Originally Posted by
IAHtraveler
Just my thoughts on why they require a physical inspection (could be 100% wrong): Assume your name is John Smith. You could have another (stolen/otherwise not valid) credit card with the name of James Smith, John Smith Jr., etc. Most credit card verification online (that I'm aware of) only matched the last name & zip code. Avis might want to be sure the card actually says John Smith.
Otherwise, you could steal the rented car, they charge the card of James Smith and then James correctly disputes the charge. Avis is out the $60,000 QX56 that they "rented you".
While Avis & Budget are both owned by the AvisBudget group, they don't share back-end systems. Same thing as others: Zappos.com is owned by Amazon but they don't share credit card information.
We're getting pretty far out on the edge of probabilities, aren't we?
I don't know if there is a practical way to avoid the scenario you posit, but in today's world, I'm betting there is.
And even if not, what reason exists to not allow showing the card at a time other than first rental, say while hanging around an airport waiting for a flight? And why not allow the credit card to be shown to security as you leave the lot? They're already trusting him or her to ID you sufficiently to avoid someone else taking the car in your name-it's a pretty short hop from there to reading the name of a credit card. If that's really what they're after.
I agree with everyone that says Avis should protect themselves from people taking cars illegitimately. I'm still waiting to hear how this policy does that.