Chances are that if you’ve flown into any major airport and looked at the rental car counters, you’ve seen an Avis desk considering there are locations in hundreds of airports and neighborhood locations all over the world.
Its rewards program, Avis Preferred, offers you the chance to redeem points for free car rental days. The program is uncomplicated and straightforward, but nonetheless there are some tips and tricks that can help you squeeze even more value out of the program.
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History
Avis was founded by Warren Avis in 1946 in Detroit, serving the Willow Run Airport. It soon expanded its service to the Miami Airport. In 1953, Avis opened franchise locations in Europe, Canada and Mexico. And the company made it over to the United Kingdom in 1960.
Avis introduced the first real-time information management and reservation system – Wizard – in 1972. By 1985, it would link over 2,000 Avis locations with major reservation systems. In the 2000s, the company continued to innovate with offerings like XM satellite radio, hand-held GPS system, e-toll for E-ZPass toll collection and portable wireless internet with Avis Connect.
Today, Avis operates over 5,500 locations in more than 165 countries around the globe and is one of the most recognized rental car agencies in the market.
How To Earn Avis Preferred Points
Earning points within the Avis Preferred program couldn’t be easier. Every qualified dollar you spend on car rentals or accessories will earn points—and the higher up the loyalty levels you go, the more points you will earn for every dollar spent.
Members earn a minimum of 1 point per dollar spent on car rentals and 2 points per dollar spent on accessories, but earning increases as you graduate up the membership tiers within the program.
- Avis Preferred. This is the entry-level tier within the program, and members earn 1 point for every dollar spent on rentals, 2 points per dollar spent on accessories and a minimum of 100 points per rental.
- Avis Preferred Plus. Avis Preferred Plus members earn 1.25 points per dollar spent on rentals and 2.5 points per dollar spent on accessories.
- Avis President’s Club. Members in the President’s Club tier earn 1.5 points per dollar spent on rentals and 3 points per dollar spent on accessories.
Earnings Airline Miles or Hotel Points In Lieu of Avis Preferred Points
Avis Preferred members can choose to earn airline miles or hotel points with a variety of partner programs. Note that there is a frequent flyer tax recovery surcharge added if you choose to earn miles with certain airlines.
Elite Status
With Avis Preferred, the more rentals you book or the more money you spend within the calendar year, the higher up the status ladder you will climb. The higher you go, the faster you’ll earn points.
- Avis Preferred. All you have to do to get to this level is sign up, and it requires no minimum spend or number of rentals.
- Avis Preferred Plus. Reaching this level requires a minimum of 10 rentals or $4,000 in spend within a calendar year. Benefits of this tier include a one-car class upgrade, when available, when you reserve a midsize vehicle or above and a dedicated reservations number.
- Avis President’s Club. You’ll need at least 20 rentals or $6,000 in spend within a calendar year to reach this top-tier level. Once achieved, you will unlock a two-car class upgrade, when available, when booking a midsize vehicle or above, a guaranteed car up to full size with confirmed 24-hour advance reservation and a dedicated support phone number.
Note that since you can reach the above levels with either amount of individual rentals or money spent, you could earn your status by doing multiple one day rentals or just a few longer, more expensive rentals.
Status Matches
Several credit cards offer Avis benefits as part of their perks.
- The Platinum Card® from American Express: Get Avis Preferred Plus status just by registering once you get the card (Terms apply, see rates & fees).
- The Business Platinum Card® from American Express: Get Avis Preferred status just by registering once you get the card (Terms apply, see rates & fees).
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card: Get Avis Preferred Plus status with Avis just by registering through your card. See rates & fees.
- United Club℠ Infinite Card, United Club℠ Business card*, United Presidential Plus Card and United Presidential Plus Business Card: Cardholders of these United Airlines credit cards offered through Chase receive Avis President’s Club status after enrollment.
- Visa Infinite Cards: As a Visa Infinite cardholder you can enjoy automatic Avis Preferred Plus status with Avis Preferred after enrollment just by enrolling.
- World Elite Mastercard: Cardholders enjoy automatic status with Avis President’s Club after enrollment.
Avis also has a status match program, but it’s not open to residents of the U.S. and Canada. If you reside elsewhere, you can head to the Avis status match website to find out more about this opportunity.
Featured Partner Offers
Partners
United Airlines MileagePlus
Elite members with United Airlines receive status after they link their MileagePlus accounts with their Avis accounts. Members with MileagePlus Premier Platinum status or higher receive President’s Club status with Avis, and MileagePlus members with Premier Silver and Premier Gold receive Avis Preferred Plus.
Alaska Airlines
Elite members with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan can have their status matched to Avis Preferred program, where MVP Gold 75K members can obtain Avis President’s Club status.
Shopping Portals
Avis doesn’t have its own shopping portal to earn additional points through your everyday purchases. You may still be able to stack your points earning strategy by booking your Avis rentals online through other portals such as Rakuten and TopCashBack. Cash-back earning rates vary throughout the year, so check back whenever you make a rental car reservation to maximize your earnings.
To learn more about strategies to maximize your cash-back or points earning abilities, Forbes Advisor has all the tips and tricks in this article.
Buying Avis Preferred Points
Avis doesn’t offer the ability to purchase Avis Preferred points.
How To Redeem Avis Preferred Points
Earning Avis Preferred points is just the beginning. The best, and most fun part, comes from redeeming them. You can use your points to redeem for free rental reservations as well as some add-ons to your rentals.
Rental Redemptions
Reward days start at 700 points per day and have no blackout dates. There are four levels of reward days based on the standard base rate, car class and location of your rental.
- Level 1 rentals are those costing $50 or less per day. These redemptions require 700 points per day.
- Level 2 reward days cost 1,400 points and are valid for base rates between $50.01 and $85 per day.
- Level 3 days cost between $85.01 and $125 per rental day and require 2,100 points per day to book.
- Level 4 reward days cost 3,500 points per day and cover base rates between $125.01 and $225.
Accessory Redemptions
You can also use your Avis Preferred points to redeem for accessories—like satellite radio, mobile Wi-Fi or child safety seats, each costing 250 points per day.
Sweet Spots
As the program structures its redemptions in four tiers with a dollar value range of their own, it’s rather hard to extract a higher value from any of them in particular.
Mathematically, you would be getting more value out of redemptions within Level 1, since at the top range of $50 you would obtain 7.14 cents per point. However, the difference with other tiers is rather insignificant, at 6.07 cents per point for Level 2, 5.95 for Level 3 and 6.42 for Level 4.
It’s best to redeem points for rental days costing in the higher part of each level’s range to maximize value. But even then the value differences won’t be as large as you can see with other programs.
Quirks
Expiration
Avis points are valid for up to 60 months after they are earned and will be forfeited after that period if you do not redeem them. If your account is inactive for a period of over 12 months, however, your points will be forfeited—meaning that you need at least one points-earning rental or redemption within 12 months to keep your account current. Even when your account is active, the 60-month expiration of points applies.
Fees
The redemption of points will only cover the base rate of your rental. Government-mandated taxes, surcharges and fees, airport imposed fees, city tax or even add-ons like refueling, excess mileage or insurance are considered optional and cannot be covered with your rewards.
Family Pooling
Avis Preferred points cannot be pooled or transferred to someone else’s account, even if they’re a close family member.
Bottom Line
Earning points when you’re on the road with Avis is a breeze. Considering all it takes to earn points is attaching your Avis Preferred number on your reservations, there’s no reason that you shouldn’t earn points towards your future rental car reservations—unless you decide you’d rather earn airline miles or hotel points instead.
Elite status is easy to achieve thanks to multiple status match opportunities available through many credit cards and airline promotions, making it easier to start enjoying the benefits of this program earlier and making every rental more rewarding.
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To view rates and fees for The Platinum Card® from American Express please visit this page.
To view rates and fees for The Business Platinum Card® from American Express please visit this page.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can I use a debit card to book my rental?
Yes, you can use your debit card to book your prepaid rental car reservation. Most U.S. locations will accept a debit card at the counter, but a hold is usually placed on the funds in your account for the estimated cost of the rental, and also possibly the insurance deductible. Some vehicle types cannot be rented with a debit card instead of a credit card.
Locations outside of the U.S. generally do not accept debit cards, although exceptions may be made on a location by location basis.
Can I rent a car to cross into Mexico or Canada?
Crossing the border with a rental card is possible, however, there are many rules and restrictions based on direction of travel and which country you’re entering. One-way rentals are also possible, although not all locations will allow you to rent a car in the U.S. and return it in either Mexico or Canada. You can check all restrictions and the list of locations that allow trans-border rentals on Avis’ website.
Can I rent with Avis if I’m under 25 years of age?
Renters between ages 21 through 24 are able to rent Avis vehicles, but they will be assessed an underage surcharge when renting in the U.S. and Canada. Keep in mind that renters under 25 will also be restricted from selecting certain vehicle types, like full-size SUVs, luxury cars and minivans.
