NEWS & OFFERS: New Avis Preferred loyalty scheme, Border Force strike and up to 50,000 Virgin points bonus

New Avis Preferred loyalty scheme

Avis Budget Group has updated its loyalty scheme, Avis Preferred. The new programme offers instant rewards, including a 10% discount from the first rental.

It is worth joining Avis Preferred if you are planning to rent with them, as it does save time at the rental location. You can use the Avis App to verify their identity ahead of time to bypass the counter, and in some locations, access their vehicle via a Self-Service Kiosk or go directly to their rental car where the keys are waiting. In some locations in the US, you can go straight to the parking, and the bay your car is in will be displayed. 

You can use Avis Preferred even with a car rental booking through British Airways. I usually find that they are cheaper even if you just book the car by itself or add it to a flight booking. Obviously, if it is for five days or more, you are better off doing this at the time of booking so you can get the double tier points.

The new Avis Preferred loyalty programme for 2024 will also have a number of benefits regardless of how many times you have rented:

• 10% off all future car rentals – right from sign up – automatically applied at booking. 
• Priority service – members jump the queue with pre-prepared paperwork and their vehicle ready.

There are also two elite tiers which bring extra benefits and there is no change to the qualifying rentals/spend from before:

• Rent 5 times and spend €1,000 that year to qualify for Avis Preferred Plus, with complimentary single car upgrades and free additional driver. 
• Rent 10 times and spend €2,000 that year to qualify for the President’s Club tier and have your benefits boosted further with complimentary single upgrades and free double upgrades on weekends, a free additional driver and free Roadside Assistance Plus.  

Membership also includes some partner offers: 

• 10% off Viator 
• 12% off Lounge Pass airport lounge passes 
• Up to 30% off Airport Lounge membership with Priority Pass – a subscription giving access to 1300 lounges worldwide. 
• Up to 55% off Photobox 

There’s more information about the new Avis Preferred here. 

Border Force strike

I wrote some time ago that Border Force officers were voting on whether to strike over shift pattern changes. The results were revealed last week and they have voted in favour of strike action.  Members of the PCS union voted by 89.71% in favour of strike action and 94.35% for action short of a strike. 

So far, the union has not announced any strike dates. This could be for several reasons. Firstly, it could be that they are negotiating again or that they are waiting to announce the strike in a couple of weeks when it coincides with a busier period such as the May Bank Holiday. PCS has to give a minimum of two weeks’ notice, so at least the Easter Holidays are now safe. However, when the Border Force recently struck, the military was drafted in to cover, and in fact, most people remarked that there was better service than usual!

Up to 50,000 Virgin Points with Virgin Money

If you thinking about investing in a Stocks and Shares ISA, Virgin MOney have a generous new bonus. You can earn between 1,000 and 50,000 Virgin Points when you invest £2,000 or more in a new or existing Virgin Money Stocks & Shares ISA before 30 April 2024 and keep it there until 31 October 2024. 

Total amount invested, minus withdrawals and transfers out:

£2,000 to £4,999.99 = 1,000 Virgin Points

£5,000 to £9,999.99 = 5,000 Virgin Points

£10,000 to £19,999.99 = 10,000 Virgin Points

£20,000 to £49,999.99 = 20,000 Virgin Points

£50,000+ = 50,000 Virgin Points

Plus, you can earn an extra 1,000 bonus points if you’ve fulfilled the offer criteria and are an existing Virgin Money customer. To qualify as an existing customer you must:

1. Hold one of the following products with Virgin Money on 15 January 2024; a Personal Current Account, Personal Savings Account, Personal Credit Card, Investment Account, Cash ISA, Personal Mortgage, Personal Loan or Pension.
2. Or have an existing Virgin Money Stocks and Shares ISA with Virgin Money on 15 January 2024.

You can only receive 1,000 bonus points once as part of this offer, even if you have multiple Virgin Money products.

Your investment can be made up of:

• One-off payments by debit card or cheque*.
• Monthly payments, by Direct Debit.
• Transfer from another provider (this includes Virgin Money Cash ISAs). 

If you transfer an existing cash or stocks and shares ISA, Virgin Money must receive your transfer application before 30 April 2024 and the transfer value by 31 July 2024.

While Virgin Atlantic has some very expensive taxes and charges on redemptions, redeeming on other airlines like Air France can be good value. You can also use Virgin points for things such as cruises, the Virgin Red bix at the AO arena in Manchester and even sausage rolls!

You can find more information on this page.