Frequent flier car rental discounts
Has anyone ever taken advantage of the rental car discounts that most miles programs offer to rent a car in the DR? I was looking at tickets for an upcoming trip and noticed that AA's miles program offers up to a 30% discount on Avis and Budget rental cars worldwide. And Delta's miles program offers up to a 40% discount (though I'm not sure that one can be used internationally).
AA's program also allows you to purchase liability insurance that is not only a third of the price of that offered by Avis and Budget, it also has a lot more coverage. And you earn miles while you're renting.:)
All in all, it knocked about $80 off of my anticipated rental. My only fear is running into problems getting the Avis franchises in the DR to honor the discount code and accept AA's insurance. I mean, this is the DR. And it would be true to form for them to try and invalidate this deal. So i'm gonna call AA and see what types of documentation I need to show the rental rep at the counter.
Anyway, I urge everyone check with whatever miles program you're enrolled in (and if you're not in a program, sign up for one) to see what types of discounts you're eligible for.
Re: Frequent flier car rental discounts
Quote:
Originally Posted by
DCIronman
Has anyone ever taken advantage of the rental car discounts that most miles programs offer to rent a car in the DR? I was looking at tickets for an upcoming trip and noticed that AA's miles program offers up to a 30% discount on Avis and Budget rental cars worldwide. And Delta's miles program offers up to a 40% discount (though I'm not sure that one can be used internationally).
AA's program also allows you to purchase liability insurance that is not only a third of the price of that offered by Avis and Budget, it also has a lot more coverage. And you earn miles while you're renting.:)
All in all, it knocked about $80 off of my anticipated rental. My only fear is running into problems getting the Avis franchises in the DR to honor the discount code and accept AA's insurance. I mean, this is the DR. And it would be true to form for them to try and invalidate this deal. So i'm gonna call AA and see what types of documentation I need to show the rental rep at the counter.
Anyway, I urge everyone check with whatever miles program you're enrolled in (and if you're not in a program, sign up for one) to see what types of discounts you're eligible for.
DC you I know are familiar with those crude wood rental car counters there.
The service matches in my opinion and Avis is one of the worst there for honoring discounts and even car types.
You might recall the old posts from Gmalet about an Avis discount that they honored for awhile then wised up that many were exploiting them with a large corp. code for Net Jet that they did not have ID or authorization to use.
I can tell you from personal experience that even after I got 2 of my friends in Miami that have a legitimate Marquis Jet account (same as Net Jet sort of) and they added me as an authorized user that Avis even though I had a letter from Marquis Jet with all the account numbers on it including my name and DL they wouldn't honor it.
They wasted a half hour of my time calling a boss and finally I went to Alamo and just rented for the same price that Avis quoted me basically saying Fuck Avis there.
I use Avis exclusively in the USA and have a Corp Code for them you are welcome to use but it won't help you much in the DR where they don't give a damn.
I found Europcar and Alamo to give better service and at least the same or better price.
Avis code if you want it is #AWD W237535
This code comes up MGM Resort Group which I have a card with my name on it for. By using this code what I have found as long as the price is close or the same is that the rental agents recognize the name and HELLO Triple upgrade or at least double.
YMMV but it works for me and feel free to use it. You can Piggy Back a Coupon Code on many AWD's and some are accepted and some not Internationally but you know that. :wink:
Re: Frequent flier car rental discounts
Yeah Mike, you're probably right about Avis. Well, AA has the same deal with Budget as well. Maybe I'll give them a go.
Re: Frequent flier car rental discounts
I have a friend that works for Enterprise in Canada. Enterprise also owns National and Alamo. I normally get a great discount but the rental agencies in the DR are individual franchises and are not affilated with the parent company in the US and Canada.
I used Alamo my first two times with no problems. This next trip I switched to Avis because Alamo jacked their prices way up on SUV's. I used your Avis code and it worked great for the online reservation - but who knows once I get to the counter.
DCI - please let me know how Budget works out.
ML - are you saying to avoid Avis in the DR - or has it been ok some of the time in the past?
Re: Frequent flier car rental discounts
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Nakom
I have a friend that works for Enterprise in Canada. Enterprise also owns National and Alamo. I normally get a great discount but the rental agencies in the DR are individual franchises and are not affilated with the parent company in the US and Canada.
I used Alamo my first two times with no problems. This next trip I switched to Avis because Alamo jacked their prices way up on SUV's. I used your Avis code and it worked great for the online reservation - but who knows once I get to the counter.
DCI - please let me know how Budget works out.
ML - are you saying to avoid Avis in the DR - or has it been ok some of the time in the past?
No I would not avoid them like you said it took the code online and so will they.
The only thing I would avoid is taking a car in poor condition from any of them.
Sometimes they are very busy and only have so many cars clean or as clean as it gets there :lol: and they try to give you a high mileage car with a bearing howliing in an alternator or something.
I always listen to the car and make sure it is quiet then if when driving away I find something serious I go back. But I can diagnose cars as well as most mechanics. I had one with a howl from a wheel bearing and one with a bad ball joint from the bad roads so I just took it back the next day and got another no big deal only takes 15 minutes.
Avis, and the other big companies should have newer cars and less worries.
Re: Frequent flier car rental discounts
A piece of advice. When you make your reservation with AVIS make sure you reserve a vehicle with another vendor as well because there is a good chance that they will not honor your code in a foreign country. JMO based on experience. I don't even look at AVIS anymore when renting.
Re: Frequent flier car rental discounts
Quote:
Originally Posted by
trEPP33
A piece of advice. When you make your reservation with AVIS make sure you reserve a vehicle with another vendor as well because there is a good chance that they will not honor your code in a foreign country. JMO based on experience. I don't even look at AVIS anymore when renting.
The code I posted is International and they will take it there. I know people using it is different countries every month. But I can't speak for other codes.
