We get a lot of calls to our reservation centre asking if we allow our cars to be picked up from one Avis location and then returned to another. If you are looking to rent a car one way between two locations within a country then the answer is yes we do! However, a one way fee will often apply (in the UK this is usually £40). People often ask why we charge a one-way fee as our locations share the same fleet. The reason is because we take bookings based on the cars that we have allocated to that location at the time. Obviously if one of these cars moves one way to another location then we will need to try and get this car back to the source location so it is there for the next customer who has booked it. The “one way fee” covers the cost of transporting the car back.
There will be some times when we don’t charge a one way fee. We usually do this to encourage customers to rent a car one way when we need to move cars from one area to another (we do not need to charge a fee if a customer can move the car for us as we save on the transporter costs). You can see this on our avis.co.uk homepage where, at the moment, we have a special for one ways into Scotland as we need to get cars there for the summer peak. Similarly, there is a good chance we will have similar offer for customers renting a car one way out of Scotland when the summer peak ends. Check back in September!
One way rentals between countries is far more expensive and is a reflection of the increased costs to transport the cars back. If this is something you are considering then I would suggest contacting our reservation centre on 08445 81 81 81 for advice as the price can differ greatly dependent on the pick-up and return countries. But please be prepared for a very high price to do this.
(2 votes, average: 3 out of 5)
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I have just had one of the worst experiences of my life hiring a car through Avis in the Sorrento Office in Italy. 2 real bug bearers, travelling with 6 people (inc. 1 18month old & 1 disabled + 4 adults) I hired online a 7 people Renault Espace. Website stated I would get that or something similar. I did get an Opel Zafira which is 1 category lower and cheaper to rent, so I have overpaid. The Opel 2 extra backseats were pull out seats, so in effect I had no boot for the pram and rollator. The did not contain the baby seat I had pre-ordered, eventually the staff got me a baby seat and handed it to me not even fitting it in stating that was not their job…all in all the car I booked and paid for was a 7 seater people carrier with room /prams etc and what I received was a large people carrier for 5 people, which is much cheaper and did not meet my needs and can not be called a like for like model. Furthermore as I had pre-paid on line, this was not refundedable ..and as it was pre-paid I was left stranded, as the choices I had were to go and hire another car from another company and lose the money already paid for the hire.
So much for trying harder…..
Hi Nihal,
Can you send me details of the rental agreement number where you encountered the problems and what they were? The email address is comments@avis.co.uk. I’ll take a look at it and contact you back.
Stephen
We pre-rented from AVIS UK for an Italy rental and picked up at Venice…and were upgraded to a even nicer Mercedes car. For a pre-pay I did not rent the smallest. I took extra care to ensure the boot was big enough, etc. We had a wonderful experience and the counter associates were most helpful in determining the right size. They even let us, go check it out and if it did not work, we could have arranged a larger one (probably for more money). We could not have been happier.
‘SAVE £40! We’ve removed our usual one-way fee on selected cars so you can drive from Heathrow or Gatwick to Scotland for less.
Medium car from £25
People Carrier from £40′
I thought this was too good to be true….and it was! Fair enough your advert says ‘Save £40′ but then it goes on to describe the hire as costing from £25 and from £40 which is a bit misleading since it’s nothing of the sort, the people carrier I looked at was £225.
Ken, are you telling me you were quoted £225 per day for a people carrier???
Robert
Thank you for the feedback Ken. The prices we quoted above are what we call “lead-in” prices. They are essentially the cheapest prices available for this promotion and is dependent on the location and dates selected. However, we are totally committed to transparency and like everyone else we hate the practice of promoting offers that no-one can ever find! I will review this promotion to see how relevant these prices still are and will update the promotion based on what we find. Also, I welcome any further views and suggestions on how we can be more transparent and clear with our promotions.
Rob
Hi Linda, thank you for taking the time to write such great feedback. I will pass your comments on to the team in Italy.
Rob
I returned a car rented from Avis on Monday 19 May in mint condition, as when rental started, the tank of gas was full. I received a phone call on the afternoon of Monday 19 May telling me that the car was marked with a scratch to the rear right wheel arch and I would be charged £273 to have it repaired.
I stressed at the time that the car was unmarked on its return to the parking lot when I handed the keys back to the Avis employee behind the desk at the Guoman Tower Hotel at 07:50.
In the later phone conversation, the employee told me that the car was not inspected until 09:00 hours, an hour and 10 minutes after the return.
I cannot be responsible for the vehicle after the keys have been handed back to the employee of Avis if the car is parked in the agreed location (even if, as in this case, the agreed location is a car park to which the public have easy access). Moreover, the employee did not say anything about having the car checked and was happy to take the keys.
When she phoned I refused to accept responsibility for the “scratch” which I have not seen and said I was not happy for an additional and unwarranted payment to be taken from my credit card to compensate Avis for its negligence in not ensuring that its cars are looked after safely.
Secondly I received an invoice yesterday with not only that payment on, which I believe is unwarranted because the car was not damaged on its return to Avis, but I was also charged a further £8.59 refueling charge. The refuelling charge is also unfair because the car was as full as possible on its delivery to Avis. The fuel needle was in as close to the letter F on the fuel tank as it was when I collected the car on Saturday morning.
I feel that I have been the victim of negligence by Avis, which is trying to charge me for damage to the car between when I handed the keys over to when it was inspected and of sharp practice by charging for gasoline which was not required.
I am sure that this is an characteristic mix up on Avis’ part. I hope that you appreciate my position and that you will be able to resolve the situation to my satisfaction by the end of next week (May 30). In the meantime I hope you will understand why I am challenging the payment that my credit card company made to Avis without my express authorisation.
Faithfully
Simon Robinson
Hi Simon,
If you can send your rental agreement number to comments@avis.co.uk, we’ll look into this. However, the quickest way to get a response is to contact our customer services department on customer.service@avis.co.uk or on 0870 608 6363.
Regards,
Stephen
Hi Stephen, thanks for your speedy response. I did try Customer service at the time with daily calls to the 20284888765 number and were told that there was no information for about a week and then that it had gone to your insureres. I also filled in an on line customer satisfaction survey, which generated no response from Avis and finally I posted a comment here. I’d appreciate any help you can give me.
Best wishes
Simon
I will need to pick up a car at Luton Airport and return it to Gatwick Airport. Unfortunately, the difference in price if I returned to Gatwick instead of the pick up location is £47 (a bit more than the usual £40) . First, is there any way to avoid this charge? Second, if not, how do you justify this in a case where a car is just moved from one busy location (Luton) to an even busier location (Gatwick). I can understand the logic of needing to “reposition” cars dropped off in remote locations, but where the pick up and return locations are major airport locations and not so far apart, why should the one way fee be charged at all. PS, just discovered that one of your main competitors charges the same price for the rental whether dropped off at Gatwick rather than Luton. Avis £45 (drop back to Luton, Avis £92 (drop back at Gatwick, Competitor (around £60 – converted from Swiss Fr -drop to Luton or Gatwick). I’d rather rent from Avis, but not so much I want to pay an extra £30+!
Hi Rob, I cannot think of any way to avoid the one-way fee currently as we do not have any promotions running between these locations. I appreciate your perspective on the one way fee. Unfortunately, even though they are busy locations, we need to ensure we have the right cars at the right place at the right time and the one way fee helps us manage this particularly as it can be costly to transport cars back.
However, I appreciate what you are saying and I will discuss this with our pricing team. Our policy on one way fees is one of those things that is constantly under review and your feedback really helps.
Let me know if you have any further thoughts or suggestions.
Rob
I want to pick up a car in downtown Glasgow and drop it off a few days later at the airport which is apparently only a 20 minute drive away. Do I have to pay the £40.00 for this?
Hi Ruth,
You will not be charged the one way fee betweeen these two locations.
Hope this helps,
Stephen
Dear Rob/Avis.
Thanks for sorting out the problem (see comments 8 and 10)
I got home last night to find a refund for the full amount back on my Visa card. I appreciate your efforts. Best wishes
Simon
7 Things to Know when Renting a Car
In today’s society, there are a number of reasons why people rent a car. Some of the top reasons are vacations, a car they own is in the shop and renting a nicer car for a special occasion. Whatever the reason that you are considering renting a car; there are some things that you should know first.
1- It is wise to shop around when looking for to rent a car. Always find at least three rental car companies to compare, although more will be better. Be sure to ask all the companies the same questions to get the most accurate answers. Most rental car companies will have websites online to find basic information, but it is best to call as local branches may have deals that are not advertised online.
2- When you call, be sure to ask about price, vehicle availability, as well as any specials that the branch has to offer. It is worth noting here, that many of these companies will have special arrangements with hotels, airlines or even warehouse stores.
3- You will want to ask about any special instructions that are required of you while renting the car, for example, filling up the gas tank or pick up and drop off times. Not adhering to these policies can result in fees.
For more tips visit :
http://freeredhottip.com/car/7_things_to_know_when_renting_a_car.html