Vehicle rental gives Melbourne man a million reasons to smile
May 2012
When Adam Temple received a call from someone from Europcar telling him he had won one million Velocity Frequent Flyer Points, his first thought was that this might be a prank. Adam and his wife had been trying to save Velocity Points for a holiday so it seemed too good to be true.
"I regularly rent with Europcar, but you never really think you're going to win when you enter a competition," Mr Temple said.
"So when I got the call from Europcar it was completely out of the blue and it wasn't until I received a confirmation email that I realised, ‘Wow, this is really happening!'
"I called my wife straight away and she was really happy to hear the news - she works from home as a part-time travel agent so she was full of ideas on how to spend the points."
Temple and his wife live in Point Cook, about 25 kilometres south-west of Melbourne, with their two daughters, aged three-and-a-half and one, and he said the prize is a dream come true for their young family. And with such a diverse array of options to claim the points, the Temple family is having no trouble making the most of their winnings.
"We've booked a holiday to Fiji for 10 nights - our first overseas trip as a family - and we're planning to go to the Sunshine Coast next year too where we'll use some of the points for hire car - with Europcar of course," Mr Temple said.
"My wife and I are also planning a night away in the city because you can use the points to stay somewhere like the Hilton and you can also get restaurant vouchers at hundreds of different places. We live out at Point Cook so it's not like we're in the city all the time and it's great we can look at doing something like that."
Temple said that the option to buy vouchers is a great offer because it means you can spread the points around a few different areas, including helping out with the family budget.
"I've been needing to buy some new suits for work so I've cashed in some points for Myer vouchers. Now my wife and I can both go shopping for some new clothes, which we wouldn't normally go out and do, and having the points means we can treat ourselves a bit and upgrade from the things we would usually buy."
Europcar Australia and New Zealand Sales and Marketing Director, Mr Mike Warmington, said the competition fits with Europcar's commitment to make vehicle rental a fun and pleasurable experience.
"Our partnership with Velocity Frequent Flyer has allowed us to take travel rewards to a new level with this competition, which is an Australian first in vehicle rental rewards," Mr Warmington said.
"We wanted to do something different to the usual double and bonus point offers by giving our customers the chance to win the reward of a lifetime, so it's fantastic to see what a difference it is making to Adam and his family."
