Avis = good service, poor car selection.
Hertz = poor service, good car selection.

Avis tends to be more expensive than other rental agencies, depending on which discounts you qualify for.

There is a great list of Avis wizard codes over in the Avis forum which have been able to save me up to 50%.

:D

I don't mind Avis, although being a "First" has had no impact on the service/cars/anything else I receive from them.

Renting with Hertz this week as Avis was sold out in this location and Hertz is our "plan B" agency. Overall the experience has been fine. Of course this was helped by a very cute Hertz agent who used to work for Avis and recognized me as an Avis frequentee at this location.

Ahh - and lookiehere - just got an email from Avis asking me why I dinged them on a survey from a couple weeks back. This is a "first".

gbryan - I can't believe you took pseudo medical advice from the box. But good on ya for goin' to the doc (in a box).

The hockey bug has bit me for next season already. My mother has been wondering if we could do a one-night Devils away trip, because she has CO tickets to use and just got the HH Amex. She's using it for a business card and got her Gold upgrade on the first statement. ^^^

I've spent the afternoon looking at timetables, distances from airports to stadiums, and hotel proximities. The Mom has already said that BOS and PIT are verboten. Flights must be short enough to arrive in the target city before game time from EWR (can't do PHL connections...she is The Mom and she DOES NOT connect)

Candidate cities, considering likelihood of a Devils win and easy flights with a chance to burn Mom's HH points:

BNA, CMH, ORD, RDU, TPA

BNA and RDU are the leaders so far...I want new route lines, and I've done TPA. ORD can't be done correctly in 36 hours. CMH - who cares.

NHL schedule comes out in bout 3 weeks. :D

I guess it depends on what you want in a car selection. I'm quite happy to drive the G6 around all day long. It isn't a phenomenal car, but I've never had any mechanical issues and it gets decent gas mileage.

I'm using Hertz in the UK this summer (GBP110 for 4 days with different pick-up/drop-off locations) because the rate was enormously cheaper than Avis. Plus I have by BD upgrade certs and Hertz rentals get a ton of BD points, so that makes it even better.

There are a bunch of hotels minutes from RDU , I usually stay at the Sheraton, Im sure there is a Hilton right there.
I think it is 20 minutes to the arena from there .
I have never stayed in Raleigh , always near the airport , or in Chapel Hill .

edit : I forgot to mention that The Westin in DEN i stayed in monday night had a Palm Restaurant
so I went for the Veal Parm ^
Am I now Palm Elite ?

Seems to me that you have left out the best, most logical candidate if you are anxious to see a Devils win. That would be FLL for sure. ^

I am partial to RDU, with BNA second. I spent enough time in CMH over the years not to care ever to go back.

Anyone have suggestions on how to go about finding a travel agent to see if there are consolidator fares out there that aren't published online? Looking to travel BOS-WAW over Labor Day and I've currently found a NW/KL itinerary that goes BOS-AMS-WAW at the times I need for about $1235.

This past year, the Panthers weren't the push overs they were in the past. I wouldn't count on an automatic win in Sunrise (suburb of Fort Lauderdale).

The Chicken Parm is even better. And the Shrimp Bruno should not be passed up. But sadly no, the line "Palm Elite" refers to my face being on the wall at the Palm in ACY.

I forgot to page you in The Box for your comments re: Jokinen.

See above, sir. Olli Jokinen held that team together on the offensive side of the puck. He went to PHX earlier this week after almost as much speculation as CO/*A. :D FLL might be a good choice, but I go there 1-3 times a year. Grandma is 20 minutes from FLL, and as much as I like the stadium, I wanna see something new.

I've done CLE and DAY, so I could shoot the Ohio hat trick. (rimshot). RDU = only hockey appeal. BNA = I'd want to see the Grand Ole Opry and go on the Nash Trash tour. The plan is to fly home late afternoon so as to have the morning to do something in town, and Nash Trash came very highly recommended.

The Grand Ole Opry is the best ^

I know about the team and how it works. :p I used to work for the Panthers (my interview with them was on 9/10/01). I follow that team - sadly, lately. I know Jokkinen was an excellent leader on that team. I think someone else will step up and keep that team together. Maybe Weiss? Maybe Allen? They were the alternate captains last season. I'm thinking the Blue Jackets may be a win for the Devils.

Well, another hockey fan in The Box. Yay!!

Stephen Weiss might have motivation to lead that team thanks to the fat contract he got after all that complaining.

The sad part is that the salary cap and parity did not bring uncertainty to the NHL schedule for Devils fans. What brings uncertainty to Devils fans are the Devils themselves. I remember ranting last season about the Jersey A-game not showing up against statistically bad teams. It's like they mentally take the night off against weak teams, causing a loss when the opposite should be almost guaranteed. :mad:

ETA: what did you do for the Panthers? Please don't say photo...I'd love to shoot pro hockey and get paid. I almost got thrown out of a Devils game last season for my camera.