RBC ION+ Visa Card Review

RBC ION+ Visa Review

The RBC ION+ Visa is one of the newer credit cards offered by RBC which comes with a low annual fee and decently high rewards to be earned compared to other cards.

This is a points card, part of the Avion Rewards program which allows you to use your points towards several different redemptions.

The Rewards

The RBC ION+ Visa credit card offers one of the highest points earning rates on very popular everyday categories. Here's what you can earn and how to best use them.

How You Earn Rewards

This cards falls in the premium tier of Avion rewards.

You may earn rewards on your purchases as:

• 3 avion points per $1 spent on grocery, restaurants, food delivery, rideshare, gas & EV charging, streaming, gaming and digital subscriptions.

• 1 avion point per $1 spent on all other qualifying purchases.

That's a lot of points on everyday purchases like food and groceries. It averages about 3% return on your purchases. Fairly impressive!

It even rewards those with high spendings on gaming and digital subscriptions.

How You Redeem Rewards

These are the multiple ways you can redeem your avion points for ION cards.

Important Note:

It's worth noting that the ION credit cards don't offer the same redemption options as the regular Avion credit cards. The best option for you is to transfer your points the airline partner WestJet.

Unfortunately that's the only airline you can redeem for and other options give lower redemption value.

Welcome Bonus

The RBC ION+ Visa card comes with a welcome bonus of up to 12,000 Avion points upon approval.

Approval

Getting approval for the RBC ION+ Visa card is fairly straight forward. There's no specified minimum income requirement and generally anyone with a good credit score should get approved.

The best part? This card has instant approval, meaning when you apply for it and are qualified, you will get approved instantly.

3 Benefits of the RBC ION+ Visa Credit Card

1. Low Annual Fee and Rebate with RBC Account

This card becomes essentially free when you open an RBC Signature No Limit Banking or RBC Advantage Banking for students account.

Even if you opt not to open one, the annual fee is only charged on a monthly basis for $4 per month, so when you decide to cancel it, you won't have paid for a full year.

2. RBC Additional Features

You can save 3 cents per litre on fuel when you link your card to your Petro-Canada account.

You also earn 50 Be Well points for every $1 spent on eligible purchases at Rexall when you link your RBC card and scan your Be Well card.

You also get a 3-month complimentary DashPass subscription valued at almost $30.

3. Instant Earning of Welcome Bonus

You receive the welcome bonus of 12,000 avion points simply by getting approved. These points could be worth $120 when transferred to WestJet.

2 Downsides of the RBC ION+ Visa Credit Card

1. Poor Avion Rewards Redemption

Unfortunately this card has a lower redemption value when it comes to redeeming your avion points compared to standard Avion credit cards.

2. Low Insurance Coverage

It's surprising that the insurance coverage is rather low for a card that has an annual fee of $48.

Only 1 very valuable type of insurance stands out here - Mobile Device Insurance. This should cover one of your important devices in most places you go to.

Final Verdict

We rate this card 7/10 since it offers a large number of points that can be earned on everyday purchases while also having a low annual fee of $48.

However, due to lower redemption options compared to standard Avion cards, it doesn't stand out as much.

Overall though, this is great card for heavy spenders on food and groceries.