IAHtraveler

There is one report of a Pres Club getting choice of the ANC lot last summer. Have any other Pres Club or CHM been there in the last year or so with experience to report? My last time there was in '07 as a Pres Club member without any luck on an upgrade.

joediver

I was there June, 2009 as PC and no dice. VERY independent outfit. If you are doing one-way to a ship the price is ridiculous but for a group of 4 sharing it only cost us EACH what they should have charged for the whole rental. Only game in town for one ways

trekwars2000

IAH, I go up there at the end of the month for a big family fishing trip. I have 2 reservations up there and I had the CHM desk put a note in the reservation that I want big SUVs. As a backup my father has 2 SUVs at enterprise (for about 2x the cost of the mid-size at Avis). Will you beat me up there?

IAHtraveler

I got here on Weds. I rented from AC2 (downtown) because it knocked about 50% off the rental. Part was because of the airport taxes, but the other part was because we knocked 1 day off of our 6 we're here by doing it this way. Since we landed at 8PM (11 by the body clock), I just had the hotel shuttle pick us up for the night and drop us off downtown in the AM.

2 days before my rental, I called AC2 and the woman stated that they'd put a note that I wanted an SUV, but "you'll have to take what you get when you get here." She didn't seem to care.

Before I left ANC, I walked through the lot and the biggest thing they had was a Forester, among many small cars. At AC2, they had lots of small-mid cars (Yaris, Corolla, Prius, Kias, etc), an Impala, a Focus, a Mini Cooper, a VW Bug, a Camaro, 2 Foresters and 2 RAV-4s (if my memory is correct). The night before, I tried a fake reservation and they listed the "mid-size SUV/Highlander" as their only available car. When I got there, he was like "Oh, you're the CHM" and shook my hand... great guy! I asked him about the "midsize SUV" that was online and he said that the RAV/Forester falls into that category! He did give me the pick of the lot, though, so I couldn't complain. I took a 4WD RAV with a few hundred miles because my wife loves the looks enough that she wants to buy one. It's basic (as were all the cars on their lot) but for 2 of us with tons of camping gear, it's just right.

If you use a coupon in Anchorage, though, even if Avis.com accepts it, the computer won't show it and they refused to add it for me. I'll call the CHM desk when I get back or just dispute the charge for the $25 off coupon I used.

trekwars2000

So my rental is Saturday and I just gave the front desk a call and the lady said they will get CHM into whatever is available. So I asked for 2 big SUVs and she typed away and put it in my reservation. I'll report back what I get but am curious if you think I should give the station manager a call the day before to follow up...

l etoile

I got my pick of various smaller SUVs (don't know their names except that one was a RAV4) at the airport (should have done the rental in town as mentioned above). So the upgrade was given, but they don't honor other Chairman's benes such as the below-market gas prices based on what you actually used. Fill the vehicle before you return it.

trekwars2000

Just sitting at the FI by ANC about to turn the cars in. We ended up with 3 reservations and the airport guys were willing to give me anything on the lot not reserved. After talking for a few minutes we ended up with 2x Sienna Vans and one Highlander. This worked out perfect and saved us 50% of the normal rates of these vans or SUVs if we had to reserve them.

trekwars2000

Just some more data points. I was back up here in Feb 2011 and had a res at the airport for 4 days. I was given the pick of whatever and took a small SUV so it wouldn't take forever to heat it...

I am now back up here with a reservation at the downtown location. Again as IAHtraveler saw, we saved about 50% by going to the AC2 downtown location. This time when I walked it I put my CHM card on the counter and the new employee said that he didn't have anyplace to input the wizard number so he wouldn't be able to see any status. I then asked if he knew what CHM status was and he said yes. When he went to offer me a Camery, Sonata or Taraus off our full size reseration I asked about the Avalon on the lot and he said that would be an upgrade... His excuse was that the Avis Alaska system was not connected to the US system (W T F??? What is it 1980)? Moral of the story is I am glad I actually rented the full size (as it was like $20 more for the 2+ week rental) but it does irk me that CHM status is good in the US and Canada and in Alaska apparently they can blatantly disregard the status.

IAHtraveler

Yeah, I feel your pain. However, franchise locations seem to be the crappiest (my new home of ILM seems about as bad as AK so far...). If they wouldn't even give you a Premium on a Full reservation, you should have just called the CHM desk from their counter and asked for help.

trekwars2000

Any new updates on what CMH members are received at ANC?

drzoidberg

I didn't realize CHM was recognized in Canada. That's good to know.

DiverDave

Well, while the thread is being bumped anyway. Avis of Alaska might just as well be Fred's Rent-A-Car of Alaska.

It's Avis in name only. They only give airline miles for Alaska Airlines, and rental nights from Avis of Alaska do not count towards Avis First status. (Yeah, I know Avis First isn't worth much, but if you rent a car from a place that calls itself Avis the rental days should count as Avis rental days.) Avis First didn't get me a better car either. I reserved a full size and got a Camry. It's been over a year since I rented from Avis of Alaska so maybe it's changed, but I kind of doubt it.

David

joediver

As Chairman - NADA - as of late 2011 visit.

drzoidberg

Sorry to piggyback on this thread, but any recent CHM experiences in Montreal or Canada in general?

jgsx

I would get upgraded to a 328 in Montreal every time as a chairman. It took a little pushing a few times. Once they tried telling me a Chrysler 300 was a better car, lol. They got the hint and realized they need to give me a 328 every time. This was in Nov 2012-Jan 2013.