AMEX Platinum Charge cardholders (both principal and supplementary) enjoy complimentary elite status with several hotel and rental car programmes, such as Hilton and Hertz. Historically speaking, they also received Avis Preferred status, which wasn’t really much of a benefit seeing as how it was the programme’s entry tier.
But now there’s a welcome upgrade. AMEX Platinum Charge cardholders can now enrol for Avis President’s Club membership, the highest published tier in the programme (there is a higher unpublished tier called Chairman’s Club).
Get instant Avis President’s Club status
 |
| Avis President’s Club |
AMEX Platinum Charge cardholders can now enrol as an Avis President’s Club member, which grants benefits such as:
- Priority service at the counter
- Priority rental car availability
- Free additional driver
- Single upgrade guaranteed at rail stations and airports, upon availability at downtown locations
- Double upgrade for select car classes upon availability on weekends
Do note that benefits vary by location, so the treatment you receive as a President’s Club member in Europe may be different from the USA.
If you’re already an Avis Preferred member, you can upgrade your existing membership by visiting this link.
| ๐ For PPS Club members too |
|
If you’re a Solitaire PPS Club or PPS Club member, you can also enjoy instant Avis President’s Club status with the code PPSClub or Solitaire. While the landing page explicitly says this excludes Solitaire PPS Club supplementary cardholders, in practice they also receive the benefit. |
Status will be automatically maintained so long as you hold your AMEX Platinum Charge card.
AMEX Platinum Charge cardholders who use the AWD code K545000 will get 10-25% off published rates. This may or may not be the best AWD code out there, and it’s worth using a service like AutoSlash to make sure you’re getting the cheapest quote given the memberships you have.
My experience as an Avis President’s Club member
I’ve been an Avis President’s Club member for a while now, so long I’ve forgotten how I obtained the status in the first place.
That’s the thing- while Avis President’s Club is marketed as “by invitation only”, you might want to moderate your expectations. Avis has been very liberal with the invitations, such that PC members are almost a dime a dozen when renting from some airports in the USA.
Based on my experiences so far, recognition has gone from excellent (served immediately, upgraded to a luxury vehicle) to non-existent (“what’s President’s Club?”). In general, I don’t find the Avis rental experience anywhere as nice as Hertz or National, which have dedicated aisles that give you a free selection of vehicles (e.g. you book an intermediate and can choose anything up to the full-size aisle).
What’s it like renting a car as a Hertz President’s Circle member?
I mean, all things equal I’d rather have status than not have it, but if you think you’ll be booking a Toyota and walking off the lot with a BMW, you’re going to be sorely disappointed.
Conclusion
AMEX Platinum Charge cardholders now receive Avis President’s Club status, which is a big step up from the previous Avis Preferred. That’s on paper at least- your real-life experiences may vary, so keep your expectations in check.
Any experiences with Avis President’s Club?
It’s interesting to read this. I’m just about to pick up my Avis rental in Istanbul. One thing to beware of when booking Avis. Using the discount code provided by Amex actually costs quite a bit more than not using the discount code. It’s surprising, but do compare before booking.
Avis sucks. I was the victim of unscrupulous and dishonest counter staff at one of the major Canadian airports. Wrote in to their feedback email – no response received for 2 months. Wrote directly to two of the Canadian/North American C-suite folks in Avis, also no response. Thankfully managed to get the dishonestly procured Avis payment chargedback by OCBC.
@aaron This year did not see any Christmas Gifts from Amex. Every year we used to have that annual function with food. Is that stopped this year?
they’re supposedly planning something for dec. not quite platinum affair, but we’ll have to see…
https://www.avis.com/en/loyalty-profile/avis-preferred/enrollment
This enrollment site does not seem to have Singapore as one of the countries and the above offer requires the account to be in Singapore. Am I doing something wrongly?