San Francisco to Los Angeles

Everything was satisfactory. The car had no issues, and the pickup and dropoff process was very convenient. The car had been driven over 30,000 kilometers but was still relatively new.

Service attitude, waiting time, and vehicle condition need to be addressed separately: Our flight arrived at 10 PM local time, and we got to the rental office around 11 PM. Many rental companies are located on the same floor, and some had no staff at their counters. AVIS had the longest line, which we didn’t expect. After waiting for half an hour, it was our turn. The procedure was normal. The clerk asked if we needed an SUV and how many people and luggage we had, then gave us a Jeep Cherokee. I asked if it was the Grand Cherokee, and he said yes. When we went to pick up the car, we realized the model was much smaller than what we booked. We called the rental company several times but they needed time to process it. Eventually, we went back to the counter, by then the male clerk had gone off duty and we were helped by a female clerk. She admitted we were given a downgraded car and offered a full tank of gas as compensation, which didn't matter much as gas is cheap in the US. We asked for the price difference, and she printed out the receipt showing a difference of $220. It was clear we were downgraded without any notice. After confirming the downgraded price, we took the car since they didn't have the same class available. This whole process took us a long time and we got to our hotel very late, making this experience very unpleasant.

The rental process is convenient.

The wait time for picking up the car was quite long. The staff kept persuading us to upgrade the vehicle, and the pricing was not very transparent. The return process, however, was fairly simple and smooth.

The cars from Avis in San Francisco are not very new. When I went to pick up the car, they informed me that the reserved model was not available and gave me a very old Ford instead, claiming it was the only similar model available. If I wanted to change cars, I had to pay extra. I saw many similar models at the pickup point, but after checking and returning to the counter, they still insisted it wasn't the same type and that I had to pay extra. The attendant was Chinese and tried to overcharge me just the same. I thought a big company like Avis wouldn’t have such issues. Finally, after arguing with the manager, they gave me another car, which they claimed was an upgraded Ford Explorer.