Canadian frequent flyers can now spread their wings. Royal Bank rolled out this week the Royal Bank VISA AVION Gold card. The new VISA card will replace Royal Bank's Canadian Plus VISA card. The launch of Royal Bank VISA AVION Gold follows the announcement of the merger of Canadian Airlines' Canadian Plus frequent flyer program with Air Canada's Aeroplan program, effective Jan. 1, 2001. Royal Bank said it has started mailing the new AVION card to existing clients starting this week to replace all Canadian Plus VISA cards. Until the December statement, cardholders will continue to earn Canadian Plus points toward award travel. Cardholders will earn one AVION point for every one-dollar purchase charged to their Royal Bank VISA AVION Gold card account. AVION points will be automatically converted to Canadian Plus points, one-to-one, until the December statement.  The new AVION Gold card includes a $5,000 minimum line of credit, as well as instant discounts of up to 25% at over 3,500 Royal Bank/VISA Partner retail locations. The card requires an annual fee of $120. For more information, visit Royal Bank's Web site at www.royalbank.com.