Avis Preferred: loyalty program perks for frequent U.S. renters

Responsible: ad hoc news Lifestyle & Consumer Desk. Reviewed prior to publication on June 12, 2026 at 10:50:36 PM ET. Details in the imprint.

Avis Preferred is the flagship loyalty service from Avis Budget Group for frequent car renters, bundling expedited car pickup, priority service and point-based rewards across participating locations in the U.S. and abroad. Unlike many paid club memberships, the base tier of Avis Preferred is free to join and is designed to speed up the rental process while allowing customers to earn points on every eligible rental. For U.S. travelers using airport and downtown locations regularly, the service sits at the center of the company’s consumer offering as a tool to keep customers inside the Avis ecosystem.

How Avis Preferred works for U.S. consumers

Avis markets Preferred as its core loyalty program, with benefits activated once a customer enrolls and links their profile to future reservations. According to the official Avis Preferred page, members earn at least 1 point per $1 spent on rentals and 2 points per $1 on optional add-ons like satellite radio or child safety seats, which can later be redeemed for free rental days or upgrades. The company states that points do not expire as long as the member completes at least one qualifying rental every 12 months, a structure aimed at recurring business from frequent travelers rather than one-time customers.

The program is structured into tiers: Avis Preferred, Avis Preferred Plus and Avis President’s Club, with higher tiers unlocked by annual rental activity. Preferred Plus typically requires a defined number of rentals or a minimum annual spend to qualify and adds benefits such as single-car class upgrades at participating locations and a dedicated reservation line for service issues. President’s Club is an invitation or high-activity tier that includes guaranteed upgrades where available and access to a wider selection of vehicles in many markets, aimed at very frequent renters and some corporate travelers. While exact qualification thresholds can be adjusted periodically, the overall tiered model aligns with airline and hotel loyalty programs used by U.S. business travelers.

Speed at pickup is a central selling point. Avis emphasizes that Preferred members can often bypass the main rental counter at major U.S. airports and go directly to a dedicated Preferred area, where their name and assigned vehicle are displayed on a board. At these participating locations, the renter can usually go straight to the parked vehicle, show ID at the exit gate and drive off, reducing wait times compared with standard counter service. For time-sensitive business travelers, that convenience is positioned as a key differentiator versus occasional-use competitors.

Avis also ties Preferred to its app and online account features, allowing members to update profile details, store payment information and manage preferences such as car type or fuel options. The mobile app can show assigned vehicles and provide directions to the exact parking space at supported locations, integrating the loyalty service into the company’s broader digital infrastructure. In the U.S., this app-centric experience is important as major rivals in the car rental market promote similarly streamlined digital check-in and vehicle selection for loyalty members.

From a pricing perspective, the core Avis Preferred tier does not carry a separate membership fee in the U.S. market; members pay standard rental rates and fees for vehicles, insurance products and extras. Avis monetizes the program indirectly by encouraging repeat business and selling upgrades, fuel plans and add-ons to a more engaged customer base. For renters willing to share their travel and preference data, the service effectively functions as a no-cost enhancement to the standard rental, though specific promotions or bonus-point offers can be used to steer demand toward particular locations, dates or vehicle categories.

Positioning within Avis Budget Group’s portfolio

Avis Preferred spans much of the company’s global footprint, but the U.S. remains a key market due to its dense network of airport and neighborhood branches. Avis states that thousands of locations participate in the program, with dedicated Preferred service areas at many larger airports where high-volume business travel is concentrated. This broad availability means that a U.S. renter enrolled in Preferred can usually benefit from expedited service on both domestic trips and a portion of international travel, further anchoring the service as a cross-border loyalty platform for the brand.

The program complements sister brands within Avis Budget Group, particularly Budget and Zipcar, but it is explicitly branded under the Avis name and targeted first at mid-to-upper tier leisure travelers and corporate customers. While Budget often focuses on price-sensitive renters and Zipcar on short-term urban car sharing, Avis Preferred is positioned to retain higher-value customers who might otherwise shift to competitors offering loyalty perks and upgrades. This helps the group maintain share among frequent renters in the U.S., where competing programs from major rental companies also push fast-track pickup and reward redemptions.

Industry analyses of car rental trends in the U.S. point out that distribution is heavily influenced by digital channels and aggregator platforms, with online travel agencies capturing a large portion of search traffic. In that environment, loyalty programs like Avis Preferred serve as a tool to draw customers away from purely price-driven comparison and toward direct booking, where Avis controls the relationship and margins. When renters book directly through the Avis website or app while logged in as Preferred members, the company can market targeted promotions, encourage upsells and better forecast demand across its fleet.

Analysts also note that fleet optimization and yield management are critical to profitability in car rental, particularly at airports where vehicle inventory can shift quickly. Loyalty programs contribute to this by providing Avis with richer data on rental frequency, trip length and vehicle preferences of its most active customers, which can inform fleet mix decisions and pricing strategies at U.S. locations. For consumers, this can translate into more consistent access to popular vehicle classes, while for Avis Budget Group it supports more efficient use of capital tied up in cars.

For U.S. consumers considering enrollment, the main trade-offs revolve around how often they rent and whether they use locations that fully support Preferred benefits. A traveler renting several times per year from major airports will typically see more value from priority service, potential upgrades and point earnings than an occasional renter at smaller neighborhood branches with limited fleet. Because the base tier is free to join, however, the barrier to entry is low, and many customers sign up even for a single trip to enable counter-skipping and digital access in crowded terminals. For privacy-conscious users, the decision may also involve balancing the convenience of stored data and tailored offers against sharing detailed travel patterns with the company.

Avis Preferred sits alongside other initiatives from Avis Budget Group to digitize the rental journey, including self-service kiosks at some locations, contactless options and partnerships with travel platforms. While the company does not break out revenue directly attributable to Preferred in public filings, loyalty services of this type generally aim to raise customer lifetime value by increasing repeat rentals and cross-selling add-ons. For Avis, which operates in a cyclical travel market and faces competition from traditional rental peers and newer mobility services, retaining its most frequent renters through perks and faster service is strategically important.

For now, Avis Preferred remains a central pillar of the Avis brand’s value proposition in the U.S., linking the company’s physical fleet, airport footprint and digital tools into a single loyalty framework. Shares of Avis Budget Group Inc. (US0537741052, ticker CAR) traded at $165.10 on Nasdaq at the close on June 12, 2026, according to exchange data.

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