Avis Car Rental Reviews 4,785

I attempted to rent a car online from both Budget and Avis today and had the worst time creating an account. I finally got through that mess somehow and was able to search for a car at the Orlando International Airport for next month. First, I should mention that I found a "special" going on at Budget giving Veterans 25% off through the end of March, so that is what led me to them. Anyway, I entered the BCD# and coupon code, which were both applied to this car I was wanting to rent for 6 days. The price was approximately $318 if I paid in advance. Well, I clicked on PAY NOW and the screen reverted back to the page that said search vehicles! I started all over again and the same thing happened. I even restarted my phone thinking that would help, but it didn't. I then tried my laptop to no avail. It said sorry the website is not responding to my request and to call Budget if it persists. I called Budget and explained all this to the Rep, who was polite. He said they were doing an update, so maybe this was creating some problems. He looked up the same exact car and said he applied the same discounts, but he was coming up with a total of $400+! I asked him if he was sure he added both codes and he said he did. He said that was the best price he could find on that car. I told him to forget it and I would look elsewhere. I tried Avis, but I can't even get signed in to my account there. I even changed my password a couple of times. Each time it would say they couldn't match the credentials I was providing. I guess neither Avis, or Budget, are as Veteran friendly as they make you think they are.

Made a reservation for 7 days for a small car in Belgrade Serbia airport location, 118 Euros or $132!
They charged my account $432 after I came back to USA! They ripped us off like nobody before!
Apparently by adding my wife as secondary driver they added a charge of $260 and made a regular location so airport to be a special location and added $40 more!
all of that was not explained to us at all!
Complained about it but they declined the claim!
Worst place ever to rent a car, real scammers!

The absolute WORST customer service experience I’ve ever had. There were a few people that were decent, and the people at the DFW airport location were phenomenal, but the customer service is the WORST I’ve ever dealt with over all and it’s not even close. I’m cancelling my future business with Avis and I will absolutely not do any business with them going forward until an actual Avis employee / manager contacts me. If you want to deal with H1B employees in a call center that claim to work for Avis but clearly don’t, this is who you want to rent from. Hell will freeze over before I rent a vehicle from Avis again!!!!!

I will never use Avis again if given the choice. Agent added coverage to my rental without asking. And because I didn’t notice her shady practice, I got stuck with optional fees that my company won’t cover. Of course when I called in to complain, I was given the boilerplate response that I signed the contract so it’s my fault. I have never experienced this even with the sketchiest small car rental companies. I expected far better from Avis and had my guard down. So the agent perhaps was correct…it’s my fault. Won’t happen again. Trust lost.
This was based on an experience at the Reagan National Airport (DCA) Avis.

Our First experience with Avis (Brisbane) was superb! Great car (Outlander). But our second one (Melbourne - 7th Feb)a disaster. Personal contact was OK, but the car - Subaru Forester - was by far not on the same level with Safety features (NO GPS!!!, NO PARKING DISTANCE CONTROL). Although our request the day before, when they said it will be no problem to have an Outlander again, no real alternatieve was offered-Airport Avis is only 20 min away. To my it seems that AVIS bought Some really outdated Foresters to make money on the short term Instead of making a contribution on safety and comfort of their clients! They even didn’t suggest to swap the during our 18 day’s trip to
Adelaide. It’s time for a new rental company based on trust, safety and comfort and not for profit on the short term.
Or is Avis able to be that in the near future! At this moment I don’t feel safe and comfortable!

Writing about Budget Car Rental since they are owned by Avis. Horrible use of technology by these guys. They send me a slew of emails advertising their "deals" Okay, Im going somewhere next week. Well you click on the book the car and it just goes into a continual loop. A death spiral. Been trying most of the night. Looking for a customer service number....Nope just gotta go on line. Well I went on line but there is no pre selected item for my issue. Horrible way to do business. AND the last time I rented from them there was a dirty diaper in the back of the car. They really didnt care.

Booked a car through Air Lingus £35/2 days which was cheap enough. Arrived at the Avis desk to collect the car and was told its £37/per day, then they added another fee then another one, then another !! car ended up costing me £131.00 for 2 days. Car was dirty, scratched and not the car I hired. Customer Service were useless, only emailed me once Id completed their customer survey, avoid like the plague, far too many hidden costs,

Absolutely Terrible Experience, Lies, Bait and Switch. Poor Customer Service. I contracted with them for a gas car. Instead they forced me into an electric car in an area that had very little charging infrastructure. I called Customer Service 8 times. I explained that we were senior citizens, traveling with a child, and not tech savvy. They lied, saying I would get an exchange locally, but could not get through to to local lines. When we drove to a recommended agency location, where they said on the phone that they would exchange my car, they laughed at me and said they only have cars for 'customers.' What was I? I asked. They said I was a renter. Apparently, I didn't matter.
You cannot get the local agencies on the phone. The woman at the airport lied to me about the possibility of an exchange and the offshore operators either lied or didn't have any idea what to do. They put our family at risk out in the New Mexico desert and did not care at all.
This used to be a reputable company. NEVER AGAIN. NEVER AGAIN. NEVER AGAIN!

When I arrived in Tucson, I, along with many others, were told they had no vehicles left and we would have to wait. There were 6 people in front of me already on the wait list but was still told 35-45 mins and I should get a vehicle. This was the second lie. The first lie they told was they had no more vehicles clean. Since I had already prepaid for my vehicle I chose to wait. People that came in donning the Preferred and Fast track reservations kept receiving vehicles while we all just waited. 2 hours and 37 mins later I finally received a vehicle!! And because of the wait time, I was forced to get a hotel midway through a 3 hour drive to my final destination. AVIS, you need to do BETTER!!! 1. If people have paid reservations, give them a car. 2. Don’t fricken LIE TO YOUR customers. I will never rent through AVIS again, and we travel a lot.

I rented a car last weekend for pick up at Kansas City Airport. I paid in advance on Priceline and I DID NOT request the extra insurance or Roadside Service. I have my contract from Priceline and was not charged for the extra insurances.
After returning the car I was charged an additional $194 by Avis. I called Avis and explained what happened and they said they could not refund me because I requested the extra insurances. I know I DID NOT request the extras and told the customer service rep that I had the Priceline contract and there was no insurance ordered. I NEVER request extra insurance . I have my own!! The Avis rep was extremely rude and told me to take it to court, she wasn’t giving me a refund.
I called back a few minutes later and talked to another Avis rep who looked up my account and told me “I can give you a refund for the insurance because YOU DIDN'T ORDER IT, BUT I can’t refund you for the Roadside Service because you did order it.” 🤬🤬🤬 Avis is nothing but a huge scam! I will never rent from them again. One rep tells me I ordered the insurance and the other says I didn’t.
Someone is LYING and I know it’s not me!!!

I rented a car from Avis for $141.00 for a week. When I checked out I was charged $354.00+40.00 Cash. The person on the Cancun Airport office checking me out the car outright lied to me. He said I could not drive the car off the lot without paying for the extended insurance. He also lied about the distance and possible gas I would use to sell me the gas plan. The person who goes over the car for dents and scratches was a high pressure time share salesperson who wouldn't leave us alone until we agreed to go to a free breakfast at a Hyatt brand resort. After we finally agreed they told us we had to give them $40 cash.

They are really stolen your money!!!
I lost my 950$ !!!
But I didn’t get my service!!!
Maybe because I’m Asian!!
Really!!!!!

My rental cars from AVIS at the Maui airport broke twice. The battery died first overnight (all lights were off). I exchanged for another one based on an advice from the mechanic who helped jump it. The second time, a tire went flat, also overnight, without any visible damage. I had a spare tire put on and exchanged the car for yet another one. Both time I called AVIS roadside service. After the trip, I received a bill for the cost of the roadside service. I emailed and called AVIS expressing my objection to the bill because the cars I rented were flawed. I was told that if I drove the car out of the rental place without any problem, I was responsible for all problems after that. My argument was it is AVIS' responsibility to make sure their cars perform well during a rental period. My argument went to stone ears.

I rented a car from Avis. At the time of return, some damages were mentioned, but I clearly stated that I did not accept these damages, as they were not caused by me. No photos or written documentation were shown to me during the return process.

Despite this, Avis later issued a damage invoice of approximately €1,600 and withheld my deposit. This amount was taken without my consent, even though I never accepted responsibility for the alleged damages.

During the dispute process, I formally requested before-and-after photos and any official documentation proving that the damage occurred during my rental. No evidence was provided at any stage, yet my complaint was rejected.

Charging such a high amount and withholding a deposit without presenting clear proof is unacceptable. As an international brand, I expected transparency, fairness, and proper customer protection. Instead, I experienced serious financial and emotional stress.

I strongly advise anyone renting from Avis to be extremely cautious, especially during the vehicle return process.

I'd give them a 0 if I could. Booked a rental car online for our trip to Merida Mexico. The cost was $1,000.00 Cdn.(13,000 pesos) for a month. Upon arrival to pick the car up, they wanted an additional 60,000 pesos ($4,700.00 Cdn.) for insurance. We asked if we could change the payment method and put it on our friends credit card as it has out-of-country rental car insurance coverage. We were told that if we did that, our original contract would be cancelled with no refund. On top of that, the online booking for the identical car was now 33,000 pesos ($2,300.00 Cdn.). We walked away a thousand dollars poorer and no car. This is the 2nd time that we've been ripped off by rental car companies in Mexico. I felt comfortable with this one because Avis had been recommended to us by Americans that we met last year and said that they had rented several times with no problems????? What a bunch of crooks!

Thieves, Don't rent from here.

The reason I booked my car with AVIS via SAS, was because I would get 5000 points with my loyalty program EUROBONUS.

I still haven’t got them, so I will now have to spend time complaining and calling/write to get my points. Things like that should go automatically and it should not be needed to spend time to get one’s points.

I would not have rented my car with AVIS had I not been promised the points. It almost seams deliberate that they promise points but not give them, hoping that people would forget.

For that reason I will stay away from AVIS and its sister companies in the future and I will certainly not recommend it to anyone.

I rented AVIS via the SAS homepage, my AVIS car was pricked up and delivered back in San Fransisco Airport.

Rented a car in Memphis. My plane was late on arrival, but i got to the desk before listed closing time. However the Avis staff had left and gone home. The car rental agency at the next desk mentioned that the staff tends to leave early. I call Avis and was told that we could pick up our car the next morning. We took a taxi to our hotel and returned the next morning and picked up a rental. However, they refused to honor our reservation and charged me for a new reservation which was more than $1000. I have suffered similar problems with Avis switching cars and increasing charges at other offices. Worse care rental experience ever- Happened several years ago and I am still annoyed. i will never rent with this company again and have not rented with them since this happened

Steer clear of AVIS. We arrived into MCO - Orlando and had prepaid for the hire in the UK. The gentleman on the desk was incredibly aggressive in trying to upsell. He told us the car had no insurance which it did. And persisted. He did the same with the toll option. I had to tell him 5 times I had already booked a Visitor Toll Pass for $10 deposit, they wanted us to pay $60! In the end I had to get quite short as my kids were very upset and tired. Once we got to the car, no car seats, which we booked and paid for. We were then told we could pick up the car seats in a shed, not manned, so we had no idea which seats were appropriate for the car or the kids age/height.

Then we needed to extend the hire by 2 hours for our departure date. A simple 2 hours, how much did they want to charge me? $269!!!! For 2 hours!!! That’s more than half the price of the whole 9 day rental! I spoke to numerous people on the phone who couldn’t help me and even said they weren’t sure that was 100% the price, I would need to drive to MCO and check. I refused to drive back to the airport on our holiday to confirm that. So we will have to wait in the airport an additional 2 hours with our kids. The customer service was barely service at all and overalll we have been left very disappointed!

We are long standing customers of Avis USA. Recently hired a car at LAX. After a long flight we were tired but there was a long queue as there was only one operator. Finally got to the front. Upgraded the car - they quoted us an extra $29 per day and then agreed to drop this to $9 when we queried this cost. Went to get car but it wasnt there. We were told this happened all the time. Eventually got a car and left. Contacted Avis and after many emails they offered us one day free which they would credit. Got home some weeks later and they have added roughly $800 to the bill depsite the upgrade only being $225 and no sign of credit we were supposed to get back. Almost impossible to contact them. Finally we were told we took out additional insurance cover and gave the car back with an empty tank. We did not even have any discussion about additional insurance so this was a scam. We were told to give the car back with "as near to empty tank as possible". We actually gave it back with 1/4 but they still charged us for a full tank! Impossible to contact them again. You have been warned by many others. Stay away from Avis.