So, I land in SLC at appx 1:00p on a Fri thinking to myself, "Man, I hope I get a cool car this time, because I've got people to impress. (Not really) And since it's Friday, there should be plenty of cars available." So, I head on over to pick up my reserved full-size car, hoping to get an upgrade to a premium, and they (I think his name was Drew, or something like that - his tag indicated he was the shift manager) ask me what I want from my pick of SUVs. I let them know I'm not interested in driving an SUV and they say that they have a Nissan Altima I can drive. Then I ask about an upgrade to a premium class car and they say there aren't any available. I look around and I see at least four premium-class cars sitting on the lot, and surely many more beyond my current vision. I let him know that there are plenty on his lot and if every one of them was already reserved. He told me that they were. I told him I that I found that hard to believe, and he said it was true. But I had just seen about 10 min ago on the Avis website that they had both premium and luxury class cars available to rent. So I let him know that and he said that "it must be a mistake in the system - I'll call them and ask them to remove those options from the reservation system." So, I back down a bit, knowing that I can prove him wrong.

This is a lot of hassle for an upgrade, I know, but to me, it's less about the car I'm driving and more about receiving the stated benefits they promise.

So I take my keys and as I'm in the car, I call the Avis reservations line and ask if there are any premium-class cars available to rent in SLC - they inform me that there are cars available, so I book one. I ask them how many, and they say they don't know.

So I go back in to the Avis Preferred counter and tell Drew that I've made a reservation for a premium-class car and therefore there should be one available. He fumbles around and meanwhile I run into a friend of my parents, so I start chatting with them. When I'm done chatting, I turn back to Drew and Voila! he hands me the keys to a Lincoln MKZ. I tell him thank you and drive off.

But then I get curious as to whether he's charging me for the premium or for the full-size, because "if it's available" are the magical words for getting an upgrade, and since it was obviously available, I should be charged for the full-size with the free upgrade to premium. So I call the SLC location and tell them I had two reservations and ask them which one is currently being fulfilled. They indicate the premium reservation, and then I let them know that that wasn't my intent. I wanted to fulfill the full-size reservation with the free upgrade to premium. So he changes the price to a full-size.

And there we have it. The easy as pie approach to getting the upgrade when you know they're available, but they refuse to give it.

(UGH! I hate Avis!)