Many of you have been asking and we are pleased to let you know that the much coveted 50% transfer bonus for RBC Rewards points to British Airways Executive Club Avios is back! This offer is for all of you RBC Avion cardholders (Infinite and Platinum) and runs from tomorrow November 1st to December 31st so now is the time to ramp up your spending if you have been planning to take advantage of this great transfer bonus! As always BA Avios are a great option for flights to Asia (via Cathay Pacific), short to medium haul within North America (Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, US Airways see this post here) and even though huge surcharges are added to their UK/Europe redemptions they can still be an alright value because of this bonus transfer based on your spend with the credit card (see my post about Earn & Burn for an explanation). As always though with any frequent flyer program you will have to be flexible in your options when redeeming due to seat availability issues (ie it may be hard to get tickets to Europe in Summer etc.) so take this into consideration before transferring.
Full details will be found here
Any idea if there will be a transfer bonus this year from Amex to BA @ 1.5?
ReplyDeleteI have given up on Alaska air miles program. We have over 300000 airmiles but do you think I can get to Europe with them other than British Airways. Their fees and fuel charge made it only a tad less expensive than paying for regular flights. I am heading thew other way and applying for an Avion card. Is there anyway I can transfer my Alaska Airmiles to Avion?
ReplyDeleteWhat city are you in? Have you looked at Air France or KLM on Alaska? Or American Airlines? There should be redemption options available.
ReplyDeleteThere is no way to transfer Alaska Mileage Plan miles to BA.
Haven't heard anything yet. Been asking all year but I keep getting the answer that there are no plans to do so at this time.
ReplyDeleteBeing an old fart I like to talk to a live person, and they checked every possible route and partner airline. This is for June 2015, a reasonable time ahead or so I thought. I did have some leeway on dates too. The only option was BA and with fees and fuel surcharges, it was close to $1000 each on top of at least 60000 air miles each. I have now booked regular flights for $1142. That's why I plan to switch to Avion as their system is more flexible.
ReplyDeleteThe decision you are making is a good one for the vast majority of Canadians as the availability and surcharge issues with Frequent Flyer Programs cause issues.
ReplyDeleteBe aware though that with Avion you have the pay the taxes and fees over and above the redemption rate if you choose to book via RBC Rewards. Same goes for converting to BA from Avion. For example your flights for $1142 likely were half air fare and half taxes and fees. Which means if you used 65,000 RBC Rewards points to redeem for the flight it would only cover the base airfare portion of the $1142. The remainder you can still use your points but only at 100 points per $1 (so a 1% return). See the redemption schedule here: https://www.rbcrewards.com/travel-rewards/avion-redemption-grid/index.html
but you have this great transfer option to BA twice per year which makes this card so valuable.
Just some things to consider!
Thanks for the heads up re taxes, I did not know that. So its basically the same concept as the Airmiles program with Safeway Shell etc.
ReplyDeleteIs the TD travel rewards system the same? ie you can't cover the taxes with points?
I called BA CSR 2 days ago and asked them the same question, the CSR advised he never seen a transfer bonus this year from Amex to BA @ 1.5.
ReplyDeleteI have about 36K AMEX points, but I think it is better value to buy the ticket with the points, if I purchase the air ticket with AMEX card, 36K point will have $360 credit back to my AMEX card, that means 1000 points = $10.00, I think this is a better deal.
Unless you really need those point to added into your BA account for redeeming the air ticket.
For many people this is the way to go, especially if redeeming for economy class tickets. The best value out of BA and other frequent flyer programs is for business class and first class tickets.
ReplyDeleteYes the RBC program works like Air Miles etc. in terms of taxes and fees. The TD Travel Rewards is not the same, you can use your points at 'full value' towards taxes and fees plus you are not limited to the restrictions that RBC puts on tickets (14 day out booking, set point amount for a redemption regardless if there is a seat sale etc.)
ReplyDeleteNoting the above posted who pointed out that taxes are still "extra" if paying with rbc points - do note that those taxes are also payable with points towards (at the standard 100-$1 redemption rate).
ReplyDeleteSounds like you collect a significant amount of airmiles. I would suggest the Avion is a much better product for someone in your shoes due to the flexibility of booking a flight using their 100-$1 valuation of RBC points, using their redemption schedule, or converting to Avios during the 50% promotions and taking advantage of that option.
Personally, I like keeping my points in the RBC rewards and I try to transfer enough to the Avios to satisfy what I think I may redeem over the next 6-12 months during those 50% bonus opportunities.
As an example, I just booked a flight Toronto to Miami at a cost of 20000 avios + $68 tax. (this works out to 13400 rbc pts +$68 after factoring in the 50% RBC to BA transfer bonus that occurs occasionally). Works out to about $200 for the flight. Had I booked the same through RBC redemption schedule it would have cost (35,000 pts + $130 tax/13000pts) -closer to $480... The drawback is limited availability which is why I like to have points in both accounts ready to take advantage of whichever is more important to me at the time...
Here is a comment posted by one of our readers that never showed up for some reason
ReplyDeleteNoting the above posted who pointed out that taxes are still "extra" if
paying with rbc points - do note that those taxes are also payable with
points towards (at the standard 100-$1 redemption rate).
Sounds like you collect a significant amount of airmiles. I would suggest the Avion is a much better product for someone in your shoes due to the
flexibility of booking a flight using their 100-$1 valuation of RBC
points, using their redemption schedule, or converting to Avios during
the 50% promotions and taking advantage of that option.
Personally,
I like keeping my points in the RBC rewards and I try to transfer
enough to the Avios to satisfy what I think I may redeem over the next
6-12 months during those 50% bonus opportunities.
As an example, I
just booked a flight Toronto to Miami at a cost of 20000 avios + $68
tax. (this works out to 13400 rbc pts +$68 after factoring in the 50%
RBC to BA transfer bonus that occurs occasionally). Works out to about
$200 for the flight. Had I booked the same through RBC redemption
schedule it would have cost (35,000 pts + $130 tax/13000pts) -closer to
$480... The drawback is limited availability which is why I like to
have points in both accounts ready to take advantage of whichever is
more important to me at the time...
In my latest credit card churn I received 15,000 RBC Rewards. Living in Edmonton I'm not sure if this transfer is for me. I have no Avios balance to speak of. Any advise?
ReplyDeleteHi Brendan, it could be of use. That 15,000 will get you 22,500 Avios. You can fly from Edmonton to Seattle on Alaska Airlines round trip for only 9,000 Avios. Which means two tickets there and back as well as one more one way (since one way is 4,500) or you can get 1 round trip flight to Phoenix or Dallas with 20,000 Avios. See this post for even more details http://blog.rewardscanada.ca/2014/02/how-to-get-select-canada-to-us-award.html
ReplyDeleteHas anyone seen any reference to the RBC Rewards Avion to BA Avios 50% bonus that normally shows up this time of year? (May 1)
ReplyDeleteHi there. I have about 100,000 Avion cards and am will be booking to Goa india in December. I have never taken advantage of the 50% Avios bonus. Can I get to india through an avios partner?
ReplyDeleteYes you can but it is a bit painful. You'd fly from Canada to London to Doha on British Airways and then Doha to Goa on Qatar Airways. However it can be done but you can't do it online, you have to call BA to book. Assuming you are in Toronto, it would cost at least 26,000 Avios between Toronto and Doha then at least 10,000 Avios between Doha and Goa. So you are looking at 72,000 Avios Roundtrip per person in Economy class. It can get higher depending on the time of year as well as the BA portion of the flights have peak and off-peak pricing. The 72,000 is off-peak
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! Yes. A bit painful 😁
ReplyDelete