Avis points - how do I use them?
 

Does anybody know how to use Avis points with their new program? I have approximately 5800 points and can find no information on what I can redeem them for and how to do so. Thanks.

You price out a rental on Avis.com and after you select a car type, it should give you an option along the top to pay for some/all in points.

What's strange is calling in to make a reservation, I got wildly different points rates. (1800/day for F rental vs 950/day on the phone) YMMV.

Option to select points.....
 

I had the same issue today asking myself how i could use the 1350 points they are threatening to expire. Well, the answer is that I CANNOT use any because you need 2400 for a free day. Just thought i would update the news here in case people are still frustrated with HOW you redeem the points (when you have enough to do so). Not a very generous program.

totally frustrated with Avis. I cannot see where I can use points. Before it gave me an option. Now since the new website, I don't see it anymore. App nor computer. And when you call in, you use an insane amount of points for one day. And on top of that you still have to pay the taxes!

What's the "insane amount" of points? I've used them as low as 600/day before but have seen where they're over 4000/day on other occasions.

Trying to make a reservation (and I am logged in, can see my account activity and have more than enough points to cover). Yet, the drop down does not appear. Has this changed recently?

Well, it seemed Avis was having problem with the website at that time. I tried later on Monday and the point thing showed up.

Been trying for the past couple of days to rent a car at LAX using points and the drop down won't show up. I have 2800 points which I assume is plenty for a one day rental. Or am I missing something?

Avis' points requirements are "dynamic." Someone above posted they wanted 2400 for a day, and I'd guess LAX would cost among the most amount of points, so unfortunately I don't think 2800 is "plenty." Ridiculous, I know.

Just tried calling in to make a reservation and was told it was an issue on their end that they couldn't make the reservation either. Have to call back tomorrow and speak to a customer service rep to make the res. We shall what happens tomorrow.

are Avis points useless? since you cant book it?

Website dropdown still hosed...

I'm thinking Avis points are pretty useless when they are asking 1 million points for a free day. Evidently they're cutting me a deal and not charging the final 15 hours, so the total for this 4 day rental is only 3 million instead of 4 million.

No better one month later. I click the dropdown and get a small blue square.

I had to book a last minute reservation the other day and the dropdown did not show up. I called and the agent booked it.

So how much do people think an avis point is worth? I'm pretty sure I could do 4 day rentals every week for an entire year and still not have enough points to redeem for more than a couple of days.

Whenever I've used points, they're 700/day. And it's typically ~$30-35/day (before taxes/fees, since you still pay taxes/fees with points anyway). However, when booking for a week, the rate is usually in the $150/week while it's 3500 points (no discount for a week of points, like a week of cash). So I'd value is something like 4-5 cents/point. Not worth much, but considering the other option is to pay a fee for airline miles, and I have a boatload of miles anyway, I'll take the Avis points.

The points needed per day is dynamic - it seems the lowest is 700 but the the highest can be very high. On top of that, all the % based taxes are still charged - even though the base rental rate is 0. I really wonder who is getting that money.

Avis Points Usage
 

Does any one know if avis points could be used any where else rather that avis? like Amazon,.....

So I haven't traveled since April of 2017 (left my travel job), and now have 7,225 Avis points that I'm worried about using. There's no MP3 download I can buy, or anything to keep my account active so I don't lose these points??

According to the chart below I have 10 rental days I could use on a cheap car, or 5 on a nicer car.

I did see this on their website, which I think is new. They're now showing how points are calculated for a rental I believe. https://www.avis.com/en/loyalty-prof...referredReward Day LevelStandard Daily Rate*700Up to $50Level 21400$50.01 - $85Level 32100$85.01 - $125Level 43500$125.01 - $225

Well that chart didn't work right...just follow the link.

On further thought, I wonder if I make a rental for a long time in the future, but never complete the rental...does that count me as active? I know there are some games that can be played with flight vouchers like that. I mean I'm seriously tempted to rent a cheap car for an hour to keep my account active, but I don't want to pay cash for taxes on it.

It seems I have my first rental with Avis coming up (as Hertz asks double the price in South Korea).
I was reading about the Avis Preferred Points to get an idea if it would be worth signing up.

I found this in Avis T&C :
Is this correct?
I'm just verifying this as I cannot understand that one would be able to collect points worldwide just to redeem all these points in US & Canada.
Doesn't seem fair as this would mean that rental locations in US & Canada would need to offer all those non-revenue rentals...
That's not sustainable in the long end. Aren't those locations franchises?

Usually not. That could be the reason. Mostly corporate stores in the US, but franchises abroad refuse to give away free rentals.

I'm searching top see if this is true, but it appears that you need to pay for at least one day if you are going to use points.

I have 8000+ points, and am looking to rent a car for 3 days - it gives me the option to rent for 2 days for 1400 points (or 2800 for a Full size) but still 1 day rate plus all fees/taxes on the full cash rate.

I tried a <24 hour rental and I couldn't apply any points.

So here, you're not given 15 hours free, you can use points for the 3 days and then pay for 1 day.

Is this a feature of the program - 1 minimum paid day to use points?

It's annoying but you have to reserve points rentals for full 24 hour increments. Don't make a reservation for 2.x days, as that allows 2 days of points and 1 paid day, no matter how close to 1 the 0.x day is. So just change the hours so it's a 3 day rental and return early. I've done this many times at many locations and always works; it just doesn't let you reserve a partial day with points.

Nice tip, thank you for that!!

I'm trying to use up points before they expire (I don't travel for work anymore), and was frustrated I had to spend so much money and couldn't burn all the points. Your description really makes sense though, I'll try that.