Update (9/7): The Avis Link again appears to be working!
Update: The Avis link appears to be dead but you can still get Avis First status for having a World Elite MasterCard. I found a phone number to call from the MasterCard website that lists this benefit. Click here for more details.
Last week I blogged about two elite status offers for car rental companies, Avis & National, that simply for signing up with a MasterCard, you could get elite status! Well one thing I overlooked was that when you register for Avis First with Avis, you get a FREE Two Day Weekend Car Rental simply for signing up!
Interestingly enough, the published benefits of being Avis First don’t list a free rental for signing up but when I got my confirmation email from Avis above, notifying me of my Avis First status, it included the perk of a free weekend rental! No previous rentals required! That email happened a few days ago but I waited to blog about until I received the coupon code and could test whether it works and it does.
Rental Coupon Code Email from Avis!
I need to be in Phoenix the first weekend of November so I figured this would be an excellent time to use my free weekend car rental. Sure enough, I proceeded to make a reservation using my Wizard Number and the coupon code for the free rental and the rental priced out as FREE except for some mandatory state taxes and facility fees.
My Free Rental (ok almost free)
This is a FANTASTIC benefit and everyone should signup for Avis First if you haven’t already. Remember this offer is intended for World Elite MasterCard holders so I do wonder if you signup with any MasterCard whether you will get the free rental. It has been proven that signing up with any MasterCard (including debit cards) will get you the status (my friend showed me his account after doing this) but I’m not sure on the free rental. If you plan to signup now, try to use a World Elite MasterCard (like the Citi American Airlines Executive card).
PointsCentric 
[…] points out that when you sign up for your Avis status you will be given a free 2-day weekend car […]
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[…] points out that when you sign up for your Avis status you will be given a free 2-day weekend car rental. […]
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[…] saw this on PointsCentric: Sign up for Avis First and you will receive a free 2-day weekend car rental coupon code. Sign up […]
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[…] PointsCentric, you can get 2 days use of an Avis rental car to drive over a weekend for free when you sign-up […]
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[…] gives detailed instructions on get Avis First Elite status as well as a free 2 day weekend car rental from […]
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[…] PointsCentric and View From the Wing just wrote about a way to get a free weekend rental from Avis. This is a one-time thing for signing up for Avis First status and using a MasterCard as your preferred credit card. […]
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How long did it take between the activation and getting the coupon?
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It took about a week or so. I think they supposedly do some sort of verification process in which they verify the MasterCard (I saw a pending charge from Avis)
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Hi, thanks for sharing this. When do the 2 rental credits expire? Are luxury vehicles included? 🙂
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I think the rental days expiration is dependent on when you activate the Avis First benefit. Mine expire 1/15.
And only up to full size is allowed but I would think an upgrade is possible based on Avis First Status
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This is a great deal!!!!!
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I got the Avis Preferred membership and activated with my wizard number. I could not get approved for the deal ; message :Our records indicate that you are not an Avis First member. Pls help !
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Were you already an Avis Preferred member before seeing this deal? If you, you should email Avis First at avis.first@avis.com with the subject “MasterCard World Elite (K115600) Avis First Full Benefit Upgrade”.
This is what I had to do and I wrote the following:
I received the invitation and would like to upgrade from Avis Preferred to Avis First.
Name:
City of Residence:
Avis Wizard Number:
Make sure your Avis profile has a MasterCard linked though (and it does seem now you need a World Elite for the free weekend rental coupon)!
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I also got this issue and I’m still trying to get it fixed with Avis. I had signed up with my Arrival+.
I contacted customer service through email and got this response:
“Recently we have renamed our program tiers and Avis First is now called Avis Preferred Plus. A review of your Wizard Number shows that your account has been now coded to the Preferred Plus program where you will still enjoy the benefits of the old Avis First Program. The difference in the systems is most likely being caused by delay in the changes being transmitted across all of our servers. We do apologize for this inconvenience.”
However, I googled this issue and seems that people have encountered this issue in years past…
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FYI – I just tried calling MC to sign up for Avis first and they told me the Avis First has been suspended. She couldn’t sign me up and she doesn’t know when it will be back up. Oh well. I tried.
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That’s interesting. I would try again as you might have gotten a bad agent who simply didn’t feel like doing work. Hopefully that works!
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[…] Potential to get rental car company top tier status if you have a World Elite Mastercard. Also appears to be a possibility that you can get a free weekend rental by signing up for Avis First. Planning to try it for the Villain and will report back! […]
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Signed up for preferred then reply to the invitation and received no response, when i called avis they said that even though I am a avis first member I will not receive any benefits on till I do 12 rentals etc. Any advice?
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So you had preferred and then had to do the email to Avis First requesting Avis First? Maybe I would try signing up a new account completely with a MasterCard and hopefully you’ll get the email in a few weeks with the benefits summary and free weekend code.
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