The Shadow

Just curious... do you have any experience with this promo at a non-airport location? The T&C says "airport locations", but IME, that's not always strictly enforced. Wondering if you have any data points on this one.

hotelmotel

I don't. Airport location is cheapest for me so I've always gone there.

Does a message come up when you try an off-airport location? I just tried my nearest location and get this message: "This station does not participate. Valid at corp/part AIRPORT stations in the U.S. (excluding Alaska), Canada, Africa, Australia, Europe, Latin America & the Caribbean, the Middle East and New Zealand."

seanc724

American Airlines:
MUAA004

1/3/5 days
1500,3000,5000

Expires 8.31.14

seanc724

BestBuy RewardsZone

MUPA005

1/2/3/5 days
50/500/1500/2500 points (equivalent $1/10/30/50 in gift certificates)

Expires 5.23.14

sdsearch

This one has been renewed/extended/whatever, and now is good through the end of July:
Keep in mind that normal US Airways earnings are per dollar, not per day like most other programs (including merger partner AA):
So assuming your rental qualifies as leisure (which a typical rental through Avis.com using an airline's AWD does), this works out to 10 miles per $1 spent. So for some inexpensive rentals, this may not be as good as the AA promo (of 1500/3000/5000), while for some more expensive rentals it may be better.

sdsearch

And yet another AA/Avis promo running semi-currently with the others:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/avis-...iles-avis.html

miles4sheli

Hi,
I have a couple of questions.

1) I've read here that you need to double check if an AWD is compatible with a coupon code that earns miles/rewards. Where is the best place to get this information?

2) A while back, I had difficulty with a promo because it was picked up at an off-airport location and driven to an airport (there was confusion by the CSRs between American Airlines AAdvantage and an AA Business Extra promo). I'll paste part of their reply:
"Your rental location is off airport. They do not participate with frequent flyer rewards.

My records indicate participation with the following travel programs;

CH – CHOICE
GP - GOLDPOINTS PLUS
ML - AIR MILES
BB - Best Buy
IH - InterContinental Hotel GRP
LQ – LAQUINTA"

Now, when I read the T&C on some of these, they state they are only valid at airport locations. Can anyone else confirm this info?

THANKS!

sdsearch

That's very hard to answer in an all-encompassing way.

In general, an AWD from one airline/hotel can be used with a coupon for another airline/hotel.

So why do ask this? Do have a specific AWD that you need to use (say, one issued by your company)? It's easier IMHO to limit yourself to the various airline/hotel AWDs, when those produce "good enough" rates, than worrying about what the best ounce of AWD might be and whether that would or wouldn't alow the earning of miles/points.

When you enter a coupon code into avis.com as part of your reservation (while logged in) and then enter your reward partner info, it tells you on your reservation confirmation (if not earlier) what you should expect to earn in total miles for that rental. (For example, just the other day I made a 2-day reservation with the AA coupon for 1500 bonus miles on 1-2 days, and it told me on my confirmation page that I should earn 1600 total miles, which is correct, because it's 50 miles per day plus that 1500 bonus.)

If you enter a coupon that's invalid for the duration, location, dates, car type, etc, it'll tell you that in red much earlier.

But what I don't know is whether it checks the AWD vs airline/hotel earning in the first place. (It's not that certain AWDs don't work with certain coupons; it's more that certain AWDs don't work at all with earning airline miles or hotel points.)

I do know that it doesn't check "up front" (ie, before confirmation) whether the coupon you select matches the FFP you selected. (And yet the coupon cannot work with a different airline!) So there are limits to what the avis.com reservation system can confirm for you about a coupon, and I don't know if it can confirm anything about an AWD.

But it still may be worth experimenting with, just because when it does catch something that won't work, that's still useful, even if it doesn't always catch everything that won't work.

miles4sheli

Thanks! I spoke with another representative and found out that my AWD is compatible with Club Carlson Gold Points and also that I'm indeed able to earn Club Carlson points at off-airport locations.

zacknistelrooy

Any idea on how long it takes southwest miles to post ?

svasandani

I have been renting for years using my company's AWD code and have been receiving bonus miles based on the prevalent coupon code at the time of rental. However i just noticed that miles had stopped posting for last 4 months so I reached out to Avis Customer service and found out that the Airline mile coupon codes are not compatible with my AWD and that they will not credit me miles for the rentals made in last 4 months. It does not complain at all during booking and clearly states the bonus miles in the confirmation emails as well. I am not sure what recourse I have. Are there any other AWD I can use that will provide a competitive enough rate and also will be compatible with the miles coupons? I am seriously thinking of leaving Avis after so many years of renting with them because with no mileage credit I am better off with Hertz where I can atleast earn Hertz points as well as AMEX Opensavings discount though would prefer miles.

sdsearch

I have no idea what you consider "competitive enough". You can use all airline and hotel AWDs (the AWD does not need to match the specific airline or hotel that the coupon is for), and I've found that I sometimes get a better price using one airline's AWD even though I'm using another airline's coupon.

svasandani

By competitive rate I mean a daily rate in the low $30's. I have found atleast 3 other AWD that give the same rate but not sure if there is a way to verify if the AWD / coupon combo will work or not. AWD values A108303, Q177800 and A515100 give a good rate.

IAHtraveler

The only way to confirm is trial & error or to call Avis. Also, if you're using a corporate AWD, it's possible that you've got insurance/other things built into your rate. If you use rates other than your corporate AWD, you might have issues if you're in an accident or are audited by your company. Only you would have this information, not us on FT.

svasandani

The reason I posted the message was in case somebody has used any of these AWD's before and knows for sure that they received miles as well. I thought the purpose of a forum such as FT is to share member experiences so others can benefit. Also A108303 is meant for Costco members which I can legitimately use and Q177800 appears to be a generic corporate code posted on Avis website so I am assuming is open to all businesses that don't have a unique code. I might try with a 1 day rental if I don't get any answers here but for now I have switched to renting from Hertz.