Points Earning & Redemption

This is the round that most people care about and there are some significant differences between the cards here.

Earning points

Looking at earning first, both cards have only one category of spending, travel, that sees an accelerated earn rate. The HSBC card awards 6 points per dollar spent on any travel booked on the card up to a maximum of $50,000 annually. That 6 points per dollar translates to a 3% return when redeemed for travel. The RBC card awards 1.25 points per dollar spent on travel which translates to a 1.25 to 2.91% return on travel.

For all other spending the HSBC card earns 3 points per dollar spent (a 1.5% return for travel) while the RBC Avion card earns 1 point per dollar (a 1% to 2.33% return for travel)

Redeeming points

Both of these cards strongest redemption options are for travel rewards and both have several options in that travel category. We'll first compare the most popular option and that are the card's flexible travel booking options.

On the redemption side, the RBC Avion Card is most famous for it's Avion Air Travel Redemption schedule. This is the option where you redeem a fixed amount of points for travel to a certain area. Most people are familiar with this as it is the 'Reward Chart' style redemption that most frequent flyer programs used to use. Depending on which type of flight you redeem for you can expect to receive a per point value of up to 2.33 cents. That's where come up with the 2.33 to 2.91% valuations above.

These numbers may seem impressive however you'll only achieve them if you redeem your points for a ticket that is the maximum allowable dollar value in each category. If the base fare is lower your value will be eroded. On top of this you still have to pay the taxes and fees with cash or redeem points at a 100 to 1 ratio. Thus you are only receiving a 1% to 1.25% return on that portion of your flights. When you average it out it brings the total value down.

You can also choose to book any travel via Avion Rewards and simply redeem at that 100 points to $1 ratio towards that booking. Thus if you book a really cheap flight where it doesn't make sense to use Air Travel Reward chart you would use this redemption option

With the HSBC World Elite Card you have one travel redemption option. That option provides the utmost flexibility as you simply book any travel you want with any provider and charge it to your card. Once the charge shows up you redeem points towards that charge. There is no change in value for a purchase that is $150 for $500 and no value is diminished for taxes and fees.

This is HSBC's primary travel redemption option and they give you 0.5 cents credit for each point redeemed. That makes the 6x points earned on travel purchases worth 3 cents each and 3x points on all other purchases worth 1.5 cents.

The rates of return can be similar between the two programs if you maximize your ticket price on the Avion chart however but for the most part the HSBC will edge out the RBC Avion Card. Add in the fact that HSBC lets you book with any provider and not locking you into the constraints of Avion Rewards makes the HSBC card the better option.

You do have to note for the HSBC card, that in terms of the any airline anytime redemption you can only redeem once you have 25,000 points and then in 10,000 point increments. If you have 34,999 points, you'll only be able to redeem 25,000 of them however HSBC gives you up to 60 days after the travel charge posts to your account to redeem points. So if you are in that boat of having 34,999 points you could easily purchase something for $1 and push your points over 35,000 so that you could redeem 35,000 points.

The final travel redemption option you see on both cards is one that is a favourite of points and miles enthusiasts and that is the ability to convert points to other programs.

You can convert the points from the HSBC World Elite Mastercard to three airline programs including British Airways Executive Club, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer.

The RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card's points can be converted to four airlines including WestJet Rewards and British Airways Executive Club plus Hudson's Bay Rewards.

The conversion rates differ between the cards and if we take into account the earn rates, the HSBC World Elite Mastercard does much better here . If we compare one of the programs that both cards feature as a transfer partner, British Airways Executive Club, the HSBC Card earns the equivalent of 1.2 to 2.4 Avios per dollar spent versus the RBC Avion's 1 to 1.25 Avios per dollar spent.

The HSBC Card is also the only card in Canada to have direct conversion to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer but that is very niche program for Canadians. On the flip side, the RBC Avion card has WestJet as a conversion partner and seeing that WestJet is Canada's second largest carrier, this conversion option would prove to be more popular than an airline like Singapore Airlines.

Airline or Hotel Program	HSBC World Elite Mastercard Miles/Points earned per dollar spent	RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card Miles/Points earned per dollar spent
American AAdvantage	N/A*	0.7 to 0.875 miles
British Airways Executive Club	1.2 to 2.4 Avios	1 to 1.25 Avios
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles	0.96 to 1.92 miles	1 to 1.25 miles
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer	1.08 to 2.16 miles	N/A
WestJet Rewards	N/A	0.01 to 0.0125 dollars

Airline or Hotel Program	HSBC World Elite Mastercard Conversion Rates	RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card Conversion Rates
American AAdvantage	N/A*	1 point = 0.7 AAdvantage Miles
British Airways Executive Club	1 point = 0.4 Avios	1 point = 1 Avios
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles	1 point = 0.32 Asia Miles	1 point = 1 Asia Mile
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer	1 point = 0.36 KrisFlyer Miles	N/A
WestJet Rewards	N/A	1 points = 0.01 WestJet Dollars

 

Both cards also offer cash back redemption options. The HSBC card also allows to redeem points for a statement credit where you redeem 25,000 points for $75, which translates to a 0.9% to 1.8% return. The RBC card allows you to redeem 17,200 points for $100 statement credit which works out to a 0.58% to 0.73%% return on your spending.

Even though you have to redeem in 25,000 and 10,000 point multiples, the HSBC World Elite Mastercard takes this most important category thanks to overall better value per dollar spent and by providing extra flexibility on travel redemptions without a losing any of the value.

Insurance

Both cards offer a variety of travel insurance and other insurance coverage but one card has the edge in this category. The RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card offers a more comprehensive suite of travel insurance that includes flight delay and hotel/motel burglary coverage, both of which the HSBC Card does not have.

In the insurance categories where both cards offer coverage, the Avion Card tends to do better with higher coverage amounts and shorter wait times before baggage delay insurance kicks in.

The HSBC card however does have really good out of province medical coverage of 31 days for those under 65. That's more than double the 15 days provided on the RBC Avion Card. The RBC Avion card does go beyond the age of 65 though with three days of coverage while HSBC does not provide coverage for those 65 and over.

It's pretty clear who this round goes to and that is the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card.

Conclusion

Here we have two very similar hybrid rewards cards with multiple redemption options however thanks to more card benefits, no foreign transaction fees plus more valuable and flexible earn-redeem options, the HSBC World Elite Mastercard is the winner!

The winner of this clash is: HSBC World Elite® Mastercard®

Key factors in HSBC's win:

• No foreign transaction fees
• Lounge access membership + other benefits
• Better overall earn rates
• Better value for flexible travel booking options
• Better value for airline conversion options

If you would like to see any cards go head to head against each please do not hesitate to reach out to us in the comments, on social media or via email.

Here is a direct side by side comparison of the two cards in this clash!