sdsearch

???

For the purposes of this thread, they are identical, since neither has Select & Go.

http://www.avis.com/car-rental/conte...o-US_en-033067

Surftex

I'm using Avis next week at RSW. Wondering if any of you have seen what they carry in S & G lot these days? Thanks!

abefroman329

Thanks. I just assumed they did, since they have S&G at CMH.

sdsearch

Columbus OH's CMH is the main airport for a medium-sized city. Does it have any big limitations on flights?

SNA is one of a bunch of seconary airports in the greater Los Angeles area, all of them very small compared to giant LAX, but SNA is one of the smallest of them.

But SNA in particular is basically incapable of expansion, because its got limiations on flights due to expensive homes under its flight path. Have you ever flown out of it? It's got one of the most unique departure flight paths, where you feel like the plane stops after about a minute, because it has to drastically quiet down the engines for a while, before it can resume gaining altitude.

That's why it's able to get by with a compact section of the underground garage being used for all the rental car companies combinex. There's no room for a drop-off line; you part you car in a numbered stall and then go over to the booth (a few car spaces away!) to report that you just returned the car, and then someone walks out to check it in.

FlyAO2

I rented a subcompact and got assigned a Ford Focus. In the email it said "ANd if the ford is not exactly what you wanted, you can exchange or upgrade from our avis preferred select and go"

Very bizarre...because a ford focus is definitely NOT an intermediate

zhutch

For those that don't also peruse the Hertz forum, apparently Hertz is trialing a system similar to that of National at Nashville and Philly airports. You can pick any car in the aisle and go and there will be specific aisles for their elites to pick any car from for free.

Interesting...

FlyAO2

Problem is, Is Avis telling me to pick a car from the aisle even though I am not technically entitled to because A) I'm "special" or B) The email is making a miskate.

If it is B, that seems like a major pain in the neck to deal with on the exit. I don't care enough to find out, but maybe someone is willing to take one for the team.

sdsearch

I don't think one anecdote would help. There's no reason to believe that Avis is consistent about this, from one location to the next, from one rental to the next.

I already said that I had gotten such emails, and picked up an Exchange, and I wasn't charged extra or given any hassle on exit. But I also said it's been a while since I did that, and until recently there was no language about "intermediate or above" on the Avis website. (It got added after this discussion about whether that was true or not started here a couple months ago! Prior to recently, it was a sign at pickup locations, but not mentioned online on the Select & Go web page.)

So I don't trust that whatever happens this week, with regards to this, is the same as what will happen next week.

Fire_Fly

I recently had a bump in status from Avis Preferred to Avis First. I'm a little confused, because the wording of my benefits says:

-- Selection of the finest vehicles
-- FREE one car class upgrades

Avis First still makes me eligible for Select and Go, right (as long as I have reserved an intermediate car)?

FF

sdsearch

Yes, Select & Go is available to those who are Preferred or above.

abefroman329

Yes, I flew home from there on the same trip where I flew into LAX. Wasn't really paying enough attention on takeoff to notice.

sdsearch

A few weeks ago I reserved a subcompact (Class A) at CLT. When I arrived at CLT last week, my email from Avis said:
Huh? Yuck! I don't need or want anything that humongous! (That's Class V.)

So I went to the Exchange area, where btw I saw no sign about "renting Intermediate or above", and picked out the smallest car, which was a Chevy Cruze (Class C), and drove to the exit gate.

The only problem they had at the exit gate was that their system showed that my was assigned to someone else. (Huh? So why was it in the middle of the Exchange area???) But they ended up giving it to me, with no mention of any issue with me having reserved a Class A.

And upon return, my rate was exactly what my Class A reservation showed.

And I just went to the Avis site, and now the Select & Go page:

http://www.avis.com/car-rental/conte...o-US_en-033067

seems to be make no mention of needing to rent Intermediate or above. It just says you have to be Preferred. (In my case, I'm Avis First right now.)

So did they officially get rid of that Intermediate requirement?

mwhitman7

Does the reserved car class have any impact on the upgrade fee? I have a July reservation for a Luxury in West Palm Beach, but I'm hoping to swap it for some form of convertible (hopefully not a Mustang or Chrysler).

Does reserving a luxury, instead of intermediate, have any affect on the upgrades fees, or would I still be paying the same $50-100/day over the luxury rate? If I find something good in the upgrade area, could I cancel and re-reserve an intermediate before driving off the lot?

Also, can anyone attest to the Select & Go selection at West Palm?

IAHtraveler

By the book for S&G service, as long as you reserve intermediate or higher, the price on the hang tag is what you pay. However, reserving a Lux, you should be able to talk them into most things around, except specialty cars.

Good luck finding a convertible that's not a Mustang, unless you like the Camaro. I've seen a VERY RARE z4 or Volvo, but they are not common at all (I've probably seen 3 z4s and 2 volvos in my last ~150 rentals, spanning ~1.5 years)

Sure. Just sit in the car you want, while doing the reservation so nobody takes it.

sdsearch

While you may be able to, I'm not sure if it'll pay off. See, rental rates for the same car type keep changing I routinely reserve a month or two out (usually as soon as I've made my plane reservation), and then starting about two weeks out keep checking at least a couple times a week, and typically find that the rate drops down somewhere within those two weeks but then usually shoots up by the day of the rental pickup.

So it's possible that while on the lot read to "upgrade", the new rate for an intermediate will be higher than the booked-ahead rate for a luxury car!

So don't actually cancel. Do "modify my reservation", and you'll get to see whether you can beat your existing luxury rate with a new intermediate rate or not. If you can't, you can "keep your original reservation" instead of "keep your modified reservation".

Btw, as I noted above in post 147 (three posts above this), I don't know if an intermediate is necessary any more. The Avis website makes no mention of it any more that I can find, and I was recently able to Exchange at no cost after renting a subcompact.