Bits: free business upgrade on AA from Birmingham, 1,000 bonus Avios with Avis

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News in brief:

1,000 bonus Avios with Avis rentals

Car rental group Avis is offering a special deal via the avisba.com portal.

You will earn 1,000 bonus Avios on any 3 day rental completed by 30th November. The car must be a Group C or above.

This is on top of your standard earning rate of 3 Avios per £1, with a minimum of 700 for a 3-day rental. This means that you are guaranteed at least 1,700 Avios under this offer. Full terms and conditions are here.

Avis bonus avios

Free business class upgrade on American Airlines from Birmingham

American Airlines is currently offering a free upgrade to business class on its service from Birmingham to New York. This flight will earn you Avios and tier points in British Airways Executive Club.

The snag is that you must book a flexible economy ticket (ticket bucket B or Y). This means that only business travellers are likely to benefit.

British Airways On Business members will receive an extra bonus of a 5% discount on this flight, although it is not necessary to be an OB member to trigger the upgrade.

The other rules are straightforward – booked by 30th November, travel by 31st January.

American AA 350

South African Airways double discount

I mentioned a few days ago that South African Airways is running a decent cashback deal with American Express. If you have been selected for this offer (look under the ‘Offers’ tab on the Amex website under each of your online card statements) you will receive £100 back for spending £500. This offer runs until 7th January 2016 although your flight can be for a later date.

Waitrose, of all people, has now launched its own SAA deal. If you book a flight at flysaa.com you will receive 10% off the base fare – excluding taxes – using code WAIT1. This code will double up with the American Express £100 cashback.

The Waitrose code is valid until 14th October. You cannot travel between 12th – 24th December.

Category

American Airlines and AAdvantage, Avis and Avis Preferred, British Airways and Avios

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

PGW says:

2 Oct2 October 06:20

Where might I find details of this AA offer?
- Rob says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 09:05
  
  It isn’t publicised, like 99 per cent of these ‘travel trade’ deals. They only get offered to travel agents who are then encouraged to steer their clients towards these deals. I can forward you the AA email that went to travel agents though.
  - PGW says:
    
    2 Oct2 October 15:03
    
    Many thanks Rob – I’ve received your email.
tony says:

2 Oct2 October 07:04

Note that AA also have some good I class deals BHX-NYC. They require a Saturday night stay but come in about £1350. For info, a Y class return is £1650. Can’t find the B class price.

Any idea whether you get business class TPs & miles as a result?
- Rob says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 09:04
  
  These upgraded tickets are booked directly into business ticket buckets so almost certainly give business class tier points.
  - Daniel @ Propeller says:
    
    2 Oct2 October 11:40
    
    Tier points for Business given indeed!
Erico1875 says:

2 Oct2 October 07:20

On the random long weekend i looked a 10/12 to 15/12 a flex Econ was 1660 but the cheapest Bus ticket was 2770 so could be a good deal for somepne
Brian says:

2 Oct2 October 07:33

OT – but it is ‘Bits’ – the Amex Esso offer added yesterday is valid EVERY time you use your card. So there is no need to register multiple cards, since you can get the statement credit more than once on a card.
- Rob says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 09:02
  
  Thanks Brian. Was planning to look at that today to cover over the weekend.
  - tony says:
    
    2 Oct2 October 09:12
    
    Has this already been fully subscribed? I just looked on my two amex cards & nothing comes up…
    - Peter K says:
      
      2 Oct2 October 09:44
      
      It seems targeted. My Gold card had it whereas my wife’s BAPP card only had a one-off £5 off £45 at Esso (so have to buy less fuel but can only use once).
    - Brian says:
      
      2 Oct2 October 10:30
      
      I only had it on my Gold Card, too. It makes sense for people NOT to register multiple cards, if they do get the offer on more than one, so as to give more people the chance to benefit, given that it seems to be valid for multiple use.
    - Liz says:
      
      2 Oct2 October 11:52
      
      I was targeted on BAPP card but it doesn’t show on my list of offers so assumed it was all used up!
- The_Real_A says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 10:23
  
  Now that IS interesting… Especially if you find one with a paypoint machine.
  - Roger says:
    
    2 Oct2 October 13:56
    
    Care to expand?
    - The_Real_A says:
      
      2 Oct2 October 14:15
      
      phone top ups etc etc etc etc…
- TimS says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 11:07
  
  My Esso offer explicity states:
  
  “Only one £5 statement credit per UK Card, valid until 12/11/15.”
  
  ” Valid once per Card for the first 4,500 Cardmembers to save to Card.”
  
  Does yours say something different?
  - TimS says:
    
    2 Oct2 October 11:09
    
    Actually, the above was the wording on my Gold card.
    
    The wording on my BA card is as follows:
    
    “Spend £50 or more and get £5 back
    Save to Card to get a £5 statement credit when you spend £50+ in a single transaction instore at participating Esso locations by 12/11/15. Valid every time for the first 11,000 Cardmembers to save to Card. Terms & payment restrictions apply. ”
    
    Seems that there are TWO DIFFERENT targetted Esso offers running at the moment!
    - Brian says:
      
      2 Oct2 October 13:45
      
      Yes – I have the every time one on my Gold card – nothing on my BA card!
  - TimS says:
    
    2 Oct2 October 11:11
    
    The one-time-only offer if for £5 credit for £45 Esso spend.
    
    The multi-use offer is £5 credit for £50 Esso spend.
- Ant says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 13:56
  
  I have the £50 multi use one. So if I find an Esso that sells gift cards I could take advantage of this offer many times over. does anyone know if Esso usually sell gift cards?
  - Roger says:
    
    2 Oct2 October 13:59
    
    Tried one Esso express today (Tesco express with Esso garage attached) and that did not stock ANY giftcards?
    I am not sure such transactions would count though as valid ESSO purchase, if made at Tesco Express.
Ian says:

2 Oct2 October 08:36

What an awful site that avaisba site is. You can only look at one model at a time. Crazy.

So thought I would look via BA site – can’t even get that to recognise LAX. Maybe they know something I don’t.

I think I will stick with Hertz. Even though I do not get Avios with them (although no doubt I can probably link to my BAEC account)
- Thunderbirds says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 09:10
  
  Try the Avis site itself, particularly if you don’t want or need the Group C required. Minimum 700 Avios per booking plus 250 if you use your BA AMEX to book, plus the Avios on the CC. Booking process asks you whether you collect points and with whom.
  Recent booking GBP 55 for three day hire of Group B so can also be competitive with generic car hire sites.
John says:

2 Oct2 October 11:45

Folks just a warning re Avis & making car hire reservations via airline websites. At the start of the year I booked a Flybe flight from ABZ-LBA. Through that website I also booked an Avis car rental costing £44 from LBA.
So Flybe withdrew that route a few months later and they refunded the flight cost but referred me to Avis to get a refund from them for the car hire. Avis advised that as the car hire reservation was cancelled over 24 hrs after being made they charge a £40 cancellation fee. So I am down £40. I spoke to Flybe and it looks like they will provide me with a £40 credit which is ok for me and TBH Flybe have been great so far they accept it was their responsibility etc. Avis were rubbish to deal with.
- tony says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 12:16
  
  I know it’s the benefit f hindsight but whenever I book a car some time out I always get a flexible rate. The pricing on cars often comes down – have saved a fair bit of money doing that over the years, but good that BE are giving you something, too.
Kinkell says:

2 Oct2 October 14:42

Always use Avisba and (so far) has been fine, both with getting all avios and dealing with any problems, which we had in SA. However, it was all sorted, no quibbles and didn’t put me off continuing to use them. Currently hiring an Avis car in tropical climes!

Checked all Kinkell household cards and not an Esso mention anywhere. Could be doing with a few pounds off now Tesco fuel save has ended. Fat lot of use a whole lot of London offers are to us when we are at the other end of the country!