Originally Posted by
highlanderfil
I appreciate the response. Yuck. Definitely don't want an SUV. Does Avis in the UK give a selection in the app prior to pickup? It did for me in the U.S. the night prior, although I ended up sticking with the car they eventually assigned to me.
In 2019 I ended up picking up a Golf GTD wagon for the price of an economy car from Stansted (no status at that time, just a lot of excitement upon seeing one and the manager was all too happy to oblige. Ah, good times...
Had the chance to check in again recently and I think the upgrade will most likely be the Golf/A3 instead. Probably also depends on whether you've rented a manual or an automatic.
Unfortunately they don't seem to provide that app selection option in the UK (or at least I don't think they do) - I've been renting a while now as Avis Preferred, they've always just processed my rentals and assigned cars to me prior to collection.
Some anecdotal info as I have just rented a Mercedes in group K twice in the past month, how it went down both times:
Round 1: Automatically assigned a CLA coupe (it is apparently sort-of-an-upgrade), but had to carry 3 in the back, so was given a C-class estate.
Round 2: Was told they were out of C-classes at that rental location, and was given the option of an A-class, VW Arteon, or an Audi A4. Was also told that Heathrow had lots of C-class estates, but they tend to be reserved for Americans (why this was specifically quoted, I don't know!).
My best advice I can give you is to ask (politely, of course)!