Iberia drops Avios from Hertz and Europcar – where do you credit now?

I published a long article in August about earning Avios from car rentals.  Whilst British Airways works exclusively with Avis, Iberia Plus has deals with pretty much everyone.  You simply had to credit your rentals to Iberia and then move your Avios across to BA via ‘Combine My Avios’.

No longer.

Iberia Plus has announced that Hertz and Europcar will cease to be partners on November 1st.

With Hertz, the announcement says that you will continue earning for rentals booked by October 31st but taken up to the end of the year.

With Europcar, it seems harsher.  The website says that you cannot earn Avios points after November 1st, full stop.  This implies that if you have already booked for a later date, you won’t be receiving anything.

(The Iberia website is, yet again, faulty at the time of writing and it will not let me link to the Hertz and Europcar pages.  Hence no direct links!  I assume it will fix itself again soon ….)

There is now no way of earning Avios points from Hertz or Europcar.  Iberia Plus DOES continue to be a Sixt and Euromaster partner.

Where should you credit Hertz rentals now?

One option is to focus on the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards scheme.  I outlined how it works in this article.  It is worth a look if you are likely to redeem for free rentals but the conversion rate into airline miles or hotel schemes is poor.

Virgin Atlantic is probably your best bet.  You will earn 1,100 Virgin miles per rental from Hertz.  There are many other airline options as well.

Don’t forget that you can also credit Hertz rentals to two hotel schemes.  The earning rates are not great but if you don’t have any airline accounts apart from Avios then it is better than nothing.

Your hotel partner options are Marriott Rewards and IHG Rewards Club.

Hilton HHonors, Club Carlson and Starwood also have tie-ups with car rental groups, but not Hertz.

Europcar is a partner with Hilton HHonors if you are looking for a home for future rentals with them.

It is a shame to see another of the British Airways Executive Club and Iberia Plus arbitrage opportunities taken away.  You still earn more Avios from Hilton HHonors and Le Club Accorhotels if you credit to Iberia, and you can still get Avios from Sixt and Euromaster via Iberia Plus.