30,000 CAD in a calendar year.
-Annual fee of $165 CAD.
-Earn 2 Avios for every $1 CAD spend on British Airways and BA Holidays, and 1 Avios for all other qualifying purchases.
-31-day Out of Country Medical Emergency Insurance.
-Current RBC Platinum cardholders will have the opportunity to upgrade to the British Airways Visa Infinite Card.

Taking a look at the current RBC British Airways Visa Infinite offer, the only major difference seems to be the total bonus of 50,000 Avios for approval and minimum spend, otherwise the card looks the same. Still, if you were considering this card anyway, might as well get in on the offer since it’s more lucrative than the past offers for this card.

I have the US version of this card (current bonus is 100,000 sign-up avios) and I am working this year towards getting the 2 for 1 companion voucher, which I wrote about here. Even though British Airways has high fees on award tickets, this voucher can make a lot of sense if used appropriately.

Overall, this card is a pretty good deal for those that live in Canada since the credit card deals pale in comparison to our numerous offering in the US. Plus, if you redeem for short-haul flights or those within North/South America, those 50,000 miles can go a long way.

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer. Opinions expressed here are author.s alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This site may be compensated through the credit card issuer Affiliate Program.

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  • Matt

    Yeah – a good deal – the equivalent card here in the UK only gets you an 18,000 mile bonus.

  • DBest

    Plus, redeeming BA Avios for short hops like YYZ-JFK is great value, since transborder flights are priced ridiculously high.

  • concorde123

    is this card ONLY for canadian residents??

  • Cdnhousehunter

    Yes. We only have a single credit card to serve 35 million people….

  • http://www.clarkecomputer.com/ Charles Clarke

    *laugh*

    Obviously we use different English, Cdnhousehunter. In the USA, your answer would be appropriate to “Is this the ONLY card available for canadian residents??” and not to this question which is asking if folks outside Canada can get the card also.

  • teganwu

    Yay! More Canadian information and updates are always welcome! Thanks :)

  • Stephan

    Well, it’s not written differently up here! Unfortunately, Cdnhousehunter can’t seem to read real good;-)

  • Cdnhousehunter

    Yes, my bad. Apologies to concorde123 for my poor reading skills.

  • Sarbs15

    Please don’t undermine Canada. Its an awesome country jewel. Truly, a lot of people underestimate Canada. It has the lowest corporate taxes in the world, and a banking system unmatched by any in the world.

  • Yvrliving

    The RBC British Airways sign up offer of 50,000 Avios poitns is the best I have ever seen for Canadians. I have been collecting BA avios (previously miles) for the past 7 years and I have managed to redeem over 10 round trip flights through it’s partner airline CX. I recently came across this blog and many of the procedures outlined by TPG, I have used. I will be recommending this site to others so I save myself the explanation on the “program”;-)

    My main credit card is the RBC Avion Infinite for it’s annual to bi-annual 50% bonus conversion to BA Avios ($1 spending = 1.5 Avios) . I have just received my RBC BA infinite card.

    The only advantage I see with the RBC BA visa card is the current offer of 50,000 Avios points once the conditions are met. After I meet the requirements for the 50,000 Avios points, I will be reverting back to my RBC Avion card and look for the 50% bonus conversion to BA Avios. Even if the 50% bonus conversion is discontinued (hope not), I will not be renewing the RBC BA infinite card because of the higher annual fee over the RBC Avion. Without the promotion, I can convert my RBC rewards to BA Avios on a 1:1 and only pay $120 annual fee vs the RBC BA annual fee of $165. I don’t see any value in spending the extra $45.

    If you’re considering the RBC BA infinite visa (I would HIGHLY recommended it ONLY for the current sign up offer) and you already have a RBC credit card that you have paid the annual fee the be advised that RBC allows you to CONVERT your current RBC credit card (visa or mastercard) to another RBC credit card product. The prorated balance of the annual fee from your original card will be transferred to your new RBC credit card. You will still be eligible to the sign up offer because it’s a different credit card product.

    TPG, great site! Thank you for your the information. I have learned a few new things here.

    Cheers,

    YVR

  • Yvrliving

    How good is the RBC BA 50,000 sign up offer? $165 annual fee / 50,000 bonus Avios = $0.0033 per Avios. That’s a GOOD deal. $5,000 spending in the 1st 3 months (to qualify for the full bonus) + another 5,000 in spending ( I would use my RBC Avion and look for the 50% bonus conversion) = 60,000 Avios pts = 1 economy round trip ticket + about $320 in fees & taxes from the west coast of North America to Hong Kong with a retail valued at about $1,350+/- My travel class sweet spot for BA Avios is Business Class. First Class is what it is… but unnecessary with the New CX business class seats.

    need 15,000 more BA Avios?

    American Express Gold Card, 15,000 Membership Rewards (MR) after $500 in eligible spending. Gas, groceries, drug store, travel = 2x MR. 1st year membership fee is waived. I will not renew the card after the 1st year. The cost benefit is not there for me; even with the 2x MR points of gas and groceries.

    In Canada, MR converts to BA Avios 1:1 We don’t get the conversion bonuses offered to USA card holders.

  • Stefan

    YVRliving – I agree that the 50k bonus is worth getting the card for, but you seem to miss the key benefit here the rest of the year – the companion ticket in same class of service with a 30K spend per year. That alone makes this card worthwhile (if you can meet the spend).

  • YVRliving

    I now understand that the information on blogs such us this needs to be perhaps more GENERAL in nature in order to cover a larger general audience instead of being specific to personal needs and situations. I appreciate that the most appropriate or “best” reward plan (credit card etc) really depends on each person’s needs and desires.

    I concur that I failed to highlight the companion award voucher offered by the RBC British Airways credit card if you are able to charge $30,000 by December 31, 2012. I use my BA Avios only to fly with BA’s partner airlines to Asia and I don’t fly with to Europe so I don’t have any use for the award companion voucher. My failure was to not consider that someone out there considering travelling to the UK with a companion, may find value with the offer.

    However, with the same perspective of providing information in GENERAL terms, I would consider the 50,000 BA Avios sign up bonus as the “key benefit” in getting the RBC BA visa because anyone that qualifies for the offer can actually use this “key benefit”.

    If your situation is similar to mine and you don’t have any use for the companion award voucher for a flight on BA flights ONLY then I stand by my recommendation. Once you qualify for the 50,000 BA Avios sign up bonus, go back you the RBC Avion to collect RBC reward points with the hope of being able to convert to BA Avios points with a 50% conversion bonus.

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