SEAskyrider

Haven't seen any posts about this. When I rent from Avis and the other big companies, I always request my promised 600 RapidRewards points for each reservation. Usually I do this after I come back from my trip by calling the car company, give my RR#, and wait the 6-8 weeks for it to show up on my SW account per usual.

This week when I went to request points for a rental I made in JNU, the woman on the phone informed me that Avis no longer submits for airline credit after the reservations have been made due to "people avoiding fees" for using such a benefit. It is now policy that all FF#'s be provided at the counters, and the $3-6 (not sure) fee is paid.

I haven't yet called back to try again/confirm the new policy. Not a big deal either way, but I just thought it was worth mentioning because, last I checked, Alamo/National does not have this policy. Not sure if this extends to Budget as well.

IAHtraveler

I'm not surprised at all. Actually, I always wondered why Avis allowed this in the first place.

mapu

Closing a loophole that costs Avis money is a smart business move.

airoli

Of course, if you earn miles in a non-North American FFP (LH, TK etc.) you don't pay this silly fee in the first place.

sdsearch

You don't even always have to pay it for a USA-based FFP. I don't know why, but on most of my rentals the fee is waived (in fact Avis.com explicitly tells me that!), despite me earning AA miles and bonuses on same.

But ironically since I "follow the bonuses" and am always getting way more than the "regular" airline/hotel earnings, I wouldn't mind that much if they charged it.

Btw, hotel programs don't incur the fee either. (And for 3+ day rentals, the seemingly-never-ending Club Carlson 7500/9000 bonuses can be good deal if no great airline bonus jumps in front of you.)

alphaod

Sounds like a good business decision.

nacho

Why doesn't Avis just charge the fee when people tried to claim miles after rental?

DiverDave

Yet I still see buttons on the avis.com website to request frequent traveler points for my prior rentals.

David

Hayden

Though I diligently submit my FF# as a part of rental reservations, it is rare that the miles and bonuses are credited. Thus, I have to track whether they appear and almost always must request the miles after the fact. I wonder if Avis will now try to deny these requests?

flightexpert

It's true that miles aren't always credited when the FF number is entered as part of the reservation, or even when you show your FF card at the counter. I just can't see Avis denying folks these miles, as frequent flyers and associated offers are obviously a big part of their business.

Also, I wonder what they'd say if they tried to deny the miles and I offered to pay the fee?

beltway

Perhaps I just caught a lucky break, but a phone CSR recently agreed to process AA miles for a Budget rental completed last month. The miles are now in my AA account, so it wasn’t an empty promise.

joeyday

Avis is so haphazard in the crediting of miles associated with rentals. Since the Avis rewards program is worthless, I often give my BA Avios number when I rent from Avis. It rarely posts. I have heard such excuses as "your rate is too low" to "you can only get frequent flyer miles when you rent at an airport".

nacho

Did they charge you a fee to get AA miles?

beltway

Nope!