Review: RBC® ION+ Visa

The RBC® ION+ Visa is an good entry-level product, offering elevated earning rates for a low monthly fee.

As part of the middle tier of RBC’s Avion Rewards family of products, the card doesn’t offer too much in the way of perks and benefits, but there are still a number of valuable reasons to consider adding it to your wallet.

In this review, we’ll take a look at this affordable credit card option to explore how it might fit within your Miles & Points strategy.

Modest Welcome Bonus

The RBC® ION+ Visa has lately been offering a welcome bonus of up to 12,000 Avion Premium points that you receive upon approval for the card.† This means you’ll get these points even without making a single purchase.

12,000 Avion Premium points would yield roughly $85 (all figures in CAD) in value when redeemed for gift cards or $120 when converted to WestJet dollars. While these figures may not sound like much, keep in mind that the fee for this card is only $4 a month, so the welcome bonus alone is equivalent to 21–30 months of fees.

Elevated Earning Rates

The RBC® ION+ Visa offers elevated earning on a wide range of categories, which comprise the bulk of household expenses. The card’s default earning rates are as follows:

• 3 Avion Premium points† per dollar spent on qualifying grocery, dining, food delivery, gas, rideshare, daily public transit, electric vehicle charging, streaming, digital gaming, and digital subscriptions purchases†
• 1 Avion Premium point† per dollar spent on all other qualifying purchases†

The RBC® ION+ Visa earns up to 3 Avion points per dollar spent†

The card’s 3x earning rate covers a wide range of everyday spending categories and is notably elevated compared to the earning rates on RBC’s higher-tier Avion Rewards cards, such as the RBC® Avion Visa Platinum†, which we’ll talk more about below.

The best way to extract value from your Avion Premium points is to transfer them to WestJet dollars, since you’re effectively getting a value of around 1 cent per point through this conversion. At this rate, if you’re earning 3 Avion Premium points per dollar spent on a host of spend categories, then you’re effectively receiving 3% in value on these purchases.

A 3% return on a wide range of expenses is great, especially for a card that only charges $4 monthly. Moreover, using this same rate potential, the card’s base earning rate is 1%, which is better than what’s offered by some other low-fee cards.

Flexible Avion Rewards Points

The RBC® ION+ Visa is part of the Avion Rewards program and earns Avion Premium points. However, keep in mind that the Avion Rewards program has three distinct tiers of points, Avion Select, Avion Premium, and Avion Elite, and each of these point types come with different redemption options.

The most valuable way to redeem your Avion Premium points is to convert them to WestJet dollars at a rate of 100 Avion Premium points = 1 WestJet dollar. WestJet dollars are at par with Canadian dollars and can be used to pay for the base fare of WestJet flights.

If you don’t fly with WestJet often but would still like to use your points for travel, you can redeem them for travel products purchased through the Avion Rewards Travel portal at a rate of 1 point = 0.58 cents.

The easiest way to redeem the Avion Premium points that you’ll earn with the RBC® ION+ Visa is for gift cards and merchandise.

While you’ll be spoiled for choice in these categories, the redemption value fluctuates and will always be below the maximum value of 1 cent per point found through the WestJet conversion option.

Keep in mind that Avion Elite points, representing the Avion Rewards program’s highest points tier, can be earned through more premium RBC Avion lineup of cards.

These points have the additional benefit of being transferable to American Airlines AAdvantage, British Airways Executive Club, and Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, in addition to WestJet Rewards, and they can also be redeemed for flights through the RBC Air Travel Redemption Schedule.

With these additional redemption avenues, Avion Elite points are clearly superior in value to the Avion Premium points that the RBC® ION+ Visa earns; however, there is a way to “upgrade” Avion Premium points to Avion Elite points.

The key is to own any of the RBC Avion cards, namely the RBC® Avion Visa Platinum†, RBC® Avion Visa Infinite†, or the RBC® Avion Visa Infinite Privilege† in addition to your RBC® ION+ Visa.

By holding a card in each of these two tiers, you can transfer the Avion Premium points balance of the RBC® ION+ Visa to Avion Elite points and gain access to the additional redemption options.

In other words, you get the best of both worlds: elevated earning rates with the RBC® ION+ Visa, and elevated redemption opportunities with an RBC Avion card.

Mobile Device Insurance Coverage

As a low-fee product, the RBC® ION+ Visa understandably only comes with limited insurance benefits, as follows:

• Mobile Device Insurance: up to $1,000 if your cell phone is lost, stolen, accidentally damaged, or experiences mechanical failure within two years of being purchased using your RBC® ION+ Visa†
• Purchase Security and Extended Warranty Insurance: protects eligible card purchases against loss, theft, or damage within 90 days of purchase, and doubles the manufacturer’s original Canadian warranty by up to one additional year†

It’s worth noting that the mobile device coverage is particularly interesting, since not all cards, even premium ones, offer this. Furthermore, this benefit can save you a small sum, since you can opt out of a similar insurance add-on offered by your mobile provider when you purchase a phone.

What Else Does the Card Offer?

Despite its low monthly fee, the RBC® ION+ Visa still comes with a few lifestyle benefits.

Savings at Petro-Canada

By paying with your RBC® ION+ Visa at Petro-Canada, you’ll save 3 cents per litre on fuel and get 20% more points on the Petro-Points Rewards program when you link your card with the Petro-Canada Rewards account.†

Free DoorDash DashPass Subscription

Your RBC® ION+ Visa comes with a three-month DoorDash DashPass subscription, which gives you unlimited zero-fee deliveries.†

Extra Be Well Points at Rexall

By using your RBC® ION+ Visa for purchases at Rexall, you’ll earn a total of 50 Be Well points per dollar spent when you link your accounts.† Be Well is Rexall’s loyalty program, and the additional Be Well points you earn with your purchases are on top of the Avion Premium points you earn with your card.

Other Cards to Consider

While the RBC® ION+ Visa offers low fees and solid earning rates, if it’s not quite what you’re after, there are other similar cards to consider.

RBC® Avion Visa Platinum†

The RBC® Avion Visa Platinum† is a mid-tier member of RBC’s Avion Rewards family of credit cards and earns the more flexible Avion Elite points.

The card earns 1 Avion Elite point per dollar spent on eligible purchases,† which as mentioned above, can be transferred to American Airlines AAdvantage, British Airways Executive Club, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, and WestJet Rewards.

The card also offers a higher welcome bonus, typically ranging from 35,000–55,000 Avion Elite points.

Like the RBC® ION+ Visa, this card doesn’t have a set minimum income requirement, so it could be a good card for a student or someone with a lower income; however, you’ll want to note that this card’s annual fee is $120, which is much higher than the RBC® ION+ Visa’s $48 cumulative annual fee.†

It’s also worth noting that while the RBC® Avion Visa Platinum† earns the higher value Avion Elite points, it doesn’t have the same elevated earning rates as the RBC® ION+ Visa.

Given this, you might want to consider holding both the RBC® Avion Visa Platinum† and the RBC® ION+ Visa so that you can earn Avion Premium points with the the ION+’s elevated earning rate and then transfer them into Avion Elite points thanks to your RBC® Avion Visa Platinum† card.

Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card

If you’re looking to score top earning rates, check out the Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card, with rates that exceed even the elevated earning rates of the RBC® ION+ Visa.

With the Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card, you’ll earn Scene+ points at the following rates, domestically in Canada:

• 6 Scene+ points per dollar spent at Empire Company grocery stores, including Sobeys, IGA, Safeway, FreshCo, and more†
• 5 Scene+ points per dollar spent on groceries, dining, and entertainment†
• 3 Scene+ points per dollar spent on gas, transit, and streaming services†
• 1 Scene+ point per dollar spent on all other purchases†

Scene+ points are valued at 1 cent per point when redeemed most ways, so the above earning rates represent a 5–6% return on purchases, which is quite rare in the Canadian market.

Scene+ points are more flexible than Avion Rewards points since they can be redeemed at grocery stores, cinemas, and restaurants, and for any travel expense charged to the card. However, they can’t be transferred to any airline or hotel loyalty programs, so Avion Rewards points have the advantage there.

The Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card also lets cardholders make purchases abroad without incurring the usual 2.5% foreign transaction fee, but for purchases made in foreign currencies, you’ll only earn a flat 1 Scene+ point per dollar spent instead of the elevated category rates listed above.†

Overall, the Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card is a good choice if you’d like a bit more flexibility around redeeming your points and if you can take advantage of the card’s offer of no foreign transaction fees.

Conclusion

The RBC® ION+ Visa is a solid entry-level card. It offers elevated earning rates, some insurance coverage, and a number of lifestyle benefits – all for a $4 monthly fee.

All in all, the card’s great for those starting out on their Miles & Points journey, especially newcomers, students, and those starting out on a new job.

It’s also a great card to have for a more advanced Miles & Points enthusiast, when paired with a higher-tier RBC Avion card for the reasons discussed above.

† Terms and conditions apply. Please refer to the card issuer’s website for up-to-date information.