tgh

there is really no advantage to book with Preferred account.

As a holiday traveller, I don't have the luxury of local knowledge in the country I rent.
I have had some success with joining corporate schemes in terms of receiving what I booked or better
Hopefully ,I seek to differentiate my booking from a discount resellers booking.
It costs little , expedites the pick up, and may get me a margin in car selection.

ser_98

I reserved a premium car in FLL, what car should I expect ?

Aug 2-aug 9

Closingracer

I was in Miami and been in Hertz, national and Avis lots and seen a ton of Camaros SS convertibles and Mustangs GT in nationals lot along with Avis and Hertz. Could just be the area. I've driven alot on Miami this week and seen a ton of them from various companies. You can tell am Avis or Budget car since they have the Toll pass thingy on the windows. Hertz and National uses the license plate way.

For what it's worth I was at National to See if I can one way to EWR and they said they don't allow one ways with the GT or SS. Could also be a rule with Avis and so forth? I have seen a GT in nyc once at national so you might be able to find one?

jackal

Just a note: date of booking does not make any difference. It is not even listed anywhere that the agents can see without digging into the reservation history. Whether you made the reservation yesterday or 11.5 months ago. the reservation simply appears on their screen in the list of reservations picking up that day, and when you show up, they will assign whatever car happens to be on the lot at that moment.

The only time booking date matters is when you're renting from a smaller location and you book for a same-day pick up (the agents may rely on a paper mainfest printed out that morning rather than just searching by name in the system, and they may be surprised to have someone show up who is not on the printed list).

mvtm

Hehe on my way to Miami! Will update you later with what happens with my reservation. I did a compact. Let's see what i pick next week on the garage. The reservation i left it as is, without the Avis Preferred account. Thanks for the input! it seems that we were thinking the same. I'll leave the experiment for the next time, as i am sure that my rate is already up and no matter if i put the AWD i used it will be a higher price as it already has gone up.

Woah got a flight out of Maiquetia in just a few hours!

PS: Oh BTW i found a way how to link my AA account. Miles have been posting per rental, but it is really small. 500 miles per rent..., trick is to book it through one of Avis European sites, not only you can put the AWD but also link it to your AAdvantage account. I like to use the Spain one, as currently has cheaper rates than Avis Italy or Swiss that i have used in the past.

mikejones84

Due to an error in the system they didnt have my E-Class, Guy at the desk tried to put me in a C-Class instead, i declined and eventuelly got the option between a BMW 5-series or a Jaguar XF.

I opted for the Jaguar, great car 3.5 Turbocharged, spun it for almost 2000 miles over 2 weeks.

Avis LAX has tons of cars at their location that don't appear on the website, gonna try and book a decent car and upgrade at the location next time.

madfish

Have two separate F class - Int SUV booked next month picking up near Orlando. I know I won't have a choice but is there any from the list in the wiki I should try to avoid ifvoffered. Had a Rav 4 before and really liked it.

Alsi, have a L Class Prrmium SUV for a week a few days later. Is there a particular model I am likely to be offered?

Closingracer

According to the website if you book the e class or similar the C class is in it as well so you got what you booked no?

LucK

Hi people,

I hope this message finds you well.

I am an European President Club and I need to rent a car for 11days in Montreal for a roadtrip. (Departing from Montreal airport)
I have no idea how upgrades work in Canada ? Should I book a G -Class car to get an H ?

I don't know if upgrades are automatic and what most common car I may have.

Thank you very much for your help & advices

Luc

LucK

Hi again,

I have found the right thread for that question !

Will post there

tgh

So how does this work when a less common class of car is booked at a smaller pick up location ?
Are you really saying that I will get whatever they have on the day no mater what I book ?

megalab

I rent from neighborhood locations quite a bit and in a word, yes. They don't always have what I rented but will let me choose from anything available as my Preferred Plus "upgrade". If the pickin's were slim I've exchanged at a larger location (e.g. an airport) for what I need/want, sometimes getting an even better upgrade than I was entitled to make up for the inconvenience.

Juber216

Yes and No. 90 percent of the time you will get a car in your class or similar. At our location we pull the manifesr for stations in our zones and send out the reserved classes. If you book a luxury you will likely get a MKZ, Chrysler 300 or a MKT. In Presidents club we will auto upgrade them two car classes luxuary excluded. For example if the President were to book a "G" class (premium) I would give them up to a standard SUV never a luxuary.

jackal

No, I'm saying that whether you booked the night before or 9 months before doesn't matter. Overnight or in the morning, the area management should (if they run a decent operation) pull a list of the day's reservations, look at what is scheduled to go out (and what is scheduled to get returned), and move cars between locations as needed to make sure reservations are honored (as much as possible).

On that reservation manifest, there is absolutely no indication whether you booked 3 hours before it was printed or half a year before it was printed. Your name is on the reservation list and the area management will try to plan to have what you reserved available (unless they run a poor operation and are reactive instead of proactive, in which case yes, you'll just get whatever's on the lot).

The only time the date you booked matters is if you happen to book a last-minute reservation after the area management has printed off the reservation manifest and worked through it. As long as you complete your booking before that time, it truly does not matter, and booking a year out confers absolutely zero benefit (other than possibly snagging a lower rate) over booking a couple days before.

Interesting. Probably half of my Hertz premium (class G) reservations (as a President's Circle) get me into a luxury car (class I).

Avis has always struck me as the Delta of the rental car world: stingy on rewards and benefits and arrogant about their operation being well enough run that people will still use them even though they don't provide as many niceties as their competitors.

tgh

Joining the Europcar programme in AU , guaranteed me my class of car for a Heathrow(uk) pickup.
In fact it was a new car.

The lack of a process to warrant vehicle class in rentals is a bit daunting.
We arrive hoping to be offered what we want and need in wheels, only to be dealt a take it or leave it substitute that may not suit at all.

Coming off a cruise ship ex Montreal, we have a choice to pick up at Plattsburgh or Burlington.
We have booked an elite SUV with Avis ex Plattsburgh, terminating in New York, because it's closer to Montreal for the cab fare and the prices quoted were cheaper.

I would cheerfully pay a premium for a guaranteed choice but it seems it cannot happen.
I guess my backup if we get something unsuitable is to ask if we can swap it in Burlington.