‘Tis the season to fight through crowds at the mall, spend hours looking for parking and feel generally wearied by the whole experience. But RBC Avion credit card holders looking to escape this chaos can seek solace in four luxe chill-out areas in locations across Canada.
The bank is offering its “Avioners” an oasis of calm in pop-up “boutiques” at Toronto’s Yorkdale shopping centre, Halifax Shopping Centre, the Coquitlam Centre in Vancouver, and Mail Champlain in Montreal.
The Avion Holiday Boutiques (as they are officially called) promise to take the stress out of the season by providing valet parking, coat and parcel check and access to a VIP lounge. There, jaded shoppers can rest their weary limbs in comfort with tea, coffee, hot chocolate and candy canes while listening to soothing piano music.
An on-site gift wrapping service allows card holders to have up to ten gifts wrapped free at the lounge, too.
Linda Mantia, executive vice-president of cards and payments solutions at RBC, said the initiative is designed to reward loyal customers.
“We’ve been saying for quite some time that credit cards are about commerce, and we want our clients to enjoy that, whether it’s travel or shopping,” Mantia said. “It’s a note of appreciation really for our loyal customers.”
According to Mantia, given the ferocity of the financial loyalty market, it’s increasingly important to show people you value them. “We are very proud of our card. We have more than a million clients in this program and we want to show our appreciation to people sticking with us.”
As well as creating a warm fuzzy holiday feeling for existing customers, the initiative also encourages new business. Non-card holders might not get the hot chocolate, but they can apply on-site for an RBC Avion card.
