I had to change a flight from a Saturday to a Sunday with the return flight remaining the same. I had prepaid for a week long rental with Avis from Saturday to Saturday. When I call to change my pick up time to Sunday, they said the rate had changed and that it was now about $200 more for the six days that were already included in my prepaid 7 day rental. I argued with two different levels of supervisors who just kept repeating themselves about how the rate had changed and they had to charge me the new rate. Now I'm renting from a very small airport and it is likely that the rate for my car choice is higher because of my existing week long reservation starting on Saturday. Trying to tell them that it was absurd that I had already paid for the week long rental and I shouldn't be charged more for leaving the car on the rental lot for an extra day seemed to get me nowhere. I tried going up the chain of command at the call center, and eventually they just told me that their supervisor did not take phone calls (which I suspect would not be the case if I stayed on the line long enough). Eventually, I just modified the reservation online for a less expensive car class and will be receiving a $60 credit as this car has not been already rented for the week. However, I'll be in the mountains and I had reserved an intermediate SUV and instead I'll have a full size sedan, which is a bummer because the original rate on the SUV was a pretty good one.

I am wondering if others have had similar experiences and have found a way for Avis to not screw them on the rates. Also, I'm wondering if I go back to the website later today or tomorrow, if the reasonable rate for the SUV will reappear since the one I prepaid for will now be available again. The airport is small, but the rental desks are always open during the day in Winter, so it is not like my change in plans will make them have to add staff or anything like that.