You may recall that a little while ago I wrote about the roll out of the 3 minute promise in France – a promise to our Avis Preferred members that they will be able to collect their hire car keys at the counter and go in less than 3 minutes. Well I am delighted to announce that this promise has now been rolled out to 400 locations across Europe including Paris Charles de Gaulle, Madrid and Zurich airports. It is also available at Heathrow, Birmingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh airports in the UK and will be coming to Gatwick, Stansted, Bristol and Manchester airports by the end of March.
Now reading some of the comments when we wrote about this last time, there was some concern that this would mean losing any kind of human contact. This initiative does not involve any kind of automated self-service kiosks that would replace our rental agents. It is simply a service guarantee that we make to all of our Avis Preferred members that they will be served within this timeframe. Each Avis Preferred member is given the opportunity to take a stopwatch so they can personally time how long it takes to be served. If we fail to fulfil our promise then we will provide a £20 John Lewis voucher as compensation (this is for UK rentals – the kind of vouchers will differ in other countries).
If you are not an Avis Preferred member and are interested in taking advantage of this service then you can sign up on our website.
(5 votes, average: 4.2 out of 5)
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I look forward to this..it is certainly not happening at Munich airport….quicker (but not much) at the non preferred desks..only 25minutes!!
My one disatisfaction with Avis preferred is that I still need to queue and speak to an agent – as I always wish to reduce my insurance excess to £100, and prepay my fuel. So when i arrive at Heathrow, even if my name is on the Avis preferred board, and the car is waiting ready to go, I need to go inside to sort out those final details. No one in Avis has been able to explain to my why these things can not be made a part of the “profile” and prebooked.
Looking forward to it as simplifies choice with [of your competitors] where fast service as No 1 Gold member only came at premium rates compared to Avis.
Last two rentals (both in Germany, but two different airports)was very impressed by this new service, very fast and efficient. Made us feel valued as preferred members.
Hi,
Recently got around to joining Avis Preferred, having been an Avis man for many years (yes, I’m a bit slow on the uptake!). Really like the idea of the 3 min promise. When will you roll it out globally? Flying to Jo’burg next Thurs and using Preferred for the first time, so it will be interesting to see how much longer than the 3 mins it takes.
Well I joined Avis Prefered before going into Miami Airport. It took Half an hour to que and three quarters of an hour to get my car (a total of one and a quarter hours)! I have written to the Commercial Director who put his name on the avis prefered letter when they sent me my AP card. After two weeks and extra charges off my credit card for a prepaid car in UK, I am still waiting for a reply! I have lost all confidence in Avis and think the Logo should be “we try harder to upset our customers”
Think twice before taking Avis rental. If I do get a satisfactory reply I will Add again.
Why does your Prefered web site booking, come to a full stop (at the lat stage)after going through the whole procedure of on line filling in
I rent at lest once a month and usually the online system works, but in recent months it has had numerou glitches
“Sorry, there is a problem with your booking”
“Due to technical problems we are unable to process your booking at this time”
Hi Mike,
We received your letter last week and a reply from the Commercial Director has been posted earlier today.
Hope this helps,
Stephen
Thank you all for your great comments and feedback!
D R, B M, Greg, thanks for the positive comments.
Colin Brady – you can add the product to reduce your excess to your Avis Preferred rental profile so it automatically includes this in every rental. However, please note that the price and product (i.e. what the excess reduces to, any additional benefits) can differ by country. Unfortunately, you cannot yet make this update on the avis.co.uk website but you can ask for this to be added to your profile the next time you are at our Heathrow office.
Fuel Up Front is not something you can currently added but it is a good suggestion and I will forward this feedback to the Product Development team. I have also spoken to the team at Heathrow who are looking at the possibility of putting a form in the Avis Preferred allocated cars. That way you can simply select the extras you want by filling in the form and hand it in at the security booth where it will be added to your rental.
Colin Moody – the current roll out is focused on airports across Western Europe. I will post an update if and when I know of definitive plans to roll out in other countries.
Mike – I am disappointed to read this. I have forwarded this to my colleague in Customer Support who is looking into this and will be in touch shortly.
Tom – I sincerely apologise for the any difficulties you have experienced with our website. We are aware of some problems and are trying to resolve as a matter of urgency. If you are finding that you are unable to book then you could try our reservation centre on 08445 81 81 81.
Once again, thank you all for your comments/feedback/questions. Please keep it coming!
Rob
Re blog 6 above
To the Marketing team and Rob White.
Thank you Rob for your letter received today 8th Apr. A very positive reply and conclusion from you, thanks. My confidence in Avis has returned. Will report back on my service in Vancouver next month. Thanks once again.
Mike
Use the Avis preffered at Edinburgh Airport weekly and have never recieved my keys in 3 minutes as generaly you have to que due to only one person dealing with customers. Rarely a long wait however.
Un-recorded damage on 50% of the vehicles hired though has necessitated a return to the desk, this wastes alot more time.
I will be amazed if the 3min key
pick up works at Stansted Airport. Last time I had a 7am
pickup on a Saturday no-one was at the (locked) Avis Preferred Hut and the Night Shift had locked all the Avis Preferred Car Keys for the following day inside. The main desk weren’t aware that no-one was coming in to man the Hut on that Saturday and were sending
Avis Preferred customers directly to a locked hut.
And they had no key! Eventually
after waiting an hour I got
another vehicle allocated and
£10 off the bill when I returned
the vehicle because Avis Preferred was still unmanned.
Sorry – not impressed.
Hi Ruth, Neil, thank you for the feedback. I have passed this on to the teams at Edinburgh and Stansted who will be disappointed to read this and will undoubtedly take this feedback on board. The 3 minute promise is now available at Edinburgh airport and it will be available at Stansted by the end of the month. This is our committment to ensuring that our Avis Preferred members are served as quickly and efficiently as possible!
Rob
I use Nice airport for holidays. Had a disater a couple of years ago and complained. Now last time(October 2007)absolutely siperb Avis preferred lives up to its name.
Hi Rob,
Just got back from South Africa. Whilst the 3 minute promise may not have reached them there, the Joburg team certainly had the keys in my hand inside 3 minutes….so Avis Preferred worked for me.
Colin
I’m glad you had a successful trip to Johannesburg Colin and thank you for taking the time to post your feedback.
We hope to hear again from you soon.
Rob
When will this 3 minute promise be offered at Luton Airport?
Thanks
Sue
Hi Sue, the 3 minute promise was launched at Luton Airport only just this Wednesday gone (7th of May)!
Rob
Thanks Rob, will report back this evening after trying the service out!!
Regards
Sue Porter
Excellent. I look forward to reading your report Sue! Have a great rental.
Rob
Going through sign-up for Avis preferred it says to check avis.co.uk for preferred locations, but I can`t see how to.
Specifically checking for Rome Ciampino, but will need it for future bookings also.
Thanks, Nik.
Hi Nik, I believe this is referring to the location pages on our website which can be searched by clicking on the “Find an Avis location” on the navigation along the top.
Here is a direct link to the Rome Ciampino page: http://www.avis.co.uk/CarHire/Europe/Italy/Rome/Rome-Ciampino-Airport. On the page you’ll see a section along the right called ‘Services’. Under here it will list if it is an ‘Avis Preferred’ location. Currently the Avis Preferred service is not available at Ciampino Airport.
Rob
Thanks very much, Rob. I had checked the Ciampino page, but seeing nothing there assumed there was a list elsewhere.
Looking forward to a swift collection next month, will report back on return!
Cheers, Nik.
Excellent. I look forward to hearing back from you. Have a great trip to Rome!
I have a question about the preferred service. I live in the USA where I am a preferred member. I’ll be renting a car from LHR this summer – does my preferred agreement with avis in the US work with Avis in the UK? Or would I need to sign up with Avis Europe at avis.co.uk? When I make a reservation online at avis.com my confirmation email says preferred status confirmed, but when I called customer service to confirm they informed me that there is no preferred service in the UK. Can one of the Avis guys / gals help? Many thanks. Bill.
Hi Bill, yes we offer the Avis Preferred service at London Heathrow and you’re US membership will work fine there. When you get to Heathrow you’ll need to get on the Avis shuttle bus which will take a short distance to the main car rental centre. Outside the Avis building you will see an Avis Preferred board. Simply look up your name on the board to find out which bay your car is parked in. Then when you leave the car park you simply need to show your driver’s licence and the rental agreement at the security booth. From there you will be on your way!
Rob
Ref comment 6 and 10
trip to Vancouver was excellent. staff at airport very helpfull. Guy who delivered car to reception really good. loaded lugagge and advised us on our forwrd trip as to best way to avoid rush hour traffic. Only problem on return of car was mistake made at pick up on prepaid voucher and wanted to charge credit card again. Took 15 minutes to confirm payment even though had all paperwork from uk with me.
The car was first class except oil change warning came on every time car started, even at pick up. This must have been obvious by delivery and cleaning staff.
Thanks Rob. This blog is great, by the way. One other question – I’ll be renting in August – will the new A4 be in the fleet by then or will you have some of the oldder model? Thanks again. Bill.
Hi Mike – great to hear from you again! Thank you for taking the time to post your feedback. I will forward on to the team in Vancouver.
Hi Bill – no problem and thank you for the feedback also! The new Audi A4 autos are starting to come on to our fleet this month. However, it will take a while for them to be fully phased in and replace all of the current A4 model. In all honesty, it is more likely that you will receive the current A4 model than the new A4 model in August.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Rob
Re: Avis Preferred.
I recently (5 Jun) arrived at Hrow, with a car booked via your website, I am a “Preferred” customer.
At your office it took over 15 minutes to get the rental paperwork. I walked to the car (row F – the furthest possible from the office, not the closest as promised in the Preferred description), only to find there were no keys in the car. I then walked back to the office and the car was changed – to the same model in Row C ???? Total time to drive away – 25 minutes from arrival!!
Again, I had to reconfirm that I want premier insurance and pre-paid fuel options, produce my driving licences as part of the pick-up process – what is the benefit of a “Preferred” scheme if i have to do this each time i rent?
Also, whan making the booking, I saw an option to “pay now” which gave me a small discount over paying later – BUT it said that Preferred customers would need to pick up documents if they selected this option – why? I almost felt penalised as a Preferred customer.
However, as a positive note – a few weeks ago i rented from a competitor to see a comparison. It took more than 30 mins to pick up the car, and 3 hours to get through on the phone to extend my rental – never again! I am coming back to Avis!
Quote:”Rob White- Marketing, Avis UK
May 13th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Hi Nik…At the moment Ciampino is not displaying that it offers the Avis Preferred service but I can assure you that it does…”
Hi. At Ciampino there was no reference to Avis Preferred, with only 1 person on the desk I had to queue for 15 minutes, then go through the normal form-filling routine, which took another 5-10, despite my details coming up on screen when the Preferred card was swiped.
I thought it might be too good to be true!
Our return flight was cancelled,(baggage handlers crashed into the plane!!!) so I booked another car for 1 day(Apparently I couldn`t have the same one back as it was dirty.)Again, the standard procedure ensued, but I accept this was due to on-the-spot booking.
That said, it was still quicker than the H***z desk both times!
Nik.
Hi Colin, usually picking up a car at Heathrow for Avis Preferred members is pretty straightforward as you simply need to look on the Avis Preferred board to find out which bay your car is parked in, and then get in the car, where the keys are waiting, and go (with a quick stop at the security booth to show your driver’s licence and pre-printed rental agreement on your way out). For some reason you clearly did not receive this level of service and I apologise for that. If you could email your rental agreement number to comments@avis.co.uk I can investigate why you did not receive the level of Avis Preferred service you were expecting.
Rob
Hi Nik, I have just double checked this information and you are correct, the Avis Preferred service is not available at Ciampino airport. I sincerely apologise if I have mis-managed your expectation in this respect. It was a misunderstanding between my colleague and I and I will ensure ny original comment above and the website is updated.
In the meantime I will be in touch directly with you on this matter.
Once again I apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Rob
Hi
When does the 3 minute scheme reach Pisa airport? I tend to rent there at least 5-6 times a year and so far they have served me well.
Is this service also available at Ben Gurion-Tel Aviv Avis station?
I generally have had to wait at least 10 minutes for everything to be filled out, including having to argue about the car, as they generally do not have the car that I have reserved, and some agents will not give me a higher class instead.
There was one occasion where it took almost 40 minutes until I was finally with my vehicle
Well, this is going to sound a bit mixed, but I really did want to say “Thanks” – mostly
I just got back from a trip to the US which involved 3 Avis renatls, all with Preferred
1. San Francisco. Car was waiting for me and the bus driver dropped me right at my car. Drop off was the ususal painless non-event. 95% – Thanks
2. Chicago O’Hare. Car was waiting, but it was VERY smoky. Changed car at desk, but 2nd car had faulty remote locking keyfob. Changed car AGAIN, 3rd car was fine. Drop-off again excellent. 80% – Why was I allowed to be given a car that I couldn’t lock?
3. Philadelphia. WOW. I booked an A-band car and was given at least a C (or maybe even a D) AND it only had 3 miles on the clock. Most impressive – until I dropped the car off. No-one available to receive the car. I waited 10 minutes to be dealt with by someone who obviously wanted to be somewhere else – very surly. Also, then had to wait another 10 minutes for the bus back to the airport. A possible 100% score ruined by the really bad drop-off arrangements – 75% (sorry)
On the whole though, I would still rent Avis where I can – I’ve had MUCH worse experiences with other companies
Phil G
At Frankfurt the computer was down so it took 15mins to get my car. Also, the “3 minute challenge” was not working becasue the computer was down.
Is payment only valid in case of Avis meeting the deadline?
Every week at Frankfurt I am told I should have entered my flight number as my car is at terminal1 and not terminal 2. The Avis website will not accept my British Airways flight number (BA8732), try for yourself!!
Luckily I use Avis so much the people on the desk recognise my name and usually change it to T2.
That is good service. No thanks to Avis systems but thanks to Avis people.
Can you point me in the direction where the list of all 400 participating offices can be found? It doesn’t appear to be readily available.
Thank you
Malcolm
I have had three car hires from Avis this year, 1 at Nice airport and 2 at Malaga airport using Avis Preferred. When I received the invoice for the third one it had increased by £50. I emailed customer services about this and was told I had selected Personal Accident Insurance in my profile which was not true as I am unable to change any insurance preferences online. I replied that if this was not refunded I would go to the small claims court, I then received a refund.
A disadvantage of using Avis preferred is that I don’t have to sign anything when collecting the car therefore any “extras” that have been added on after booking are not noticed until the invoice is received.
On the plus side, I have been using Avis in Europe for more than 10 years and have never had any problems until the last time.
We have rented a car from Orlando Airport and returned it to Tampa Airport (12/10 to 26/10 2008). Viviana Dallos at the desk was very good and efficient and made the experience of hiring a car from Avis extremely pleasant especially after a long and tiring flight from the UK. The whole experience greatly exceeded my expectations.
Best regards
Isaac (Ike) Greenberg
It would mean more to me if the car was properly cleaned internally when picking it up!
Avis @ Berlin Tegel: Thumbs up, brilliant service in June (within 3 minutes).
Avis @ Gare Midi, Bruxelles: Thumbs up.
Avis @ Bologna Airport: Thumbs down, total failure. Staff is rude, slow to respond, and totally ignore you when you’re standing at the Preferred counter.
The only place where I ever have issued with Preferred, is Italy.
3 minutes? maybe, but be careful!
Recently I’ve rented a car at AVIS BCE Toronto, ON in Canada – I got my keys in less then 2 minutes. I was so excited, that I am going to see Niagara Falls that I forgot to check the car, tank was half full – but I’ve noticed that when I was already on the way. When I got back and mentioned that car wasn’t ready as described, a guy told me “have you signed? so it’s your lost”. He’s right, but – I had to sign to get my keys, before I have actually seen a car. I thought I was just getting keys. My lost. Also, Avis charged me extra for the gas, because tank wasn’t full.
lest then 3 minutes – maybe – but on extra cost!
I recently hired a car at Faro airport in Portugal and it was very efficient and took less than three minutes, but my name wasn’t shown on any board and the desk in the airport wasn’r very busy. I’ve got no complaints about the standard of service.
Recently hired from Tel Aviv, car available in good time but had to wait for third party provider to bring Sat Nav.
Unfortunately car displayed a warning light requiring return to Avis office after about 40 miles driving. Response from Avis was good, didn’t charge me for fuel used and gave me a free upgrade too. Well done all round
thank you for deleting my comment, that makes me think, that Avis does not really care about it’s customers.
I don’t care about this extra £15 I had to pay for my car rental. What I am worried about is that I cannot trust you as a company – if I am a member of Preferred Scheme, I expect worry-free service, not rude employees who don’t care.
Thank you,
You have made my day.
Does the 3 minute rule apply to cars booked through airmiles if I present my Preferred Avis card?
Hi Ray,
Your booking made through Airmiles will be valid for the 3 Minute Promise provided all of your Avis Preferred details were supplied at time of booking and of course you are renting from a participating 3 Minute Promise location!
Hope this helps,
Victoria
Hi Richard,
This is an issue that we are aware of and are working to fix. I am pleased that our colleagues in Frankfurt pick up your rental details and transfer your booking! If you are ever unsure, you can always follow up with a call to the local station to confirm your details.
In regards to your second post, if you email me (comments@avis.co.uk) your Rental Agreement details for that particular rental and I will pass it on to our Customer Service department to investigate.
Hope this helps,
Victoria
Hi Phil G,
Thanks for your comments, we really appreciate feedback on our rentals. I have passed this email on to our colleagues in the states and hopefully next time we will score 100%.
Victoria
Noel,
Thanks for your feedback on the service at Pisa, unfortunately the 3 Minute Promise is not yet available in Italy. However we are continually adding locations that offer the service and will of course keep everyone updated of any new additions.
Victoria
Hi Phil M,
Sorry our car did not meet our usual high standards on this occasion, if you ever receive a dirty car again please tell us at the time of rental. It’s for our own good!
Victoria
Hi Stefan,
Thanks for your feed back on your rental and 3 minute promise experience, we love to hear how well we are doing.
I have passed your feedback onto our team in Italy and hopefully we will improve for your next visit to Bologna!
Victoria
Marek,
Due to a large influx of comments yesterday, your post has been in a queue ready for publishing and certainly not deleted as we value all of our customers feedback.
I have passed details of your rental experience on to our customer service team who will respond directly to you in due course and hopefully restore your trust in Avis.
Victoria
Hello Avis Team
Sorry I use you a lot as a Preferred Member. In the Middle East I guess you operate under franchises. At Dubai Airport office they ‘try harder’ and given the testing environment I have little to be unhappy about but in Doha I have hired twice in the last month and I have never come across a more surly, unkempt and frankly dispicable gentleman in the service industry. He sniffs and snuffles his way through any transaction, will not say please or thank you, will not stand up from behind the counter unless really dire, treats two assistants in a manner you would not appreciate and wouldn’t know a deadline if it had a huge red sheet flying in front of him. Having worked in around the Middle East for 16 years I well understand how difficult it is to get consistency but some basics need to be taught to this fellow before he upsets any more of your customers, who generally don’t have time or energy to argue with him. The cars and the service itself are great ! thanks, I needed to tell you that. I would recommend the employment of a nationality who understands what service means. Many others in Qatar would give their eye teeth to have such a role.
Bill D.
Can you confirm the 3-minute promise is offered at Bremen airport in Germany?
Also, can you advise me if you have many Mercedes C-Class on the German fleet. I would prefer to drive a MB C-Class than a BMW 3-series (juast for a change). Are there more MB C-Class automatics, and more BMW 3er & Audi A4 as manuals, or is it not as simple as that?
I’ve been renting from Avis as a Preferred customer for years and I’ve found that the service offered to preferred customers has reduced considerably in the last couple of years. I used to be able to collect my car from a preferred space but the last few times I’ve been allocated a car parked in the back corner of the car park. I have to request the additional insurance waiver when I reach the checkin desk which makes 3 minutes an impossibility. I can’t specify this at the time of booking. I’ve also found the condition of the cars has deteriorated. I’m now looking at other firms instead.
we waited for ages at Gibraltar Airport for someone to turn up so that we could collect our car. Then told we had an upgrade very good but the car was very dirty and when we tried to wash the screen there was no screen wash! NOT A GOOD EXPERIENCE. Avis you let us down again!
Hi Rupert,
I’m sorry to hear about your experience. Can you send me the details of your hire (including rental agreement number) to comments@avis.co.uk and I will investigate for you.
Stephen
Hi Geoff,
It’s great to hear that you’ve been using our service for so long and everything has run smoothly. Also, I’m sorry to hear we weren’t as good the last time you rented.
You should be able to view and change your preferences on the Preferred scheme at http://www.avis.co.uk with either the “create account” or “sign in” options on the home page.
Hope this helps,
Stephen
Malcolm,
Thanks for the feedback. It’s not something that anyone has asked for before so I’ve passed your comment to the 3 minute promise team at our European Head Office.
Keep watching the website for further updates.
Regards,
Stephen
Hi Bill Dixon,
It’s always good to hear about great service that customers have received but equally disappointing to hear about unsatisfactory service.
I have forwarded your comments to the teams in the relevant countries to pass on the feedback.
Stephen
Hi J Walker,
I’m sorry that you feel our service has deteriorated in recent times. Could you send me details of which locations ytou are referring to so we can address any items with the local teams?
Thanks,
Stephen
Hi EY Kalman,
Unfortunately, the 3 minute promise is a European initiative and has not been rolled out in Israel.
However, I have passed your feedback to the team in Israel to address with the team at the location in question.
Stephen
Hello Stephen
Thanks for your reply, however I think that you are wrong when you say I can change my insurance preferences on the avis web site. Try it and you will see! I can change name, address credit card etc but not insurance extras. I have already discussed this via email with Anna Eross from Avis but I have not had an explanation of why personal accident insurance was added to my profile without me knowing and not finding out until I received my invoice.
Geoff.
Hi Andrew,
The Avis office at Bremen airport does offer the 3 minute promise and does indeed have the Mercedes C Class in its fleet. They have it in a manual in what we call a group E and as an automatic in a group G. The only problem is that we can only guarantee the car group, not a particular car. Reserving the group E for example would mean that you could get a Mercedes C Class, a BMW 320 or something else of a similar calibre. You could express a preference for the Merc but unfortunately it would not be guaranteed.
To guarantee a Merc, you could reserve one of our “Fun and Luxury” cars which we do have at Bremen, however they are the Merc CLS, CL500 or the S Class.
I hope that helps and if you need any further help please feel free to write back or call our reservations team on 08445 81 81 81.
Chris
Hi Geoff,
My apologies, I misunderstood and gave the incorrect information. You can change all personal details on the website but preferences can be changed by calling the Avis Preferred Customer Service line on 08445 81 82 83. Changing preferences on-line is something we hope to offer in the future.
In the meantime, I have amended your profile to ensure that Personal Accident Insurance has been removed from future rentals. I hope this resolves the issue.
Stephen
Two months ago, I had a delay in London (LHR); about 11 minutes waiting infront of this notice. I asked for my 20 pounds, but I got a better thing. An upgrade from Merc C180 to Merc E220. That was a serious compensation.
It should be made clear that the 3Mins doesnt apply to all Avis sites. I regularly fly to Palermo or Trapanni. You always wait longer than 3 mins at Trapanni as there are not enough staff and the cars never clean. I never have problems with Palermo though.
Upgrades do seem best compensation. I would never get round to claiming vouchers!
Does the 3 minute promise operate at Nice Airport? I want to rent a family car for 5 people next August and I hear the queues can be around 2 hours and I don’t fancy that with 3 bored kids! Also, if I hire car seats are they of a good quality? I have heard horror stories and do not want to turn up and find they are unsuitable!
Hi Andrew,
I apologise if we have caused any confusion. The 3 Minute promise is only available at 500 key worldwide locations at the moment, but this does not cover every location in Europe.
I have passed your feedback to our Marketing department to see if they can ensure that this message is communicated in a clearer fashion in future.
Regards,
Stephen
Hi Caroline,
Nice Airport does offer the 3 Minute Promise for Avis Preferred members.
With regards to car seats, Avis use approved suppliers (in the UK, we use Britax), the seats are replaced on a regular basis and are provided with washable covers. The other alternative (which might be tricky with three children) is to take your own.
Hope this helps,
Stephen
Having successfully tried and tested the 3 minute promise in the UK. Please can you advise if this service is up and running at Hanover Airport, Germany? Also can payment be made with Visa Delta at this location?
Hi Brian,
The 3 Minute Promise service is available at Hannover Airport in Germany. Also, they will accept Visa Delta (the only Visa they do not accept is Electron).
Hope this helps,
Stephen
I’m travelling to Rome (Ciampino airport pick-up) in the middle of next month with the family. I am an AP member, but note from the web-site that Ciampino is not!
Our flight, which is noted on the booking, is due in at 21:40 and I’m worried that any delay will mean missing the closing time of your office. What will happen in this case, please?
Hi John,
As your flight is due to land within office hours and you have the flight number in the booking then the office will wait for you in the event of any delay. This is why it’s very important to always include your flight number in any airport reservations.
I hope that helps and that you aren’t delayed as well!
Chris
I am heading to Miami airport and after an appaling 60 min wait in Feb i decided to join avis prefered to avoid the wait.
It will however be the first time we have used the service…so a few questions:
Does MIA location offer the 3 minute promise?
Will i have to queue with everyone else to show my documents as this is my first time (this would rather defeat the object of avoiding the massive wait)
I have read nothing but poor reports of Miami – and my past expereince mirrored this. Is it getting better?
Hi Kirsty,
I’ve never been to Miami so I’m afraid I cannot comment from experience only instead what the office has told me. They don’t offer the 3 minute promise I’m afraid but they do have a Preferred desk which you can go directly to.
They’ve said that there is a shuttle bus from the terminal direct to the Avis office and the car park where your car will be waiting. They added that you won’t have to sign anything but will have to show your licence as per standard practise.
I hope it turns out a fast and pleasant experience but please let me know how it goes.
Chris
Hi
I have a couple of questions about Avis Preferred, which I’ve just joined.
1. My credit card gives me excellent insurance, so I’ve set my Preferred profile to decline Damage & Theft Cover. But I’m only covered when on ‘a trip’ so I *do* need this insurance included when renting from my home location (Newcastle). Am I right in thinking that all rates in the UK include insurance, whatever my profile says?
2. I have my first rental coming up this week in the US, so I’ll need to get my Preferred membership validated and a master agreement signed etc. Can I stop by the desk at Newcastle (where I don’t have a rental) and get this done so that I get Preferred service in Jersey City?
Thanks for your help.
Hi Rich,
Generally all rates include the damage and theft cover however if you have set your account to reject them then your profile might force the system to remove them. Do you plan to book online or via central reservations? Either way you will be clearly told whether the CDW and TP are included or not. If you want to email me your Preferred number to comments@avis.co.uk then I’ll have a look for you.
With regards to signing the MRA then yes you can stop by and check all the details at your local office.
Enjoy your trip
Chris
By the way, just to clarify Rich, when Chris says the MRA, he is talking about the master agreement you are referring to!
Rob