in SAN, I got 600 per weekend day on an intermediate 2 weeks from now

Another data point:
ORD on a random Nov. weekend: 950pts per day (not covering tax)

For me, the website now shows how many points I need for various bookings.

It's still buggy though, as I've gotten some to say you need 0 points for this booking (not sure if that means I have enough points to redeem, or I can't rent this vehicle on points).

Just did a test booking. The interesting thing is that even though the amount was zeroed out, all the percentage based taxes are still there. With other coupons, they would remove all the % based taxes. So, if this is not a bug with the site, here is another way we have been enhanced :(

Avis's average rental is $325-$433, before taxes/fees - so $400-600? I must be an outllier on the low side. I'm renting 4 days/wk and getting 159 base points.

That's 32 rental days to get a single day in your cheapest scenario.

Your second scenario, still off-peak rental, is 60 days. I can rent 4 days/week, every week, for an entire year, and earn 3 rental days.

Peak periods I get what, 1 day, maybe 2? Frankly, that's insulting.

Perhaps that's why I haven't bothered joining. Minimal, undefined benefits in exchange for my personal info and buying habits. No thanks. But I can't undo years of doing the same with Avis.

EDIT:Just checked my status - "You are 0 rentals away from even more rewards." So I've got that going for me. Which is nice.

EDIT #2: My first attempt - "You would need 0 Avis Preferred Points for a free day or 0 Avis Preferred Points for your entire rental. " Also nice.

Just tried reserving a minivan in Oakland for about 4 days during the week prior to Christmas. Total was going to be $240 and Avis wants 4300 points for 1 free day which equates to about $60. In other words, after spending $4300 in rentals I would get a whopping $60 in free rentals. What a deal! :td:

New points system, is it good or bad?
 

New points system seems very vague. I just spoke with an Avis representative who told me I needed 1800 points for a one day rental. Now I read here that you can get a 4 day minivan rental for 300 points. How does that work. Why can't Avis give us a chart that says exactly what the points are worth. If I need 1800 for a one day rental then this NEW program is a joke!,

Well, this program is a joke Avis pulled on its most frequent customers.

If you read the Wiki a little carefully (and I just edited to make it more obvious), the 300ish points were to ADD GPS, not the base rental....and I think the point required is PER DAY.

It is made worse by Avis keeping the percentage based taxes even though the rental is free and any % of 0 should be 0.

Folks this thing is a joke. I left Hertz for other reasons but that program is light years better than this thing. I jut looked at a weekend day in BOS and was quoted 1800 points...really?

The best thing we can do is NOT spend them! I am racking em up pretty quick and these points are a liability on their books (albeit a small one) and they will NEED to get them off if they start building. As Avis Rep likes to say: Pricing is dynamic and when they want you to get rid of your points they will lower requirements to get some bleed down.

I am SO disappointed in this program. The folks who implemented it did so much damage to the Avis brand. It is accepted that FT programs will get worse over time but to lead with a ridiculously worthless (or near) program is just a marketing blunder. I will rack up a ton of points and start to spend with Enterprise until/unless they make this a viable program to entice business. This does the opposite.

T&C:
Remember, this is a program offered to people who are mostly on rates that cannot earn miles (i.e. captive business travellers on corporate contracts). So, Avis probably cares less about what we will do - as most of us can't really do much.

Value of Avis vs Hertz points
 

Was looking at a weekend one-way rental (CLT-RDU) in a couple of weeks. The cash price was $34 (pre-tax & fees, which username suggests aren't covered by points), plus 30 cents/mile (don't know if points include one-way miles). Avis wants 4,300 points for that rental, Hertz only 1100 points, miles included. Wow.

Are the Hertz points earned the same way as Avis? (I don't know Hertz's program.)

The tax thing probably should be addressed by Avis. It almost seems to be random and illegal to be charging those % based taxes if the pre-tax rental amount is 0 (and any % of 0 is 0). It might also be a system glitch?

Great, so free rentals with Avis DO NOT include unlimited miles?

One other data point-

Phoenix (PHX Airport) was $31 for a mid-size car on weekend, Avis wanted 3400 points for one day. Wow talk about a bargain.

Mileage seems to be the same as whatever the AWD you use would normally be. Points seem to just reduce the time and mileage charges in the same way a gift card, coupon, or other instrument would, to the point of the taxes and fees not being reduced for days that are paid with points, with the caveat that you don't get 7 days for the price of 5 when renting weekly like you would when paying cash.

That, I find terribly annoying.

Hertz also gives 1 pt/$ spent, so same earning ratio.

Seems that everyone often include the typical surcharges (facilities, license, etc) and other add-ons for “free" rentals, and the tax is added to that. Even the old Avis 1st "free” weekend deals could still have surcharges and thus taxes; if there were no surcharges there were no taxes.

For one-ways Avis uses the standard time charge plus a per mile charge, while Hertz generally includes miles but a higher (e.g. 2x) time charge. I didn’t have enough points to book a one-way with Avis so I don’t know if it had a mileage charge but I suspect they would; Hertz just doubles the points needed for a one-way.

Hertz does offer a weekly rental on points that is less than 5x the daily points rental and is good for 5-7 days. Aside from being more transparent, it is clear Hertz points are worth a lot more than Avis points. Even National’s 1 free day/7 rentals (or 6 or 5 depending on status) looks like a better reward than Avis points.