My AVIS Points disapperared
 

I have earned so much points in my AVIS preferred account. Due to inactivity all my points were inactivated to zero. I have not been informed. I dont think their expiration policy is clear either. Any one experienced this before?. I asked the customer service to reinstate my points. But no response yet.

Upon seeing this post, I was curious to learn about their points expiration policy, and found this on their terms and conditions pdf. What's the difference between Expiration and Cancellation?

Expiration of Avis Preferred Points: Points are valid for sixty (60) months from when they were earned. In the event that the Avis Preferred member fails to exercise any redemption of earned points within such sixty (60) month period, the points are deemed forfeited and surrendered back to Avis and shall have no value to the Avis Preferred Member and will be removed from any of the Member’s accounts. Points earned by residents of the province of Ontario, Canada do not expire. However these points may be canceled due to inactivity.

Cancellation for Inactivity: Avis Preferred Points earned or otherwise obtained by an Avis Preferred Member will be forfeited without notice if the Avis Preferred member becomes Inactive. An Avis Preferred Member is considered “Inactive” if during a 12-month period: (a) the Avis Preferred Member has not completed an eligible rental at a participating Avis location; (b) the Avis Preferred Member has not earned or redeemed any Avis Preferred Points, or (c) the Avis Preferred Member’s account has been cancelled.

Based on my experience, Avis doesn't notify you when your points are due to expire. I lost the points I had, too. I didn't bother to ask them about it. It was my mistake for not paying attention.

That said, it would have been difficult for me to use any points. I only do local or one-way rentals. The Avis office where I rented relocated to a different part of town. Instead of being in walking distance from home, it's now a bus/taxi ride. I can still walk to 4 other rental locations, which makes Avis no longer worth much to me.

I basically stopped using Avis because they moved...which lead to the inactivity. I'd definitely be more upset if those points were of more value to.

Hopefully, you can get your points back.

OP, were you able to get your points restored? The same thing happened to me recently... When I asked about it, I got a canned message from customer service saying my information was forwarded to a "resolution specialist" for review...

Update: After an "investigation" Avis restored my points. Travel at my company has resumed, I don't know if all the reservations I have over the next few months was a factor.

In my non-regular "your Monthly Avis Statement" e-mail, which I got twice this year, it does tell you the expiration date. Mine is coming up. I wonder if I can talk them into extending it.

I called and the guy said the only way is to rent a car to keep the account active. Even though I have a lot of points, I really don't think I should risk getting COVID to rent a car to keep the points active. I guess we will see what happens.

Has anyone gotten covid from renting a car, or staying at a hotel, yet? I'm sure it would have made the news if it were a significant trend.

We don't need to get into an argument on this forum about this. Everyone has a different risk tolerance level and view on "doing our part to help stop COVID". You can go to the Omni PR forum to express your opinions.

My points are about to expire due to inactivity over the past 12 months as well....

Is the only way to prevent points from expiring to do a rental/points redemption? I would have thought they'd have paused points expiry due to COVID...

All my points disappeared and I was able to get through to Avis after trying for 3 days (kept getting fast busy signal on their 800#). I had to re-register for Preferred Plus, even after being a very frequent customer for over 8-years (~3 rentals of 4-days per month). When I spoke to a customer service representative, they confirmed that although Preferred Status could be extended, points and free rentals were not being extended. There were no FAQs about this. Their emails didn't directly address what was occurring with points. Their email site didn't directly address what was happening with points during COVID. It is really unfortunate that Avis chose this approach in my opinion.

Considering how worthless Avis points are, I don't think you're missing out on too much. I lost several hundred points (they expired) and I lost no sleep over it. The only reason I rent from Avis is if they are cheaper than National (which is usually the case).

-J.