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Huge 18,700 Avios for ONE UK Avis rental – but does it make sense?

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Iberia Plus and Avis have launched a very low key promotion which a HfP reader flagged up last night. If you can make this work for you, you could do very nicely.

Take a look here.

Avis is offering 18,000 Avios if you book a Group C car, or above, for 3 days or more, starting on 8th, 9th or 10th December.

Avis 350

You will also earn at least 700 base Avios for the rental.

If you can get a good rate from your local depot this could be a real winner.

The devil is in the detail with offers like this.  If you are thinking of taking part, read the rules carefully as well as my summary below.

You will earn these Avios in Iberia Plus.  You will need a free Iberia Plus account to take part.  You will not get the bonus if you credit to avios.com or British Airways Executive Club.

You must book on avisiberia.es, iberia.com or avis.es.   Bookings on avis.com or avis.co.uk do not qualify.

Your rental must be in the UK, mainland Spain, Balearics and Canaries, Italy, France, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, Belgium or Holland.

The deal is NOT valid on Prestige rentals, Chauffeur Drive or van rentals.

You cannot use any other coupon, promotion or frequent flyer points offer.  This implies to me that you must book at the standard Avis rate.  It even implies that using the Iberia discount code would disqualify you.  This may be taking the rule too literally but you don’t want to risk 18,000 Avios.

It is worth pricing up a 3-day rental from your local Avis depot.  Try out rentals starting on the 8th, 9th and 10th for three days for a Group C or above.  If the price works then it could be worth renting a car and sticking it on your drive for the weekend.

I tried a random booking in Bolton and got a price of €51 – a bargain for 18,700 Avios.

Unfortunately, because I can’t park anywhere near my own house without a parking permit, it isn’t one for me.  If you can make it work for you it could go nicely.  Just make sure you follow the rules to the letter.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

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 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 card

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.

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.

Comments (297)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • briandt says:

    €49 per car out of Portsmouth, dead easy for me and Mrs T. And I know I will be upgraded.

  • Egg says:

    hmm very tempted.
    There is NCP next door to my local AVIS – maybe I could park it there for 3 days.

  • Egg says:

    very tempted to make 3 rentals – 1 on each day!
    thats some cheap avios!

  • Kathy says:

    Regretting that I can’t drive now!!

  • Andrew Cooper says:

    I have booked a car from Basingstoke for €49.15. When I did the initial search I chose Class C, when it went through to the next page it offered me Class D for the same price so I considered doing it. When I went back to commit I did the search again and I forgot to change the class from the default B to C and the Class D was more expensive! So went back changed it and it was the same price again! Be careful!

    • Andrew Cooper says:

      Sorry I mean E not D 🙂

      • Charlie says:

        Same here, using the London Tower (Guoman hotel) location. I chose Class C, and then saw the Class E special offer at the same price as Class C. I didn’t choose the Class E special offer here.

        I then cancelled and started again choosing Class E, and Class E was priced the same as when it was on offer. So I booked the Class E via this method.

  • Nick G says:

    Booked!

    Still not sure if it will ever post after groupon.es gate last year but hey ho got to be in it to win it. Having said that voucher received on email immediately…..49.15 euros fri to mon and the same price for a group E as for a group C…thanks v much for that!

    What with my £100 off BA holidays posting this week I’ve had worse avios collecting times…..

    Tried to convince Mrs G to collect aswell but after she’s downed half a bottle of wine i’m not that stupid to realise when she says Yes that actually means errrr NO…..

    Oh well best of luck to us all…

    • Genghis says:

      I collect on Mrs Genghis’s behalf. Would Mrs G not allow that?

      • Nick G says:

        I could but too much hassle trying to move two cars with a 3 year old. It’s actually the last day the monday that causes the most issues annoyingly

  • rabbit says:

    This may work out very well for me for a trip I am doing from Hertfordshire to Llandudno that weekend. I do not regularly hire cars, is there anyway to ensure getting a car that has cruise control? I can’t bear the thought of driving all that way without it!

  • Lawro says:

    Kept changing my mind on this one all day, but just pulled the trigger!

    Now let’s hope Iberia get a promo right for once and everything credits without hassle….

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