Yeah, it's amazing what a middle aged man will do when a under 25 female is politely asking for an upgrade with a smile on her face. Even if she's only rented from Avis 4 times in the past b/c she just got a job where she travels regulary. Or he saw her as a source of income for Avis for the next 50 years and thought "maybe if I get her a nice car tonight, she'll always rent from us in the future"... in which case, it would be a very smart ploy, but I doubt it was his train of thought.

Anyway, after some investigation in daylight today, I was able to figure it out. One must HOLD the unlock key on the remote while pulling the external trunk lever to get it to open. Pulling the trunk lever in any other scenario is futile.