I have to admit, using Avis has been a very smooth arrangement. HDS said use Avis for car rental and their corporate discount structure.
Unlike Hertz, where you have to pay for their "#1 Club," Avis' "preferred member" service is free--all you have to do is sign up on the website. Once i did, I was able to book cars with an "express" option on the website. By clicking the "express" button, the site read my profile and booked a vehicle based on my saved preferences. So far, I've used Avis at SAN, BWI, and ORD, and no problems at any of those airports.
The "preferred" service is simple. Once signed up, you book a car. When you arrive at the destination airport, you take the shuttle to their facility. The shuttle driver ticks your name off on a wireless handheld device, which confirms your arrival and gives the driver back the location of your vehicle. The shuttle drops you off at a building outside of the main customer service facility, which has a couple of agents exclusively for preferred members. On my first use of the service, I had to go into this building at SAN and show ID/credit card. On subsequent rentals, all I've had to do is go straight to the car, load up, and head out. I show ID at the gate and off I go. Billing has always been accurate. Return is just as easy, drive back to the facility, park, check in, get my receipt, and shuttle to the terminal.
All that and Delta SkyMiles. I'll have to do some price comparison, but with service like this and my patrons telling me to use them, no complaints whatsoever.
