Avis Rent A Car

You’d better bring a printout of your reservation and be very sure of what you were promised, because these guys are going to try and change things on you.
Reserved a Compact Car, which was described as a Ford Focus or similar. The guy tried put me in a soccer ball-​sized Ford Fiesta when I had reserved a larger category. I called him out on it and he claimed that «uh. the Fiesta is a compact car too.» I pulled up the Avis website on my phone showing that the little car he was trying to pawn off on me was in the cheapest Economy Car category (and a lower price), he still insisted that he was in the right. It took 10 minutes of arguing just to get what I had reserved.
Also, if you put less than 75 miles on the car and don’t bring them a receipt showing that you filled up the car at a station within 10 miles of the airport, they charge a $ 13.99 «convenience fee» to top off the gas tank.

My go-​to rental car company is usually Enterprise because rental is so cheap. However, when I was looking at reserving, I couldn’t get an estimate on additional insurance since I no longer have American auto insurance. They also seemed to be out of the smaller cars for the weekend I was looking at. So I thought I would try Avis… not to mention I can earn airline miles.
Their online booking is very easy to use and if you are not using a program like AAdvantage, then you have an option to ‘pay now’ which means you can secure a cheaper rental rate. It also allows you to choose extras to add on… GPS rental, seats for children, and of course various insurance options. You don’t have to print anything out, just show up and give them the name you booked under.
Avis is paired with the Budget Car Rental desk, however, it looks like both employees behind the desk can assist customers with bookings for either company. It took about 10 – 15 minutes to get the paperwork done. Some initials, signatures, etc. They do not go out with you to inspect the car, so you do need to give it a once over before you drive off and can head back in to report any damage you would like noted so you do not incur charges. They explained where the car was, etc. but didn’t mention the return process. The employees were nice, except the lady that answered the phone when I called to say that I was running an hour late. She was quite short with me, but I just wanted to check whether I would be charged extra and also just to give them a heads up.
Upon return, I tried to park the car in the same spot it was parked in when I picked it up, but it was occupied, so I just found one in their area, and noted what spot it was in. I took the key inside the terminal and it took about 3 – 5 minutes to return as they have some paperwork they need to complete. The staff member did ask me for the odometer reading, but I hadn’t noted it because I didn’t realize I was supposed to provide that. He was understanding about it though. If you are waiting on a ride, the nearest exit is at baggage claim, or you can hail a taxi through an exit a bit further along that heads out to the rental car lot. Overall, it was a pretty easy process!