San Francisco-Los Angeles-San Diego

Convenient pick-up and use

I had prepaid the full amount and arrived at the store at around 12:30 am, only to be told there were no cars available in the reserved category. They insisted I pay an additional $100 per day to upgrade, or else I could only get a 12-seater van. Unacceptable! I tried contacting the rental company, but their phone line was always busy. Online customer service said the rental company needed to provide proof of no available cars, which the AVIS staff refused to issue. They kept trying to convince me to pay the $100 upgrade. After much argument and a dying phone battery, I left the counter to charge my phone at a nearby table. Only then did the staff call me back, saying they had a returned car available. It took an hour of wrangling to finally get the car at 1 am. Shame on AVIS!

Service was average, no need to queue.

Since we picked up the car at 9 PM, there were fewer people, and we didn't have to wait in line. They only asked if we needed GPS because we had full insurance, and then it was done.

Picking up the car in San Francisco was very convenient, possibly because it was early and there were no queues. Chrysler's Town and Country has immense space; it fit our group of 5 people, 5 large suitcases, and 2 small suitcases. Truly an American car—big!