Your points can buy concert tickets now — but should they?
Several major rewards programs let Canadians use points for concerts, sports and live events. The harder question is whether you should.
Most ticket redemptions fall into two buckets: cash-like redemptions, where points cover part of a ticket’s price at a fixed rate, and access redemptions, where points unlock VIP packages, lounges or sold-out experiences that may be hard to buy with cash.
For everyday concert tickets, cash-like redemptions are convenient but often underwhelming.
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RBC Avion Rewards now gives members a Ticketmaster Canada checkout option. Avion members can link their accounts and apply points to qualifying ticket purchases, up to $500 worth of points per day. The catch is value: the redemption rate may vary by reward account, so check the dollar amount shown at checkout before applying points.
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Blue Rewards, formerly AIR MILES, has a live-events ticket option, and the math is pretty straightforward: 1,500 Blue Points equals $10 toward your purchase — the same rough value as many everyday Blue Rewards redemptions. That makes it fine, not flashy.
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American Express is another important access play. Through Amex Experiences and Front Of The Line, eligible Canadian Amex cardmembers can access presale and reserved tickets for select concerts, theatre productions and special events, often before the general public. That is not really a “use points for tickets” option —it is a cardholder-access benefit — but that can be more valuable than a redemption if it helps you get tickets before they sell out or unlocks seats that are otherwise hard to find.
Nerdy take: You may not need a special portal to redeem rewards for concert tickets. Many bank programs, like TD Rewards and CIBC Aventura, offer flexible ways to pay using points — either as a statement credit or “shop with points” style offset.
Statement-credit redemptions are often among the lowest-value ways to use flexible points, so they’re not especially lucrative. But if points make a $200 concert ticket feel like $50, the convenience may still be worth it.
Notable promos ending soon
A few short-term promos are worth checking before they expire, especially if they line up with spending or travel you already planned.
Credit card welcome offers
Several elevated card offers are live, but all come with terms and conditions worth checking. Note: The values below estimate the point value of the welcome offer only and do not include annual fee rebates, lounge passes, credits, insurance or other card benefits.
Also worth knowing: Neo Financial has launched some new card variants — Gas & Grocery (bonus rates on groceries, recurring payments and gas/EV) and Shop & Dine (bonus rates on food, drink and shopping). There are also new flat-rate Everywhere versions: World earns 1%, and World Elite earns 2%.
What does RBC’s $4.25M fine mean for your statements?
In a summary posted June 25, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada said RBC paid a $4.25 million penalty tied to inaccurate credit card statements and mishandled credits on deactivated card accounts. For cardholders, the lesson is less about RBC specifically and more about account changes generally: when a card is replaced, closed or migrated, don’t assume every credit, refund or adjustment followed it automatically.
The issue ran from 2001 to 2024. When some credit card accounts were deactivated or migrated after fraud was reported, RBC failed to transfer certain credits from the old account to the new one. That meant some customers’ replacement-card statements did not accurately reflect credits, charges, interest or related dates.
The FCAC says 227,947 accounts were affected. RBC transferred or refunded more than $22.4 million and made a $299,000 charitable donation on behalf of customers it couldn’t locate. The regulator pointed to “inadequate and ineffective” control and oversight procedures.
It’s the second major bank penalty in recent months. In February, the FCAC published a summary about a $4 million penalty paid by BMO for two separate violations involving inaccurate fee disclosures on certain personal deposit accounts.
Overall, a good reminder that “the bank will sort it out automatically” is an assumption, not a guarantee.
Nerdy take: If you’ve ever had a card reissued after suspected fraud, pull up the old and new statements and confirm any credit balance actually made the jump. Refunds, returns and overpayments don’t always follow you to a new account number. A two-minute check beats trusting a 23-year-old process.