I’ve been an Avis Preferred member for years and they’ve always treated me well. The 'Avis Direct' feature on the app lets me bypass the counter entirely. Last week in Chicago, I was out of the garage in under five minutes. That’s worth the premium price.

The car I got smelled like a pack of cigarettes. I went back to the desk to swap it and they told me it was the only car left in that category. I ended up having to pay for an 'upgrade' just to get a car that didn't make me nauseous.

Had a flat tire on a Sunday and their roadside assistance was actually pretty quick. They sent a tow truck with a replacement car within 90 minutes. It could have ruined my weekend, but they handled it professionally.

The "preferred" service is great, but the car I got had a very weird rattle coming from the trunk.

Standard rental experience. Nothing fancy, nothing terrible. The car was a bit older than I expected—had about 40k miles on it—but it drove fine and the AC was ice cold. Good enough for a quick weekend getaway.