After 2 years with Hertz my company decided hey let's add national and ditch hertz (taking us from Hertz or Avis to Avis or National). National wouldn't do a status match so I earned status the hard way.

Now my company decided - we don't need National, let's just do Avis only.

First off I tried Avis 4 years ago and their customer service was HORRIBLE. Now I'm forced to rent with them, so I would like to make my experience hopefully a little more pleasent.

I'm Exec Elite with national (25+ rentals a year - I think I had 27 last year)

I can't find anything about elite levels with Avis - do these exist and has anyone ever been succesful in getting a status match?

My company negotiated Preferred for everyone but that's actually worse than plain emerald status with national. I'm hoping there is something better.

Unfortuntely, Preferred is not a status. It just means you have a Wizard number tied to your credit card and can bypass the main counter at most stations.

Currently, there is one status you can attain through frequent rentals, Preferred Select, and it's practically meaningless. You are entitled to a 1 class upgrade and a WSJ. Most rentals, I'm offered neither. No big loss.

Your company will save money over Hertz. Maybe that will translate into better compensation for you and your fellow employees. That would be the silver lining in this major cumulonimbus.

Your company may have changed because Avis is relatively generous on kickbacks to the company on corporate accounts, but is far less rewarding to the median traveler than, say, Hertz.

If you have an Amex Plat you're entitled to Preferred Select (the level you can earn as a frequent renter). Some frequent renters have been known to be given Presidents Club (minimum 2 car class upgrade, guaranteed availability) but it's rare -- usually just a certain # given out w/ large corporate contracts, and also given to holders of an Amex Centurion card. Chairman's Club is much harder to obtain still.

An invitation to "Avis First" status is supposed to occur after 12 rentals (rolling 12-month period instead of calendar year). I just called, and they do not do status matches. (I'd love to be contradicted on this one! But that's what one person told me.)

The main reasons I looked into this were: 1) a promo I saw for Avis First people which will get you a two-day weekend rental after three rentals and 2) the fact that they have the Hyundai Sonata. Finally some cars that will draw me away from Hertz and their Toyotas (and the occasional Nissan 350Z ).

Seriously, you'd rather the Sonata than a Toyota? Unless it was a Yaris, I'd rather have that over the Sonata. The Sonata isn't the worst rental (think HHR, Taurus, Neon, etc), but the refinement isn't there. The road noise is quite harsh and it's not as smooth riding as the Camry's I've had. Also, the p!ss poor design of the radio on the Sonata leaves the illumination to reflect off of the windshield at night. I've tried moving the seat around & it didn't help.

For comfort on the often 700-miles-in-a-weekend rentals, I've been okay with the Corolla and rather happy with the Sonata (comfort and mpg). The Camrys we've had from Hertz had the "sports" seats. Apparently "sports" equals "hard," and maybe people with more padding won't mind, but I don't have enough padding for the sports seats.

This is from 2005, but I think they've only gotten better since then: http://www.caranddriver.com/roadtest...sonata-lx.html

I did have my Hertz status matched by Avis. Here is what I did.

Called Customer service and asked how many rentals I needed before I would start receiving free upgrades. I explained that I already received the upgrades from Hertz #1 Gold, but if I got them from Avis I would happily switch due to the fact that I found Avis' pricing better. Without hesitation the CSR told me that she had up'd me to Avis First, but that I would have to maintain the 12 rentals to retain the status next year.

There was no negotiation or begging, it was a 2 minute conversation.

You do realize that you would've made out better asking for a bag of potato chips?

Ha. I've never rented anywhere else, so I've never seen that greener grass. My Hertz #1Gold is through my Amex Aeroplan Platinum. I don't have any complaints with Avis, and I like the upgrades. I always rent fullsize, and always get upgraded (if I chose to take the upgrade) I seem to find best pricing at Avis too.

There is no status high enough.