Avis offer: 3h 99€ Porsche rentals for HON/F pax in FRA & MUC

Old Jul 9, 2013, 2:31 pm
  #31  
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I would expect that arriving or departing would be ok.
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Old Jul 11, 2013, 3:20 pm
  #32  
Ari
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Originally Posted by rivlinm
Good to know. Thank you both.

Has anyone done this? Worthwhile for a bit of excitement? I'm not really a big car guy, just thinking it could be fun... Or just a waste of cash?
Yes, worth it. But important not to do it during rush hour, otherwise you can't really get that fast. Also, hard to stay under the 150km.

Originally Posted by htb
I wouldn't do it while jetlagged... It's not only your life!
Jet lag has nothing to do with it; all it has to do with is how well-rested you are. I slept for 5 hours on the way over (new 744 F); that's a pretty normal amount of sleep for me. So what if it was 4am in the States? I was wide awake after a good night of sleep. Now, if I stayed up all night on the flight drinking and watching movies, that would be a different situation.

Originally Posted by rivlinm
Thinking I'll do it. Now I just have to remember not to drink...
Depends on your flights; a glass or two of champagne 7 hours before your drive doesn't hurt anything. 2 hours before your drive I wouldn't recommend.

Originally Posted by rivlinm
Any route suggestions? Don't really know which of those would be best. Would like to reach a high speed at some point on the trek.
They have their own recommendations on the website but frankly, you can just ask where to go at the counter when you rent the car. They are perfectly aware people are only doing it for fun to reach high speeds. I think that is the point. What else can you do in 3 hours?

Originally Posted by rivlinm
I am departing FRA on TG F so the FCT is out for me. Will they still let me drop it off at the FCT?
1) Probably not. Seeing as you are not entitled to use the FCT, why would they let you use the services of the FCT (i.e. the valet service)?
2) What possible purpose would that serve? You drop it off at the FCT only then to walk to the terminal? Most people walk to the FCT from the terminal, not the other way around. Wouldn't it be easier just to return it in the terminal where you rented it and go to the B FCL from there?

Originally Posted by ngfan
Does "valid boarding pass same day" and "First Class passengers" mean to be eligible for this offer if arriving in LH F (-> F boarding pass from day before) and connecting to a domestic LH C ?
FWIW, they didn't bother asking for my boarding pass at all. I'm guessing they aren't all that strict about it and arrival is fine.

Last edited by Ari; Jul 11, 2013 at 3:31 pm
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Old Jul 11, 2013, 6:08 pm
  #33  
 
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Originally Posted by Ari
Yes, worth it. But important not to do it during rush hour, otherwise you can't really get that fast. Also, hard to stay under the 150km.



Jet lag has nothing to do with it; all it has to do with is how well-rested you are. I slept for 5 hours on the way over (new 744 F); that's a pretty normal amount of sleep for me. So what if it was 4am in the States? I was wide awake after a good night of sleep. Now, if I stayed up all night on the flight drinking and watching movies, that would be a different situation.



Depends on your flights; a glass or two of champagne 7 hours before your drive doesn't hurt anything. 2 hours before your drive I wouldn't recommend.



They have their own recommendations on the website but frankly, you can just ask where to go at the counter when you rent the car. They are perfectly aware people are only doing it for fun to reach high speeds. I think that is the point. What else can you do in 3 hours?



1) Probably not. Seeing as you are not entitled to use the FCT, why would they let you use the services of the FCT (i.e. the valet service)?
2) What possible purpose would that serve? You drop it off at the FCT only then to walk to the terminal? Most people walk to the FCT from the terminal, not the other way around. Wouldn't it be easier just to return it in the terminal where you rented it and go to the B FCL from there?



FWIW, they didn't bother asking for my boarding pass at all. I'm guessing they aren't all that strict about it and arrival is fine.

That is GREAT info! Thanks so much.

I'll likely book tonight for Tuesday morning landing at 8am (prob driving by 9) will that keep me out of rush hour?

Right now my biggest concern (not being a german speaker) is getting lost. The car has gps right? within 150km can I get to an unrestricted speed zone?

Thanks! I'll be sure to post my results when i return...
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Old Jul 11, 2013, 6:48 pm
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Booked (failed time after time on google chrome, eventually worked on safari)

Received message: Due to limited availability, your booking has been placed on request.

Claims they will let me know within 72 hours...
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Old Jul 11, 2013, 9:12 pm
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Originally Posted by ngfan
Does "valid boarding pass same day" and "First Class passengers" mean to be eligible for this offer if arriving in LH F (-> F boarding pass from day before) and connecting to a domestic LH C ?
The offer is strictly speaking only for transit passengers flying through Europe.

But they don't seem to check eligibility at all for the moment. Book and enjoy.
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Old Jul 12, 2013, 12:25 am
  #36  
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Originally Posted by rivlinm
That is GREAT info! Thanks so much.

I'll likely book tonight for Tuesday morning landing at 8am (prob driving by 9) will that keep me out of rush hour?
I don't know enough about traffic patterns to answer that; as I was returning the car around 5, traffic was starting to build.

Originally Posted by rivlinm
Right now my biggest concern (not being a german speaker) is getting lost. The car has gps right? within 150km can I get to an unrestricted speed zone?
Yes on the GPS. And yes on the 150km to a speed-limit-free zone, but the km's do move by quickly at 245kph! Enjoy.
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Old Jul 12, 2013, 12:41 pm
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Originally Posted by rivlinm
Thinking I'll do it. Now I just have to remember not to drink...

Any route suggestions? Don't really know which of those would be best. Would like to reach a high speed at some point on the trek.

I am departing FRA on TG F so the FCT is out for me. Will they still let me drop it off at the FCT?

Feel free to PM me if anyone wants to join...
For those that get to enjoy this, I wish you lots and lots of enjoyment. However please note the following cautionary tale.

I made a disastrous mistake / best decision of my life several years ago whilst out buying new tiles for a bathroom refurbishment --> for the first time ever, I stopped by a Porsche dealer .........

Needless to say, I did get the new bathroom tile. However if I add in the cost of the completely unplanned, completely unnecessary Porsche it is probably a serious contender for the award of "most expensive bathroom tile on the planet"

In all seriousness: these are INCREDIBLY powerful cars, please give yourself time after a long flight to get used to the power. I vividly remember (1) my incredibly loud "HOLY &*"!" and (2) immediate doubling of my heart rate when I first took out the 911 and floored the accelerator ................................
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Old Jul 12, 2013, 2:52 pm
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My Experience Renting the Porsche

I just did the three hour rental today and thought I would share my experience:

I landed this afternoon on an intra-Europe LH flight with an overnight layover connecting to a long haul LH flight (F booked with United miles). I was booked all the way through to my final destination and already had my LH first class boarding pass for tomorrow.

I went to the First Class lounge near the A gates and asked the lounge guardians whether they could book the Avis/Porsche deal for me. They took my boarding pass and scanned it, presumably to confirm that I was actually traveling in F (but they did not mention that the program was only for same-day layovers). However, neither of lounge people knew much about the program (other than having the brochure describing it). Eventually, they called over a supervisor who knew all about the program. The supervisor asked me to have a seat in the lounge while she arranged the rental. I let her know that I only wanted to rent the Porsche if it was a 911 (I didn't want the Panamerica).

After about 10 minutes the supervisor found me and said that everything was all set. All I needed to do was go to Avis to pick up the car.

I went down to Avis and they were expecting me. The Avis rental agents only required a drivers license and 1 credit card (they did not ask for two). The car wasn't ready yet, so they asked me to wait for about 20 minutes (fortunately there were some comfortable chairs in the rental room where I could wait).

When the agents finally called me over, they explained that I had 3 hours and 150 km with the car. They also mentioned that I had a 1 hour grace period, for a total of 4 hours (I'm not sure whether everyone gets the 1 hour grace period, or it was because I paid with an AMEX Platinum).

I asked whether it was possible to purchase excess CDW to cover the 1500EUR gap in coverage and they said no. I also asked how many people had taken advantage of this deal and the two agents said I was the first person to whom they personally rented a 911 under this deal.

After they handed me the keys and paperwork, I went to the parking lot and found a jet black 911 Carrera with 2673km on the digital odometer.

I looked the car over (since I had read the thread on issues with the FRA Avis and their aggressive damage claims) and found a fairly deep nick on the hood, along with some scratches. I took a picture and noted it on the receipt, but there was no one around to talk to about it. I figured I would deal with it later if it became an issue (the guy at check-in didn't mention the nick or the scratches).

Although the Lufthansa website mentions that the nav system is pre-programmed with several suggested routes, they failed to mention that if you don't know German, you might not be able to figure out how to select one of the routes. I played around with the car for a bit trying to change the languages (some of the dash gauges were in Cyrillic and the nav system was in German). I eventually gave up and figured out how to select the Avis at FRA as the final destination (so I would know out how to return the car, since I've never driven in the area).

I had a nice drive through Frankfurt and then down to Mainz, testing the acceleration, breaks and handling of the car on the autobahn and local along the way.

I returned the car to the Avis rental lot (I assume you return it to the FCT if you have a same day flight). The attendant checked the mileage and looked around the car (it seemed like he was looking for big dents on the bumpers more than anything else) and handed me a receipt. The only thing he said to me was that I only drove 100km and should have driven some more.

It was a blast to drive and a much more exciting 3 hours than sitting in my hotel room at the airport watching TV.
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Old Jul 12, 2013, 5:13 pm
  #39  
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Originally Posted by sandbagger2
...(I'm not sure whether everyone gets the 1 hour grace period, or it was because I paid with an AMEX Platinum)....
Are you serious about this question?
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Old Jul 12, 2013, 6:10 pm
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Originally Posted by oliver2002
I imagine all the FCT maximisers will now hop in a Porsche and drive around on their 12h layover in FRA.
Does anyone with local knowledge know if it is possible to get from FRA to Nürburg, do a lap on the Nordschleife and be back within the 3-hour (rumoured to be 4 hours with grace period) rental window?
(extra distance charges notwithstanding)

That would make for a good maximizing experience...
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Old Jul 12, 2013, 8:52 pm
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Originally Posted by N1003U
Does anyone with local knowledge know if it is possible to get from FRA to Nürburg, do a lap on the Nordschleife and be back within the 3-hour (rumoured to be 4 hours with grace period) rental window?
(extra distance charges notwithstanding)
You mean someone with access to google maps? :-)
165 km each way, 1:41 in timing.
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Old Jul 12, 2013, 9:16 pm
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That won't be cheap with the 1.18€/km overages...

I'm looking at jumping on A3 and shooting up toward Limburg or some city around there.

It's about 65km from FRA. Any locals know anything worth seeing/doing in that region?

Anyone gonna be around Tuesday morning? I need someone to shoot a pic of the speedometer while I'm driving...
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Old Jul 13, 2013, 1:23 am
  #43  
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Note that taking rental cars on speed tracks is not something the owners particularly like
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Old Jul 13, 2013, 3:26 am
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Originally Posted by oliver2002
Note that taking rental cars on speed tracks is not something the owners particularly like
And it invalidates most insurance policies
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Old Jul 13, 2013, 3:44 am
  #45  
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Spoilsport.
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