BA Executive Club

The Avis and British Airways Partnership are delighted to introduce “Avis Priority Rental Service” at London Heathrow. This will exclusively allow Gold Executive Club members to pick up their rental car right outside the Arrivals hall at Terminal 5, instead of catching the shuttle bus to Avis Heathrow.
Gold Executive Club members will be issued with a 4 digit security code by Avis via SMS and email which they will use to unlock a security box on the wall to release their rental vehicle keys.

https://www.britishairways.com/trave...club/_gf/en_gb

As usual, please let us know what you think.

Best regards

Nicci

FlyerTalker6245

Yes I believe this was mentioned a couple of weeks back somewhere else on Flyertalk - the consensus was that sometimes people like to be able to barter for a better vehicle because AVIS are bad at trying to give out a smaller vehicle than the one you actually paid for!

LTN Phobia

They certainly are bad at trying to give me a smaller vehicle (or even the same size). I don't know why but they always give me something much bigger than I paid for. Not that I could care less about that.

flyingbee

I think it is a good service, if you are prepared to gamble on what type of car you get. It's such a trek from T5 to Avis up the other end of the runway, plus you have to wait for the bus. (Also, which genius placed the hire car phones at the other end of the terminal from where the bus stop is?)

Historically I wouldn't have had a problem with not being able to choose my car because Avis always used to have only good group B/C cars at LHR/LGW (my usual car size). However, some makes that I prefer not to have are being offer quite a lot now. If I could be guaranteed a new Ford Fiesta it would be great!

I have already tried to book this service, but in the end decided not to because I didn't want to join Avis Preferred. I'm sure I'll change my mind in the end in order to avoid the long trip to the Avis office.

flyingbee

I hate being given a bigger car than I have booked. I choose a group B because I want a small car. I have a hard enough time trying to park a Fiesta, let alone a Mondeo estate!

BingBongBoy

Hi Nicci,

I think anything which can provide something extra for our Executive Club members is a good thing. Thanks for the update and launching the service.

Regards,

BBB

stimpy

As an Avis Presidents Club member I have always in the past gotten a nice car upgrade at LHR. Without haggling! This new service is certainly nice and I would use it....except with the poor economy I haven't had the need to rent in England in quite a while.

HIDDY

Indeed....Enterprise did that to us at MAN. Instead of a wee Corsa which was booked we ended up with a gas guzzler as they didn't have any small cars left...spent half the holiday in petrol stations filling the blooming thing up. It was a nice car though and we did get it cheap as chips.

This is a good idea for the biz traveller who just wants to get away quickly and who isn't paying the bills. I like to negotiate a full excess insurance deal with an agent especially as it's the wife who does the driving.

baggageinhall

Are you deemed to have accepted the car if you pick up the keys?

If the contract allows, you could always drive the car back to the Avis office and argue up/down etc?

Worst case, you haven't actually lost any time.

redsox1918

With no agent how can u check for damage on the car? If they say it is perfect and you notice a scratch how do you sort it?

What about dropping back the car?

Keys back in the box and off to the plane?

baggageinhall

Presumably you drive it back to the Avis office. Again, worse case, you haven't lost anything.

VolcanoMan

Does anyone know if one can use this after a booking has been made? I've just done a flight+car booking on ba.com for Christmas for a few days then, I saw this nugget of information... ?

Thanks in advance...

vm

chipster

Yes, can be done no problem - did this myself just a couple of weeks back by emailing avis customer care. It's great :-:

bigbaldbairn

Only stumbled across this AVIS priority rental service today, already had a booking for this evening, called to try to switch to this service but was told not possible!

Never mind will try next time - seems pretty neat service to me.

Airprox

In principle, it's a great idea. When it works, it is an excellent service.

The problem, is that the occasions when it works flawlessly (in my experience since it was introduced) are less than 1 in 4 rentals.

Despite the problems being known by the LHR location manager and his regional sales manager (a nice telephone call after my 3rd rental in a month needed correcting), nothing has changed.

I now rent from either Hertz (always great cars, and with their #1 Club almost as quick as collecting from T5), or with Enterprise (a small, committed staff at the LHR branch who deliver the most personal and consistent service I've had at any car rental facility anywhere in the world).