Bits: 480 Avios with £8 HP ink, the best BA email yet, Zipcar sign-up bonus

News in brief:

480 Avios with £8 HP printer inks – can be resold on eBay

I ran this offer on Shopper Points yesterday but I thought it was worth repeating here as it is pretty generous.

Tesco Direct is offering 200 extra Clubcard points with selected HP ink cartridges bought before 17th July.

The cheapest cartridge available is the HP 301 Black Original Ink for £8.  That would get you 480 Avios or 500 Virgin Flying Club miles on top.

If you have a HP printer, this is a great deal and you don’t need to read on.  Fill your trolley.

The best BA email I’ve had for ages

I get a lot of British Airways emails from different parts of the business.  This one, I thought, took the biscuit:

We have been informed that BA520 London Heathrow to Madrid on 06 July 2016 has been cancelled in error and customers have been re-accommodated onto alternative services.

Revenue Management are in the process of reinstating the flight and rebooking customers back onto the original service.

How do you accidentally cancel an entire flight?

£30 Zipcar sign-up bonus

Finally, London-based (but also found elsewhere in the UK) car sharing scheme Zipcar has temporarily increased its sign-up bonus from £20 of free credit to £30.  As I have written before, we don’t run a car and survive quite happily on a combination of Zipcar, Gett / Hailo, Uber and Hertz.

The offer runs until 30th September and you must use this link here.

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How to get FREE car rental status and other benefits via UK credit cards (April 2024)

If you hire a car in the UK, you can get special benefits (discounts, upgrades, free additional drivers etc) if you have elite status with a car rental programme. You can get elite status for free via certain American Express cards.

The Platinum Card and American Express Business Platinum

The Platinum Card from American Express and American Express Business Platinum come with two free car hire status cards. Your supplementary Platinum cardholder can also receive status in their own right.

From Avis, you receive President’s Club status in Avis Preferred. This gets you up to 25% off standard rates, a free additional driver and a guaranteed one class upgrade. For weekend rentals you will receive a two class upgrade, subject to availability.

From Hertz, you receive ‘Five Star’ status in Hertz Gold Plus Rewards. This gets you up to 15% off standard rates, a free additional driver and a one class upgrade, subject to availability.

Hertz also offers Platinum cardholders a 4 hour grace period on rentals. Your final day is treated as 28 hours, so a 1pm pick up with a 5pm return the following day is only charged as one day, not two days. We wrote about the Hertz / Platinum 4 hour grace period here.

The Platinum Card also comes with full car hire insurance with no obligation to pay for the rental via American Express. You can refuse any attempts to sell you additional insurance at pick up. This benefit has substantial value if you rent on a regular basis.

You can find more details on the two Platinum cards, and apply, in our full reviews linked below. You can apply here for the personal card and here for the business card.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is an excellent card in its own right. You receive 20,000 Membership Rewards points for signing up (convert to 20,000 Avios amongst other things), four airport lounge passes and £120 of Deliveroo credit. Even better, your first year is free.

There are two car rental benefits:

• you receive Preferred Plus status in Avis Preferred

• you receive a special package with Hertz – 10% off best available rates at participating locations, a one class upgrade for rentals of 5 days or more, subject to availability, and no additional driver fees

Find out more about the benefits of American Express Preferred Rewards Gold in our review. You can apply here.