LoganFlyer

All Avis First free weekend coupons issued after 7/6/14 will expire 1/15/15 as "enhancements" are coming to Avis First. Oh boy...

http://pages.e.avis.com/page.aspx?QS...a92544bdef24dc

JohnMacWW

Not much data:
"Based on member feedback, our loyalty program will come with a whole new level of rewards. "
and
"Enhancements to the loyalty program will be communicated in the coming months. We look forward to providing you with a whole new level of rewards that will elevate your travel."
Generally, there is not much noticable about being Avis First. I guess they rent enough cars that they have little incentive to create some serious loyalty benefits. Guaranteed car availability on some number of hours notice would be my most sought after benefit. When I used to do Hertz I liked accumlating points and using them for a week rental in places like Italy or Scotland. Maybe Avis will start a points system?

username

Avis should not change the program mid-year like this.

People work for the status under the known terms. They should not change the terms of the coupons half way into the year without much advanced notice - should just announce the replacement program for next year and leave things as is with AvisFirst. The infrastructure that supports the coupons are already there anyway.

The free weekend coupon has worked well for me but not many. I guess it would end up being a point based program?

The interesting thing is it seems AvisFirst is really for the captive corporate renters where the contract rates do not grant airline miles. So, to keep them happy, at least throw out some weekend coupons.

If things go to the point way, the corporate renters actully might lose out more as their rates tend to be lower...

WIRunner

I can never seem to get them to work for me (i've usually forgotten about them and they've expired.) There was a promo a few years ago rent x and get y coupons for free rentals, and they weren't weekend specific. That would be great, I used all those up without issue.

username

The Avisfirst website actually does a pretty good job tracking the coupons. So, go there and check when you have weekend rentals.

WIRunner

I can barely remember if I have any to begin with. I really would like everything integrated into one page. Delta and United (shocking) have no problems showing me how many miles I have, and when the expiration date is. I don't understand why Avis needs a separate website, an additional log-in, and coupon codes. They have a liability on the books, and do a pretty good job at making them expire quickly, I'd rather see them easier to use so they can get that liability off their books. (Plus I might actually be able to use the things.)

(Separate Rant)
I wouldn't mind earning rental days when using a coupon (not a free day coupon, but a percent or dollar off one) or getting miles for the rental. They're billing me for the miles, so why can't I get the rental credits too?

username

It seems Avis makes separate websites for different promotions. I wonder why.

Auto Enthusiast

I'd only take them seriously if they offer bona fide free days comparable to the competition. By that, I mean the possibility of redeeming free days for:

one-ways
weekdays
rentals that originate in the NY metro area
days in Europe

blort

I use my free weekend coupons out of NYC (E11 and E43) all the time.

username

I just looked at Hertz's program and, while there will be flexibility, I will definitely be worse off.

Assuming Avis would be similar to Hertz:

- earn 1 point per pre-tax / surcharge rate
- $150 base for a Monday-Friday 4 day rental - 150 points
- US 2 day weekend is 1100 points
- 1100/150 = over 7 weeks of rental instead of 4 now (and it was 3 last year?)
- It gets worse for Canada where you need 1350 points for a weekend

Flexibility (e.g. oneway, weekday) also means more points.

I guess one bright side is the points can be transferred to airlines and hotels - this helps those with corporate airline mile ineligible rates - if those earn points under the new program...

username

Any rumors on the new program or the conversion plan? It seems crazy to have all new coupons expire on 1/15 when the original stated term was 6 months...

JohnMacWW

I keep forgetting to not add my frequent flyer information/ account info. As a result I never earn weekend rewards. This annoys me. Why do I need to choose?

IAHtraveler

Because you can't have your cake and eat it too

In all seriousness: that's a major flaw of the Avis "reward" system. You must pay for domestic airline miles (basically buying them) but then this disqualifies one from earning free days from Avis. The only answer I can give as to "why do we need to choose our benefit" is because Avis is cheap. Or they feel they don't need to offer both to get business.

Regarding "forgetting to not add your FF info": can you call Avis and have them remove it from your profile?

sdsearch

My FF info is not in my profile; is it really in yours? (I don't see any way to add it.)

What's in my profile is my default AWD, but not my FF info. I have to add my FF info from scratch on the last page of making a reservation every single time.

So the only way you can NOT add it is, as IAHtraveler said, by not forgetting to NOT type it in (in other words, by remembering to leave it blank each time you make a reservation).

But the problem is that for those of use who like real miles and real hotel points, the constant barrage of nice partner promotion coupons makes it too hard to leave that blank.

But it helps that for me (and many others) the free day coupons are too limited. They don't include everything (and at some airports the fees are more than daily rate!), they may make credit card coverage not work (because you didn't pay for the whole rental with that credit card) and yet they don't include their own coverage, and they're useless if you just collect one or two days and are doing mostly week-long rentals and there being no difference in price between paying for all 7 days and paying for 5 of them and getting 2 of them "free".

I do tend to earn a couple free day coupons every 2 or 3 years as my gift for qualifying for Avis First (again) after not having been Avis First for a year (because my rental patterns are not enough for Avis First every year), and yet I've never had an situation in which I was able to use one of those coupons (they all expired unused).

IAHtraveler

Yup. My USAir # is in my profile from when I got my Wizard # eons ago. I assume they still let you you attach it to your profile, but maybe not.