Avis - "Avis First is the lowest elite level because it is called "Avis FIRST""

Something I thought would give you a laugh:

we were going to rent a car from an Avis NYC location last week and heard something so absurd that I almost laughed.

Us: is there any upgrade available?
Agent: No. We can't upgrade you for free.
Us: I am Avis First, eligible for an one class upgrade when it's available.
Location Manager: No, Avis First is not eligible for upgrade. Avis Preferred is, you need to wait till you are Preferred.
Us: what?....you do realize Preferred is free and Avis First is one level up right?
(Highlight of the conversation) Location Manager: Avis First is the lowest elite level because it is called "Avis FIRST"! (he sounds pretty damn sure)
Us: ..... check your policy, plus check my rental history, I get an upgrade every week
Location Manager: No, I'm pretty sure Avis First is lower than Preferred.
Agent: Yup, pretty sure.
(Highlight of the conversation) Location Manager: Plus, you are not eligible for an upgrade every time, you are only eligible for an upgrade ONCE even if you are preferred.
(At this point we were so amused and upset, thought we would continue this conversation and see what other interesting ideas they have got in their mind)Us: Once in a year? Once in my lifetime?
Location Manager: ONCE in a life time.
.....

We walked out and said to each other: I guess he missed the training on "Always say - Sorry Sir, we don't have any upgrade cars available"

PS: He sounded damn sure about what he was talking about, and he weren't kidding.
I guess even if they got the "that's why it's called Avis First" question sorted out, I shouldn't look to re-qualify for Avis First every year at all, cos after all, I am only eligible for an upgrade ONCE in my life time:)

Hah, that's a good one. I'd have pulled up the Avis site and showed him he was wrong. Even if it didn't get you anything, it's worth the show to see how he responds.

The neighborhood locations, in my opinion, never understand loyalty levels. Their rentals are mostly made up of locals who typically arent "elite" customers.

NYC neighborhood locations are the absolute worst. The staff at these locations are some of the most ignorant. Not only that, I would think it would be easy to check their databases for a customer's previous rental, discount codes and AWDs but they're some of the most stubborn in their ignorance. I once had an agent at a location in Brooklyn tell me the same thing. I was not as patient as you were and we had a confrontation with a manager intervening and finally upgrading me to a Volvo S60 T5 ( . . . great rental by the way.) I try my best to be patient but sometimes, they can be really dense.

Hah, that's a good one. I'd have pulled up the Avis site and showed him he was wrong. Even if it didn't get you anything, it's worth the show to see how he responds.

we should have:) i believe we may have pulled the upgrade policy, but we never got over the Avis First argument. we didn't absolutely need a car that day, so we ended up renting from somewhere else the next day.

The neighborhood locations, in my opinion, never understand loyalty levels. Their rentals are mostly made up of locals who typically arent "elite" customers.

it's funny how they make up their own elite rules though:)

NYC neighborhood locations are the absolute worst. The staff at these locations are some of the most ignorant. Not only that, I would think it would be easy to check their databases for a customer's previous rental, discount codes and AWDs but they're some of the most stubborn in their ignorance. I once had an agent at a location in Brooklyn tell me the same thing. I was not as patient as you were and we had a confrontation with a manager intervening and finally upgrading me to a Volvo S60 T5 ( . . . great rental by the way.) I try my best to be patient but sometimes, they can be really dense.

good for you:) sometimes I feel Avis must have the most difficult system for their agents, because it took the agent a good 5-10 minutes to find out how to reflect weekly rate in there.
they also take forever to send me my free weekend coupon codes (sometimes never), I have to call them and write down all the coupon numbers and expiration dates every time i need to book a car for a weekend. (and guess what, the expiration dates actually change between calls on the same coupon.

I'm not the biggest fan of Avis, but of the 3 major car rental locations near where I live in Park Slope, they have the newest cars. The Hertz on Union St. has old, high mileage cars and the Enterprise on 3rd Ave. the same. I've been told to just travel the 45 minutes by taxi to National at JFK or midtown. Anyone living in NYC and willing to share their experiences with National, I'll be happy to give it a try.

I'm not the biggest fan of Avis, but of the 3 major car rental locations near where I live in Park Slope, they have the newest cars. The Hertz on Union St. has old, high mileage cars and the Enterprise on 3rd Ave. the same. I've been told to just travel the 45 minutes by taxi to National at JFK or midtown. Anyone living in NYC and willing to share their experiences with National, I'll be happy to give it a try.

Never rented with National. I generally get nicer cars from Hertz, and knowing the store manager on a first name basis would help you get an upgrade more than your status.