Avis

Avis has traded on its underdog heritage since the famous "We Try Harder" campaign of 1962 — a rare piece of advertising honesty that acknowledged the company's number-two position in the rental car market behind Hertz and used it as a promise of better service. Founded in 1946, Avis has spent the subsequent eight decades building a premium positioning in the rental car market, with a strong presence in business travel, international markets, and loyalty-driven repeat customers. Today it operates as part of Avis Budget Group alongside the Budget brand, with Zipcar — the car-sharing service — rounding out the group's portfolio.

The Avis app and website handle reservations, the Avis Preferred loyalty programme, and the Preferred Plus and Chairman's status tiers that reward frequent renters with counter-bypass privileges at major airport locations. Avis Preferred members at eligible locations bypass the counter entirely, proceeding directly to a designated vehicle in the Preferred section of the rental lot. The app stores rental agreements, receipts, and roadside assistance contact information. Corporate account holders access negotiated rates through dedicated booking flows that differ from the public consumer experience.

Avis digital outages affect business travellers disproportionately because the brand's customer base skews toward frequent corporate renters who have deeply integrated the Preferred skip-the-counter workflow into their travel routines. A business traveller who lands in Chicago, takes the shuttle to the Preferred lot, and discovers the app cannot display their reservation now faces a counter interaction during a period when flights have finished and queues are long. Corporate rate codes that fail to apply correctly during degraded sessions mean a traveller might be quoted a rate significantly above their negotiated agreement, triggering approval workflow complications. Return receipt failures leave open questions about billing that require follow-up customer service calls.

Outage.gg tracks Avis service disruptions using community reports from business and leisure travellers. If the Avis app is down, Preferred check-in is failing, or reservations are not loading, the live status page shows current impact from the Avis customer community.