September 15, 2015 at 23:4737 trips, two days, 185,000 free miles
When marketers plan promotions and give away prizes, they do not always take into account every nuance. This is used by the most cunning citizens. For example, one of the regulars of the FlyerTalk forum took advantage of such an offer , where people discuss bonus offers from hotels, airlines, etc.
Back in June, a Danish freebie lover discovered that Avis was luring customers by offering 5,000 EuroBonus miles for every rental car, regardless of travel distance. A careful study of the conditions did not reveal the pitfalls and hidden conditions of the transaction. To check, he even ordered a car for 49 euros, drove around the Copenhagen airport - and really got 5,000 miles.
An approximate calculation showed that one mile on a plane costs about 2.2 euro cents when buying a ticket for a normal price. That is, 5,000 miles cost 110 euros. Car rental - 49 euros.
An insidious plan has matured in the user's head.
Avis has 2820 offices in 109 countries, and in some places prices are lower than in Copenhagen.
A search in all offices showed that the cheapest car rental was in Lebanon (13.65 euros per day). There was still an interesting option with Johannesburg, where a trailer rental costs € 15.41, and cars - € 18.76. There was an idea to arrange a double rental for a double bonus by hitching a trailer to the car, but it was a long trip to South Africa that was alarmed ... However, by changing the search options and changing the reservation dates, a few days later we managed to find the perfect option - the city of Funchal, Madeira Island, and only € 11, 30 per rental day, if you take the date at the beginning of September! The absolute winner.
How many cars to book? Entering the excitement, the Dane studied the schedule of Avis offices in Funchal: they work from 8:30 to 12:30 and from 15:00 to 19:00. Discussions on the forum made it clear that removing two cars at the same time would be problematic, that is, you have to remove them in turn, otherwise the agency combines trips into one. Thus, it was decided to reserve cars at half-hour intervals in two Avis offices in Funchal. Transport the car from one office to another - and take the next one there (offices are located at a distance of 1200 meters from each other).
Two days should be enough, the "con man" decided. That is, 36 half-hour intervals are obtained, plus one additional, extended for the third day, to see the surroundings. Total 37 cars.
No sooner said than done. The user booked tickets for several months and waited. Two weeks were left until September when an Avis Funchal representative called him. He explained that there was some kind of error in the system, and 18 applications were registered for one name in the computer. “I said that there really is a mistake, and there should be 37 applications. He pushed buttons on the computer for a while, and then said that it was nonsense, and he would combine all the application into one. I explained to him the essence of the marketing campaign and assured that I really want to make 37 separate applications. He seemed to understand, but ended the conversation with a strange phrase: “You will pay for it,” so it was not entirely clear whether he had everything set up correctly. ”
The first day has arrived. The Danish traveler arrived at the Avis Funchal office at 8:30 a.m.
He was preparing for a difficult day when he had to constantly change cars, but Avis employees were pleasantly surprised. They handed over the keys to the seven-seater Opel Zafira diesel engine and said that it was not necessary to change the car, just go between offices, close old contracts and open new ones. The employees clearly liked the idea, they fully supported the client in his “madness” and even thought it was something funny: “I’ve been working at Avis for twenty-five years and have never seen anything like it,” one of them said. The employee girl helpfully sorted the contracts and marked them with colored stickers, in the right order, so as not to confuse.
The only exception for the whole day was a worker who had to pick up keys and park customers' cars. “He was equally surprised every time he saw me come and go, not having understood for the whole day what was happening,” the autotraveller writes.
In general, five minutes were spent on each trip, plus ten minutes on the execution of contracts. There was even free time that was spent with pleasure at the five-star Carlton Madeira Hotel near one of the Avis offices.
At lunchtime on the second day, we managed to swim in the pool.
Overall, the Avis staff in Madeira made a very good impression. They paid personal attention to their almost unique client. On the second day of work in one of the offices there were only ten orders, of which nine were from one person. On the evening of the third day, closing the last contract, the employees kindly said goodbye “until the next promotion”.
So, the result.
Miles earned
Hire: 185,000
Air travel: 4,930
Purchases: 1,142
TOTAL: 191 072
Money spent
Air ticket: € 317
Hire: € 418
Fuel (per 317 km): € 35
Parking: € 2
Transport to the airport: € 29
Four nights in Hotel: € 42
Three-day meal / drink: € 41
Visiting the tropical gardens of Monte Palace: € 10
TOTAL: € 894 ($ 997)
Cost per mile: € 0.0047 ($ 0.0052)
Bonus cost of 2.2 cents per mile: € 3309 ($ 3689)
Colleagues from the bonus hunter forum EuroBonus appreciated the comrade's scam and photos taken on vacation in Madeira. For three days the tourist had a good rest and earned more than three thousand euros, in equivalent.
An approximate calculation showed that one mile on a plane costs about 2.2 euro cents when buying a ticket for a normal price. That is, 5,000 miles cost 110 euros. Car rental - 49 euros.
An insidious plan has matured in the user's head.
Avis has 2820 offices in 109 countries, and in some places prices are lower than in Copenhagen.
A search in all offices showed that the cheapest car rental was in Lebanon (13.65 euros per day). There was still an interesting option with Johannesburg, where a trailer rental costs € 15.41, and cars - € 18.76. There was an idea to arrange a double rental for a double bonus by hitching a trailer to the car, but it was a long trip to South Africa that was alarmed ... However, by changing the search options and changing the reservation dates, a few days later we managed to find the perfect option - the city of Funchal, Madeira Island, and only € 11, 30 per rental day, if you take the date at the beginning of September! The absolute winner.
How many cars to book? Entering the excitement, the Dane studied the schedule of Avis offices in Funchal: they work from 8:30 to 12:30 and from 15:00 to 19:00. Discussions on the forum made it clear that removing two cars at the same time would be problematic, that is, you have to remove them in turn, otherwise the agency combines trips into one. Thus, it was decided to reserve cars at half-hour intervals in two Avis offices in Funchal. Transport the car from one office to another - and take the next one there (offices are located at a distance of 1200 meters from each other).
Two days should be enough, the "con man" decided. That is, 36 half-hour intervals are obtained, plus one additional, extended for the third day, to see the surroundings. Total 37 cars.
No sooner said than done. The user booked tickets for several months and waited. Two weeks were left until September when an Avis Funchal representative called him. He explained that there was some kind of error in the system, and 18 applications were registered for one name in the computer. “I said that there really is a mistake, and there should be 37 applications. He pushed buttons on the computer for a while, and then said that it was nonsense, and he would combine all the application into one. I explained to him the essence of the marketing campaign and assured that I really want to make 37 separate applications. He seemed to understand, but ended the conversation with a strange phrase: “You will pay for it,” so it was not entirely clear whether he had everything set up correctly. ”
The first day has arrived. The Danish traveler arrived at the Avis Funchal office at 8:30 a.m.
He was preparing for a difficult day when he had to constantly change cars, but Avis employees were pleasantly surprised. They handed over the keys to the seven-seater Opel Zafira diesel engine and said that it was not necessary to change the car, just go between offices, close old contracts and open new ones. The employees clearly liked the idea, they fully supported the client in his “madness” and even thought it was something funny: “I’ve been working at Avis for twenty-five years and have never seen anything like it,” one of them said. The employee girl helpfully sorted the contracts and marked them with colored stickers, in the right order, so as not to confuse.
The only exception for the whole day was a worker who had to pick up keys and park customers' cars. “He was equally surprised every time he saw me come and go, not having understood for the whole day what was happening,” the autotraveller writes.
In general, five minutes were spent on each trip, plus ten minutes on the execution of contracts. There was even free time that was spent with pleasure at the five-star Carlton Madeira Hotel near one of the Avis offices.
At lunchtime on the second day, we managed to swim in the pool.
Overall, the Avis staff in Madeira made a very good impression. They paid personal attention to their almost unique client. On the second day of work in one of the offices there were only ten orders, of which nine were from one person. On the evening of the third day, closing the last contract, the employees kindly said goodbye “until the next promotion”.
So, the result.
Miles earned
Hire: 185,000
Air travel: 4,930
Purchases: 1,142
TOTAL: 191 072
Money spent
Air ticket: € 317
Hire: € 418
Fuel (per 317 km): € 35
Parking: € 2
Transport to the airport: € 29
Four nights in Hotel: € 42
Three-day meal / drink: € 41
Visiting the tropical gardens of Monte Palace: € 10
TOTAL: € 894 ($ 997)
Cost per mile: € 0.0047 ($ 0.0052)
Bonus cost of 2.2 cents per mile: € 3309 ($ 3689)
Colleagues from the bonus hunter forum EuroBonus appreciated the comrade's scam and photos taken on vacation in Madeira. For three days the tourist had a good rest and earned more than three thousand euros, in equivalent.