ivyesq2012

I recently reached Avis First status. I became eligible for my first voucher upon activation of my membership. I'm wondering if the weekend rental rewards are useless for me since I only book vehicles for either weekly or monthly durations right now? Can the vouchers be used for any savings at ll even though I'm only booking for such durations?

LoganFlyer

I don't know the answer, but if you do a dummy booking at avis.com, you can plug in the coupon and it will show you exactly how much you will save with it on the checkout screen.

ivyesq2012

yep thanks for that response. you're absolutely right. for some reason, didn't realize the weekend rewards had coupon codes that you could just use and book online...

bburrito

No, they are useless. I just found out the hard way. I kept getting emails saying I had gotten rewards and never had the reason to use any of them. So today, when I logged in figured I had a good amount of free weekend rewards in my account. Let me explain: I have been an Avis First member for 3 years. I traveled 37 weeks last year and almost all of them the car was rented with Avis. So what has been my experience:

Europe: I went to Italy in September for my sisters wedding. I figured I would be able to use some free rewards there. Nope. $1100 for 12 days. And no rental credits.

Canada: Much time was spent last year going back and forth to various places in Canada. I figured I would have accrued rewards by renting Avis cars in Canada. Apparently not. I did not earn any rental credits for any of my trips to Canada even though i had booked through the Avis website while logged in to my Avis First account.



So today at the last minute I am booking a plane ticket to another state to go see my sister. I logged into Uniteds website, searched for a ticket, clicked the option to find rewards tickets and it showed me what was available and I bookeda ticket using points for this afternoon.

The next step was renting a car. I went to Avis Firsts website and found I had to login only with my Wizard number. No option for using my avis website username. This is because the Avis first website is being ran by a third party company. look at the web address. It is not Avis's website. So I go back to Avis' website login to my account and retrieve my wizard number and then login to the avis first website. I go to the "coupon details" page where it lists all of the rewards.

So what did I find?

Last year I was awarded only 3 rewards. 2 of them had already expired. Which meant I had 2 left. One I earned in December, and the other I just earned last week. So, yes, the 2 rewards I had earned earlier in 2013 had already expired. Not even a year after i had earned them. So, I selected one of the remaining rewards and I then tried to select a reservation for this evening. I got an error indicating my reservation "Did not meet minimum length requirements." Huh, what does that mean? So I called in to the reservation center. And tried to book a reservation and then gave her the coupon code. She then politely informed me that I had to book the reservation 48 hours in advance.

So yes, the reservations are completely useless anywhere outside of the United States, and screw you if you make last minute travel plans.



Since Avis wanted me to pay for my reservation today when i tried to use a reward coupon, among other things and other stories for another day, I will never use them again. Im booking with another company and going to look elsewhere for a company that actually values its regular customers.




TL;DR
1. been with Avis for 3 years
2. Travel regularly, all reservations booked with Avis. Many times in Canada.
3. Tried to use reward in Europe. Rewards not valid in Europe.
4. Tried to use reward in US.
5. Find out that all rewards earned in 2012 and early 2013! are already expired.
Also, rewards are not earned on rentals in Canada. Only the US.
6. Of two remaining rewards I tried to use 1 today.
7. Cannot use rewards without 48 hour in advance reservation.
8. Avis says: Screw you customer! Pay us money!
9. I say, screw you Avis! I pay my money elsewhere!

NJFlyer42

I rent from Avis frequently enough to get an award every 3 months or so.

I don't need a rental car on weekends (I am home ;-) ).

I can't use it to get a car for some one else (like my wife).

So I pretty much ignore them.

Has anybody figured out how to enjoy these awards?

sz2628

You can always book a reservation for yourself, and call customer service up and let them know your spouse will be picking up the car. Works like a charm.

airchick

I tried to make a reservation today for a weekend in June using the hyperlink from the 'free weekend' code listed in Coupon Details of my account. Got an error message that the code, that self-populated on the form, was invalid.

I read the T&C for the award and believe I met them all in trying to make the reservation. Are there blacked-out airport codes that don't honor the coupons? My attempt this morning was for Nebraska, either OMA or LNK.

Like the original poster, I have usually ignored the free weekend notices. I think the terms of the coupon are restrictive and I rarely need a weekend-only reservation. When I got the first coupon notice I did try with no luck. Have tried a couple of times since and have not been able to successfully make a reservation using these amazing awards that are a benefit of my Avis membership.

Skink

The Two-Day Weekend Rental Reward T&Cs when I click on 'Coupon Details' at AvisFirst.com states that, "Rental period for this Weekend Rental Reward coupon is defined as any Avis minimum 2-day rental that includes a Saturday night keep." However, when I try to use it the reservation screen states that a Friday night keep is required.

username

Did it let you continue and price it with the 2 days deducted (if you keep it over a Saturday night)? I have seen the Friday error but it seemed to let me proceed.

By the way, Avis is doing away with Free Weekends. All the coupons now are expiring 1/15/2015. They have not announced a replacement. I, for one, will miss these coupons. They have saved me a lot of money and allowed me to take weekend trips without paying for car rental (just some taxes).

alphaod

Yeah they're useless. I wish they'd switch to points like Hertz.

In the meantime I'll continue crediting to my FFP.

Skink

Thanks. It's working for me now.

DealsRock

Has anyone successfully rented using the Weekend Rental Reward by picking the car up, at say, 1230A Friday & returning it at 1230A Sunday?

It says a Saturday night keep is required, but does that mean just after midnight Saturday night?

It looks like the coupon is working online, but am wondering if the coupon will still work for the two free days at the counter.

LoganFlyer

The coupon would error out while making your booking on avis.com if you didn't meet the conditions, so you should be go to go.

Mikey

When I traveled more I used the weekend certs all the time for my wife's trips to her parents. They saved me a lot of money. I wish I still got them!!

Just my 2 cents.

Mikey

ncSam

The best use I have found are last-minute, expensive rentals over holiday weekends. If you don't have any weekend travel, you could use them for times you might want/need a different car. I am considering using mine and then grabbing a SUV from select and go to make it easier to move some furniture. They can also be good for back-to-back weeks of work travel, as they would save on airport-parking or taxi/family rides (although there would be $10-15 in taxes/fees).