So I got a car from DFW today and got in a bit early and the preferred board had me go to the Preferred Center. There was a good line at the center and since I had opted in to Avis Now the other week at DFW, I figured I'd see if the app would assign me a car. At this point it was 5:52pm and my rental was scheduled for 6pm.

So when I bring up the reservation list, it has a "Pick Up" icon next to the reservation so I think I'm set. I click it and it brings up a Ford Fusion and a few other details. Thankfully I decided to read those details as one of them was an "Early Pickup Fee" to the tune of an extra $139 and change. That's right, 8 minutes early and had I clicked OK, I would have paid an extra $139.

I've definitely never heard of that before, never had problems arriving a bit early for a rental (never more than 30 minutes), and never even had a fee mentioned once at a counter for an "early pickup". I've even gotten car assignment emails long before I've landed and hours before the scheduled pickup. But this was only the 2nd time I've used the Now app (wasn't early the first time), so I'm guessing it's something they've got programmed in automatically, but hopefully it's a glitch that the app doesn't know the difference between 8 minutes and say 8 hours early.

At least the good part was that they were tight on cars (despite the lot being full), so after asking if I was by myself, my full-size turned into a brand new Camaro SS

So be careful with the Avis Now app if you get in early and don't have an assigned car.