Upgrading Avis car booked through BA Holidays?
 

We booked a BA Holiday and the best Avis car they offered was not at the category we would have liked; assume it is possible to upgrade at the desk (subject to availability) but just wanted to check in case there is any weird BA Holidays restrictions on this?

Can I upgrade beforehand by calling Avis directly?

Any tips for making the process as smooth as possible; we usually use Sixt so I have no experience with Avis - e.g. should I join "preferred" etc. - might that help?

Thanks!

Upgrading at destination often works out cheaper and you are paying in local currency too. Each depot seems to be a profit centre or a franchise in my experience and will negotiate. Join Avis Preferred at no cost as it often has a desk with a shorter queue.

In my experience, non-preferred customer led to a 90 minute queue, to be initially told my booked car was not available, try to sell upgrades and un-necessary additional insurance, only to magically "find" my original car. Awful experience.
Avis Preferred ? no queue what so ever, walk straight to the parking garage, my name and parking space displayed on the board, keys in igintion and drive off immediately.
Preferred is a complete no brainer !

Unless you need to add a driver...

Preferred is definitely an essential! As it's free, I'm surprised every Avis renter doesn't use it! :)

My sole experience with Avis is in the USA (YMMV elsewhere) but i have occasionally ended up with a better vehicle than I booked [always SUV]. A recent PHX was a case of "Pick anything you like from Row J" :)

1. Agree with above. Join Preferred. Makes pick up so much easier.
2. Try to get the change before you go. Some busy Avis hire places allocate the cars before you arrive. Trying to negotiate a change might require you to join a long queue/line.

My experience too - couldn't believe how smooth my first rental was as Avis Preferred!

With Avis Preferred, even if you have to go to the desk, there is usually a 'fast lane' which jumps the queue or is at least a shorter one. It's free so there's no reason not to have it.

If the car upgrade is essential, then I would talk to BA Holidays to try to book in advance.
However, my experience is that I have often been offered a choice of cars including higher groups for no extra payment on arrival. Not sure if the Preferred card helps with that.

I booked a car through BA-Avis and wanted a better one. Whilst I could see the reservation in the Avis app I decided to return to BA, who offered me exactly the same price as the Avis app. In my limited experience upgrading before you go is always better than asking at the desk, but that's just me, and entirely based around USA rentals. Another vote for preferred, you get to skip all the upsell rubbish and queues, and the 'mistake' where something you didn't want was added. One last point, what you rent and what you get, don't get too focused on it, it's very unlikely you get the mentioned car, the or similar is much more likely.
In the Avis thread here on FT there's a great Wiki and what's in each group, so at least you can have a shot at arguing if you think the 'or similar' lacks similar......

And don't forget you will usually get the 'or similar'. This means it will have 4 wheels and a windscreen. Every September we go to Italy. I always order an Alfa Romeo for the experience either through Avis direct or BA whichever has the best deal. One day this may come good but we just laugh about it now!