In June, I redeemed 5 Avis "gift certificates" for 2500 miles each. I followed this trail:

1) logged on to preferred guest.com

2) clicked onto Earn and Redeem

3) clicked on Redemption Partners

4) Clicked on View Complete list

5) Found the Avis listing, clicked on "see more"

As I followed the redemption procedure, the only details given on Avis Redemptions were:

$50 Gift Certificate 2,500 Starpoints

"Gift certificate awards are available to Starwood Preferred GuestsŪ who have mailing addresses in the U.S. only. Gift certificate awards are redeemable at locations within the U.S. The exception is AvisŪ, which may be redeemed internationally. Please allow 4-6 weeks to receive your gift certificate."

When I received the certificates, I was surprised to find that they do not operate like gift certificates at all. They cannot be combined; you can apply only one per rental. They are more accurately described as discount coupons.

Had I known this condition, I would not have redeemed 12,500 Starpoints, as I already have many free day coupons through Avis. I wrote to customer service and they directed me to text within the web site that does explain this condition. The problem is--this text is not supplied in the redeem link. You find it only when you click on partners at the top of the page and then go to redemption partners.

The logical place to give this information is where you redeem your points, or at least to repeat this information when you click on "See More" on the redemption page. That is the place where you expect to find these details.

I would like to return three of the five certificates. In addition, I think Starwood would be well advised to change the designation from "gift certificate" to "discount coupon" to more accurately describe its use.

William, would you help?



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lkuby