I am Avis Preferred and reserved a Standard car type in FLL last night. I got to my assigned space and my car was a Ford Edge. I guess I would classify it as a Crossover. I was pleasantly surprised and it's a nice car.

I was just curious whether this was an "upgrade" over the Standard class done for Preferred status, or whether it was actually considered a Standard? If an upgrade, any idea what class this model falls into?

Thanks!

To answer your questions:

1. What class is the Edge? It's a Class F, Intermediate SUV. On the main Avis forum, there's a thread/sticky "Avis Fleet List". It's not guaranteed to be accurate, as it's only as good as the info I/we post here, but it's pretty good. Also, when you return your vehicle, you can look at your Avis.com profile/receipt and it'll show you what class you were given & what you paid for.

2. Were you given the upgrade b/c of Preferred status? That's hard to tell. Possibly they were out of "Standards" (which have very few car models in that class, BTW); possibly they were being nice with an upgrade due to your status or b/c you had a high daily rate; possibly the Edge has been sitting there unrented for a bit and they wanted some miles on it, etc. It's hard to know their reasoning unless you speak to the person in charge of assigning cars to renters.

PS: That is one of my favorite cars in the Avis fleet... enjoy it! It's not too big, but has lots of interior room; the seats are mighty comfy (totally opposite the other crossover that Avis like, the Vue), the ones I got usually had quite a few options, great handling, etc.

Thanks for the reply IAH. I happen to be very happy with the Edge. It's probably one of the nicest rental cars I've ever gotten without having to shell out for a specific model. As luck would have it, my girlfriend ended up filling it after shopping today, so good thing I ended up with the SUV.

I can say for certain it was not because of the rate I paid (I'll leave it at that). Good to know about Standards having few models. When I booked, the rates between economy/compact/standard was only a dollar or two, so I might book a standard next time as well and hope for the best. :-)

-baseline

I've usually found that it's only $5 or so more per day for a full size over an ecobox. Granted, the full size isn't always marvelous (Sonata, anyone?), but an upgrade from a full size is much better than an upgrade from an economy. However, if you really want a full size, I think if you reserve a "Standard" you'll usually be upgraded. The only standards that have been reported are the Fusion/Milan twins, and they aren't on Avis lots much anymore, unfortunately! The Edge is based on the Fusion, so I like it nearly as much!

Some of those Edge has that giant sunroof...