So 50 miles into this week's trek, and the Satellite radio stopped working, and switched itself to channel 184 (the how to subscribe channel). So, my brand new rental car (literally, this thing is a week old), doesnt have satellite radio anymore. No 3-month trial, nothing.

LAME

Location: Vegas Local Avis
Reserved: Int
Status: CHM
Rxed: Toyota Seinna (at my request) for road trip to Cardinals football game with a ton of guys

Location: Columbus, Ohio
Reserved: Int
Status: CHM
Rxed: Caddy CTS with 11K on the clock and XM

Location: DEN
Reserved: Int
Status: CHM
Rxed: Caddy CTS with 27K on the clock and XM

Location: Denver Local Avis
Reserved: Int
Status: CHM
Rxed: Same Caddy as above, it was going to be a month long rental so I just swapped it out after a one-day one-way downtown to save a ton on airport taxes

Location: DEN
Reserved: Int
Status: CHM
Rxed: Caddy CTS with 9K on the clock and XM. This one was nicer than the other last ones, with a double sunroof, heated (and cooled) seats, heated stearing sheel, etc. However, not sure if something is wrong with the car - the pickup seems a bit lacking. Maybe it is the terribly cold temps (like 15 degrees F)...

Location: LAX
Reserved: Int
Status: First
Received: 2011 Camaro with 4500k, XM, heads-up display, leather, loaded

Location: SAT
Reserved: Full
Status: PC
Received: Suburban with 20,000 miles.

Location: DEN
Reserved: Int
Status: CHM
Rxed: Lincoln MKT (Full Size Crossover SUV) with 2.2K on the clock. No XM (thought new fords got that for 6 months)

Location: TPA
Reserved: Full Size
Status: PC
Received: 2010 Challenger R/T, 10k, XM, leather.

I was fully expecting to get a standard one with a V6 and then I saw the words Hemi. The city of Tampa will never be the same.

Because you've paid off the city's debt in speeding fines?

Location: MIA
Reserved: Fullsize
Status: Preferred
Rxed: Mustang convertible

This was my first time renting having signed up as Preferred, so we had to go see the office as they needed to sight my drivers licence etc. The woman working there was lovely, she said that they try to upgrade their Preferred members "every now and then" and let's see what they could find as a "welcome to Avis".

We were driving to Key West so first she offered a Jeep Wrangler, though I figured that wouldn't be particularly comfortable for longish drives (we did 550miles in 4 days) so asked if they had any other convertibles and got a Mustang instead. Worked for me, as I'd wanted a convertible anyway but they were double the cost of the fullsize I booked.

Location: SYR
Reserved: Standard
Status: PC
Received: Mercury Mariner "premier", leather, Ford Sync, working Sirius, 1k miles

I didnt even know there were any Mercury's left at Dealer lots for AVIS to buy up, seeing that Mercury is a dead brand. It was nice to get a brand new one off the lot

This week:

Location: DEN
Reserved: Int
Status: CHM
Rxed: Lincoln MKT (Full Size Crossover SUV) with 91 miles on the clock. This ones has XM with full traffic on the on-build nav.

Same thing, but out of IAD and only Avis Preferred.

Location: SFO (drop at SJC)
Reserved: Compact
Status: PC
Received: Ford Mustang... ugh!

Is there a way to code a reservation when you don't want an upgrade?

Is everyone requesting these upgrades or are they being offered as a courtesy? Do you go inside or to the Avis preferred counter?

They are usually automatic. If you don't like the upgraded vehicle, you can always go the Preferred counter and ask them if you can change.

As a President's Club member, they've almost always been automatic. As SFO777 said, if we don't like the car that's in our space, we will go back to the kiosk and ask if anything else is available, and have almost never been denied a choice between a couple of other options.

Also, President's Club is supposed to get a two-category upgrade if available. We usually reserve a mid-size / intermediate, and have often been upgraded automatically to a premium which is a triple-category upgrade.

Susan