Avis Rent A Car
www.avis.com
Site Features:
Car rental engine, frequent renter club, maps and information, hot
rental deals.
Site Report:
Avis Rent A Car System, Inc. is part of the Cendant family of companies. Along with
Budget, another Cendant rental car company, Avis is one of the leaders in the field.
Avis and its international subsidiaries (Avis Europe plc) operate the world's second largest general-use car rental business, providing business and leisure customers with a wide range of services at more than 1,700 locations in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Latin American/Caribbean region. If you count the franchisees that the European company runs, Avis swells to almost 5,000 locations, with an additional 3,050 Avis locations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
You might remember that Cendant is the holding company that owns
Orbitz,
Cheaptickets,
and
hotel brands like Ramada, Super 8 Motels, Howard Johnsons
and Days Inn.
Avis is one of the best known travel brands, period. Cendant probably purchased it for this very reason, fyi. The Avis slogan 'We try harder' is
acknowledged as one of the 10 best advertising slogans of all time -- when it debuted, it's catchiness and messaging might very well have have saved the company. The idea of satisfying customers by trying harder is embedded as the very essence of the company's culture. The slogan is still in use today.
So where did Avis come from? Like most big companies, they started small, with one man's big idea. The founder of this car rental firm is Warren Avis. In 1946, he saw a need at Willow Run Airport. People that flew into the airport needed cars when they landed. So he opened the world's first airport car rental location with a grand total of three cars.
Today the airport car rental market is a huge business. Avis pioneered that market, and they continue to innovate today. The technology that drives the Avis.com website is called the Wizard computer system. Wizard was the first and the most extensive on-line, real-time reservation, rental and management information system in the car rental industry. In August 2002, Avis became the first rental car company to offer seamless connectivity with all four major GDS systems.
In addition, Avis was one of the first companies to begin to rent from one manufacturer only. It's 1979 worldwide advertising and marketing agreement with General Motors begins the process that Budget and others have followed. Avis still has tight ties with former owner General Motors today. Many Avis vehicles come equipped with GM's "On Star" navigation and emergency response system. In addition, XM Satellite Radio is free in all premium and luxury vehicles.
The Avis fleet averages 200,000 vehicles and features a wide variety of GM and other fine vehicles, including:
- Chevrolet Cavalier - Compact
- Pontiac Grand Am - Intermediate
- Buick Century - Full Size
- Buick LaSabre - Premium
- Cadillac Deville - Luxury
- Chevrolet Camaro - Convertible
- Chevrolet Tracker - Compact Sport Utility
- Chevrolet Blazer - Sport utility
- Chevrolet Suburban - Large Sport Utility
- Chevrolet Venture - Minivan
The avis.com website scores high on branding, but could do better
with usability. The screen is a bit cluttered, though the user
has access to the booking engine from the first click of the mouse.
All in all, a solid website, but
www.avis.com is not the best in class.
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