We all know how disorientating arriving in a new place can be. Now imagine arriving in London, one of the biggest and busiest cities in the world!! The last thing you want to think about is dragging your luggage around and worrying about public transport, trying to find out where to pick up the hire car!!
Avis already has locations at the five airports around London and several more based within the centre of London, including Mayfair, Waterloo, Earls Court, Tower Bridge and Euston. However, we now offer locations at major railway stations such as St Pancras, Marylebone, Charing Cross, Paddington and Liverpool Street.
But this time, we’re doing things slightly differently as these locations are “virtual”. This means that you won’t see the red sign, Avis staff or an Avis office when you arrive. You just have to jump in a taxi to the nearest Avis location, where the staff will refund your taxi fare, get your car and send you on your way. At the end of your hire, you return the car to the location you collected it and our staff will drop you back off at the railway station, ready for your onward journey.
So far, this service has been popular with the customers who have used it. We hope it provides them with a little more convenience. If you’ve rented from one of these locations, why not tell us how the experience worked for you? Or let us know where you would like to see our next “virtual” location.
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This sounds great, but why for instance have I not heard about this service?
I would consider myself pretty up to date with what Avis have to offer service wise yet I have never heard or been offered this?
So if for example I arrive in St Pancras, where would I ask the Taxi to take me?
And what if I wanted to book a select series car for instance, but the closest branch to the station doesn’t offer it? Can I take the taxi to a branch further away?
Regards,
Robert
Agree with Robert (haven’t heard about it) but it sounds enticing! May I point out one of my favourite customer-focussed / benchmark experience? A competitor in the States have been offering “we’ll pick you up” for years. Essentially you make a reservation (with their nearest branch) and they will pick you up anywhere (i.e. your home), drive you to the station / branch, where your vehicle is waiting for you! Translating that into Avis’ new offering – would you consider offering a pick-up service (i.e. at St Pancras) for a customer? just a thought…US benchmarks are tough
Hi Robert, Isabel, this is probably the first you’ve heard about it because it’s the first time we’ve talked about it! (it’s a blog exclusive!)
Robert, when making a booking for one of these virtual locations there will be a note in the booking process notifying you where you have to take a taxi/tube to – the cost of which we will reimburse you for. Unfortunately Select Series is not currently available at any locations.
Those are great suggestions Isabel. As you know this is very new concept so any feedback you have on this service is greatly appreciated!
Rob
I’ve got a question about virtual locations, though not in this context which you may be able to assist me with.
I’m staying in Las Vegas at The Venetian Hotel, where according to the hotel’s web site, there is an Avis desk. If you go onto the US Avis site, there it is – ‘The Venetian’ and you can book cars and do the things you would expect on an Avis website.
However, go onto the UK Avis site and this location doesn’t appear to exist. There is a location for ‘The Palazzo’, but I’m not sure if this is the same hotel.
If they are the same, why are they called different names depending on where you try and book them from.
If they are not the same location why can you book a car at The Venetian from Avis in the US but not Avis in the UK?
This is a real ‘virtual location’.
Hi Matthew, thank you for the heads up on this location. The location does exist, it just wasn’t appearing on the avis.co.uk website! This has been fixed and it will be bookable from tomorrow. In the meantime I believe our call centre will be giving you a call to arrange your booking.
Rob