LIM car rental...again... caution with AVIS
Avis this time.
Booked via UA.COM. Not all good. They didn't initially honor the specified rate. They levied an insurance surcharge (partial collision damage waiver, which is next to useless as it doesn't substitute for quality CC coverage anyway and will simply be used by CC insurer to reduce the deductible).
Then the CSR told me "the system is down, so I can't see your discount code." Maybe true, but altogether not convincing...I was told, when you return, we will provide a "10 or 15%" discount that would approximate the original rate...none of this actually appeared on the manual-issue contract.
In the end I was charged about $8 more than the reservation had originally stated - this might not be too bad, but I did spend some time politely querying why the extra charge, why there was no record of the rate I showed them on my documentation etc. This was designed to establish I wasn't going to be a pushover for any shenanigans.
Be sure to examine and document any dings in the car! I arrived in the middle of the night - as those flying gringo airlines invariably do here - and luckily my rental agent did document all the defects, including ones smaller than the "quarter" standard that most US companies use for actionable damage. I didn't even see these, because of darkness and fatigue.
On return this morning, the agent said "It's a good thing that you have this [scratch on rear door] documented..." Looking to collect! I pointedly took a set of pictures of the vehicle from all sides in front of the agent before I went into the terminal.
Access - not only to AVIS, but all franchises onsite at Chavez - requires requesting security permission to enter the secure Arrivals area, just in front of baggage claim and customs. This is not immediately obvious, although at least the AVIS agent explained this.
Return took almost an hour - be warned if you show up without OLCI and are less than 2 hours from departure.
The service was not impolite and in the end, the total charge was within a few percent of the original document...... but I got the definite impression of a franchise on the make and looking out for viajeros non experiencias.
My last experience with Budget @ LIM was much better (!)