How to earn Avios from Avis car rentals

Avis Budget Group is the exclusive car rental partner of British Airways which means you can earn Avios when you rent from them.

We looked at how to earn Avios from Budget car rentals in this article. Today I want to look at how to earn Avios from Avis car rentals.

Before I go on, I want to make something clear. Despite the Avis Budget Group deal, you CAN earn Avios from Hertz, Europcar and SIXT car rentals. You do this by crediting them to a Qatar Airways Privilege Club account, which uses Avios as its currency, and then transferring the Avios across to British Airways Executive Club.

How do I book Avis car rentals to earn Avios?

Avis and BA have a dedicated booking site which you can find here and which automatically adds the correct British Airways discount code.

If you use avis.co.uk, you will need to manually add the British Airways discount codes (AWD) which are, based on your British Airways Executive Club status:

• Gold members – N744400
• Silver members – N744300
• Bronze members – N284300
• Blue members – N744100

Full details of this offer and all of the partnership benefits are on the Avis / BA website here.

You can also book, and find out more, on the car hire pages of ba.com here.

How many Avios will you earn?

The earning rate was simplified a couple of years ago.

You now earn 5 Avios per £1 spent at Avis.

There are no longer additional bonuses for paying with a British Airways American Express card or making multiple rentals in the same year.

There is no longer a minimum earning rate. A very cheap rental will now only earn a very small number of Avios.

Are there bonus offers?

Yes. There are occasional offers of a 50% bonus, where you will earn 7.5 Avios per £1 spent.

Are there any other Avios bonuses available from Avis?

Yes. If you join Avis Preferred for free you will collect an additional 1,000 bonus Avios on your next rental.

Are there other benefits?

Yes.

If you book via the British Airways discount codes, you will receive a free additional driver. This can represent a decent saving and is one of key perks of the Avis / BA partnership.

You can no longer pick up Avis cars at Terminal 5

Avis no longer has a depot inside the long stay car park at Heathrow Terminal 5. It has moved to the car park of the nearby Staybridge Suites hotel which requires you to take a bus to and from the airport.

The only car rental group with cars inside Terminal 5 is SIXT, which has a desk in the lobby of the Sofitel Heathrow hotel.

Is the Avis / BA deal better than the Virgin Atlantic / Hertz deal?

For most people, probably not.

You can earn 1,000 Virgin Points with a Hertz rental.  Details of the Virgin Atlantic / Hertz deal are on the Virgin website here.

You would need to spend £200 with Avis before you would earn 1,000 Avios.  Unless you are renting for a week or taking a large car, it is unlikely that you would spend over £200 with Avis.

You can check out the full details on the Avis / British Airways website here.

You can learn about the Avios / Budget car rental partnership here if you want to compare.

---

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (September 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 26th September 2024, sign up for FREE Barclaycard Avios Mastercard and you will receive a sign-up bonus of 10,000 Avios. This is double the usual bonus! You only need to spend £1,000 within 90 days. Our full review is here. Click here to apply.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

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.

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.

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to up to 80,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 80,000 Avios. You will receive 8 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to up to 40,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 40,000 Avios. You will receive 4 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. The card is FREE for your first year. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.