Avis and Flying Blue have teamed up to offer a pretty awesome promotion for anyone planning to rent a car six times before the end of the year. Through the”Avis Accumulator” promotion, you can earn over 50,000 Flying Blue miles after six rentals. Full details are are at the Avis website, but here are the most important details:

• You must register for a FlyingBlue account and present the membership card when you pick up your rental.
• You must make bookings at http://avis-flyingblue.com and use the provided code to get the rates. Any rates booked not using the Flying Blue/Avis Worldwide Discount numbers will not be eligible for this promotion.
• Bookings only qualify if they are for three days or more.
• Bookings through the website are priced in British Pounds; I am unsure whether they are actually charged in British Pounds.
• Some of the rates I’ve looked at mention a fee for no-shows, so don’t book a car and then not pick it up!

If you meet all of the requirements of the promotion, you will earn the following Flying Blue bonus miles:

• 2nd qualifying rental = 2000 bonus Flying Blue Miles
• 3rd qualifying rental = 5000 bonus Flying Blue Miles
• 4th qualifying rental = 7500 bonus Flying Blue Miles
• 5th qualifying rental = 14000 bonus Flying Blue Miles
• 6th qualifying rental = 20000 bonus Flying Blue Miles

These Accumulator bonuses are in addition to the minimum standard Flying Blue Miles award of 500 Flying Blue Miles. This will equal a total award of at least 51,500 Flying Blue Miles for the 6 rentals.

Now, Flying Blue is generally a pretty unfortunate frequent-flyer program. Many of Air France and KLM’s own fares don’t even earn full miles, making it very hard to earn many miles in the program. However, 50,000 FlyingBlue miles can be useful if you want to book international first class on Air France. Also, Flying Blue does offer both one-way awards and better KLM and Air France award availability to its own members.

Some spot-checking revealed that the prices offered by the codes are generally comparable to the Avis prices when you include the collision damage waiver.

Why am I not taking advantage of this promotion? Simple. My employer allows me to book personal travel at their Hertz and Avis negotiated rates, which are both less expensive than the FlyingBlue/Avis rates and include the collision/damage waiver. However, if you plan to book at least six 3-day rentals over the next seven months, normally pay for the collision/damage waiver, and the prices are competitive for your situation, this can be an awesome promotion for you!

I’d like to hear if any of my readers are able to take advantage of this promotion.