How to use your Avios points for car hire excess insurance
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The avios.com website is pretty thin on the ground now when it comes to redemption options. If you haven’t visited recently you might not have noticed.
One option which is still there is redeeming Avios for car hire excess insurance.
The relevant page of the avios.com website is here.
Car rentals in the UK generally come with an excess of £750 – £1,000 – that is what Hertz quoted me just before Christmas. You can pay an additional sum to get rid of this but, if bought directly from the rental company, it tends to be disproportionately expensive.
A number of internet-only companies have sprung up to offer a better alternative – Insurance4CarHire is the biggest and is well regarded. You can buy an annual or one-off policy which will cover you for any claims you need to make.
Another option is to get an American Express Platinum charge card. You get a similar policy as one of the benefits. I claimed on this twice and have been refunded by Amex on both occasions with no difficulty, although you need to fill in a few forms.
A third option is to use your Avios to pay for a policy. It covers you and up to six other people for up to 56 days of rentals per year.
An annual policy costs either 12,000 Avios or you can pay £72 and earn 360 Avios back. This means that you getting 0.58p per Avios point. You can also buy policies for individual trips.
To buy the annual policy, you need to ask the website for a quote for a short trip for random dates. You will then see two options – either to buy a policy just for those dates or to buy the annual policy.
It certainly isn’t the best value Avios redemption out there, by a long way, but if you are Avios rich and cash poor then it is something worth bearing in mind. It is certainly far better value than buying excess cover from your rental company.
Click here to learn more at avios.com.
How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)
As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!
In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.
You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:
Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review
Barclaycard Avios Mastercard
5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review
There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:
British Airways American Express Premium Plus
25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review
British Airways American Express
5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review
You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express
40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review
Run your own business?
We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.
Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa
Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review
You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.
British Airways Accelerating Business American Express
30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review
There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.
American Express Business Platinum
40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Business Gold
20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review
Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.
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