Well, you happen to know that, but Avis.com doesn't make it clear (or at least it didn't a couple years ago). It accepted my FF#, it even accepted a coupon for extra miles earning, when I made a reservation with Avis ANC online. Only afterwards was I told that it didn't qualify for any miles earning.

So that's why I feel it's valid to see it as exception that sets a pattern, because it's not clear to most people that this is how it works, and because this exactly the same way that many Avis overseas rental operations work (avis.com accepts the coupon, and then after the fact says you can't earn any miles there).

In both the case of Avis AK and those overseas locations that don't give miles, it's presumably dependent on who operates that location ("corporate" or "non-corporate"), but (a) most people don't know to look that up, (b) most people don't know how to look that up, and (c) most people don't know how to correlate that info (if they find it) to what will and won't work in terms of mileage earning on rentals.

And since I've run into the same issue with Hertz at other locations (all foreign to date), I don't think this is an Avis-only issue. But IMHO the issue is not about Avis AK being a special case for the US, the issue is that in general the rental car agency online booking systems don't make it clear which locations do and don't earn miles. (And when looked at that way, it's just as valid for non-airport locations as for airport locations.)