I often find the holiday season a very stressful time. The idea of hitting the malls to do my Christmas shopping makes me want to crawl straight into bed, so much so that I started doing most of my shopping online. Isn’t unimaginable that I don’t enjoy shopping?! It is true, it stresses me out. Problem is that sometimes I need to be able to touch and feel what I am buying and that means going into an actual store.
Last week I had the opportunity to experience the RBC Avion Holiday Boutique VIP lounge, something exclusive to RBC Avion cardholders and available at certain malls across the country. My husband, Dave and I dropped the kids at school and headed to Yorkdale Shopping Centre. Our first stop was the valet parking, normally $15 at Yorkdale, but free for Avioners. So nice not to have to worry about finding a parking spot, anyone who knows Yorkdale knows that parking is always a challenge. Inside the mall we planned to head straight for the Avion VIP lounge so we could check our coats, but Dave the car guy quickly spotted the Tesla retail store so we had to stop. WOW that it was one impressive car!
Back on track we went to the VIP lounge, immediately upon entering you realize how much attention was put into making it a very relaxing experience. You feel spoiled by the amazing service and luxurious offerings. They have a beverage and snack bar where you can fuel up and enjoy a snack (they have the best shortbread cookies and Purdy’s chocolates). There was a great selection of Second Cup coffee and tea for the adults to enjoy, kids had a hot chocolate bar that was full of every type of treat you could think of adding. I knew immediately that my kids would be over so excited to whip up there very own special treat. I did feel bad for a minute that there weren’t there to enjoy, but we had important shopping to get done! Drinks in hand we set out into the mall ready to go. It was so nice to not worry about lugging around our jackets, a big downfall to shopping during our winter season. I am sure Dave really appreciated this as he would have normally been holding his coat, my coat, and all of the bags.
Hands full of bags and ready for lunch, we took a quick stop back into the Avion VIP lounge to check our bags and have some of the gifts wrapped. Yes you heard that right, you can check your bags too. No more carrying around heavy bags and hurting your back. I know my chiropractor is smiling!
After lunch we did a little more shopping before heading back to the VIP lounge. We dropped off the last of our gifts for wrapping. This might have been the most exciting part for me, I am the queen of last minute gift wrapping. December is the busiest time of year for my business so my own personal stuff gets left until the last minute. Christmas Eve you will find me hiding in my basement at 2am wrapping gifts, grumbling about how next year I will be more organized. Dave usually sends me to bed as he knows I am way overtired and he finishes the wrapping. (Something he hates – he must really love me.)
Well not this year! Every gift that we bought that day was perfectly wrapped and ready to go under our tree. For once we will be able to sit down and relax on Christmas Eve knowing that everything has been done already.
I grabbed myself another tea and enjoyed the comfortable white leather chairs while the last of my gifts were wrapped up. This might have been the best Christmas shopping experience ever!
If you are an RBC Avion cardholder we recommend stopping in one of the 4 participating malls across Canada (Yorkdale in Toronto, Mail Champlain in Montreal, Coquitlam near Vancouver or the Halifax Shopping Centre) to enjoy for yourself the host of “best in class” benefits this holiday season at the RBC Avion Holiday Boutique VIP lounge, now through to December 31, 2013. Don’t worry if you aren’t currently a RBC Avion cardholder, you can apply right there in the lounge with their concierge service and take advantage of everything that the VIP lounge has to offer, or apply for both the RBC Infinite Avion Card and the RBC Platinum Avion Card online.
RBC Avion Holiday Boutique VIP lounge services available for FREE to Avioners!
Valet Parking
- Don’t worry about finding a parking spot – park your car, on us!
Avion Holiday Boutique
- Coat & Parcel check
- Gift wrapping service
- Access to the VIP Lounge & Café
- Concierge/Porter service
- Food court reservations. See Concierge for details.
Additional information about the RBC Avion Cards.
Shopping Rewards: Earning is simple and easy. You’ll earn RBC Rewards points every time you make a purchase with your RBC Avion card. Great value and then some. Earn 1 RBC Rewards point for every dollar spent on purchases. Plus, earn bonus points when shopping through the RBC Rewards eMall.
Travel Rewards: Premium and Extensive Insurance package including trip cancellation and protection for your trip, hotel, rental vehicle, and purchases. Choose air travel rewards from the Air Travel Redemption Schedule starting as low as 15,000 points and fly on any airline, anytime with no blackouts, or seat restrictions. Book travel rewards instantly. Only the RBC Rewards program has an online booking tool that’s powered by Travelocity.
And many more perks!
Disclosure: I am part of the RBC Avion Holiday Boutique Blogger Campaign with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.