Avis First Experiences needed!
 

Hi,
My corporate card recently enrolled me in Avis First and Avis's corporate award program. Up until now I have been with Hertz (Gold 5-Star) and find that although there is not much of an upgrade to speak of, Hertz does give me a good rate with AAA.

Can anyone share their experience with Avis First's upgrade/service and whether AAA members get discounts renting with them? Thanks.

I've been Avis First for a couple of years and there are a few benefits I have received. When I travel by air and I rent a car in cities outside of my own, I almost always get upgraded. I'm currently on travel and was upgraded to a mid-SUV from an economy car for this trip. There was talk that AVIS will not pay for flat tires (I was told this by a local AVIS independent office) but I got a flat and I was re-reimbursed for the cost and received an additional $50.00certificate for my trouble. This was due to being an AVIS First member.

When I travel by renting a car from AVIS, and I rent in my own city from a local independent office, I never receive an upgrade. Even though my company pays for the rental, I would still like to receive an upgrade from the local AVIS rep. I have not inquired about upgrades from this local rep., but if I pushed the issue with them or AVIS Corporate, a could probably get upgraded.

Based upon al the car rental companies I have used which I have status, AVIS is still the best for me and rent from then 99% of the time.

Let me know if this helps!

I forgot to mention that I do receive frequent free rental day certificates from AVIS after so many rentals (I can't remember how many at this time) but it's frequent enough that I feel they take care of AVIS First members,

Your input definitely helps, thanks.
I think I will go ahead and give Avis a try.

Oh where to start... You could do a search on the forum for "AVIS First" and see lots of things. But I'll retype much of it here.

1) AVIS First earns you free weekend coupons. But - you do not earn these if you also collect FF miles on airlines. Its one or the other. If you have your FF number in your profile, you'll never get a free weekend coupon.

2) AVIS First is supposed to give you a one-class SPACE AVAILABLE upgrade. Meaning, the lot has to have available cars for you to upgrade to. Its not guaranteed. When I was AVIS First, I'd say that I often got upgraded, but it was more me asking the agent for something else, rather than going with the default car waiting for me.

3) There's no "preferred" AVIS First phone number - so there are no dedicated agents. Unlike some of their other programs (Presidents Club, Chairmans Club) which have dedicated hot lines.

4) I'd say its very much like HERTZ 5-Star. If you're used to that program, this wont be much different in regards to upgrades. The nice part of Hertz is that you collect rewards points which are spendable on any rental - not just on weekend rentals.

5) Yes, you can use any discount code you'd like. So if you have an AWD (Avis Worldwide Discount code) for AAA, enter it in during the booking on avis.com. If you have to book through a corporate travel agent, or online booking tool, make your reservation normally, and then go to avis.com, pull up your reservation, and change the AWD. If you search through this forum, you'll find a list of commonly used AWD. AAA might not be your best price - you might find one substantially less expensive.

6) Good luck. This forum is an amazing resource. Come back and visit frequently if you have any questions.

Good luck! Small stations (airport or not) are very difficult to get upgrades from. It's even been a challenge at independent stations for Pres Club (and even sometimes Chairman)!

I guess I am not getting any personal benefit from FC. They throw me a weekend day once in a while, and an upgrade once in a while. Where I formerly was the Aisle was often Chock full of a variety of cars and you could earn free days, accumulate them and presto, after a busy year have a free week of renting for ones vacation. I am willing to change my attitude, but right now, Avis has no personal perks?? Thoughts or comments???

You'll be hard pressed to find someone who will disagree with this comment.

I really don't know if they treat AvisFirst members any differently - I get nice cars most of the time but not sure if it is because of AvisFirst or being on a corporate rate.

The only thing I know I get from AvisFirst is the free weekend coupon. Since my corporate rate does not allow me to get miles, it works out. The coupon has a few annoying restrictions:

1 - must pick up and return at the same location
2 - must have Saturday night rental
3 - blackout dates are happening again now the economy is better

Still, they do save a decent amount of money for weekend trips.