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Avis car hire review
Guy is an award-winning travel writer with 20+ years' experience. He runs a crack team of researchers, unearthing everything from the best beaches to the worst car hire companies.
What is Avis?
Global American car rental company Avis operates in thousands of locations.
Which? verdict
For a company so many customers trust, it’s very disappointing that Avis scored so poorly for the clarity of its rental conditions and final hire cost. Couple this with middling customer service and value-for-money ratings and we’d steer clear.
Avis customer ratings
If you want to see how Avis measures up against its rivals, read our best and worst car hire companies page.
| Hire Company | Which? Recommended Provider? | Overall Score |
|---|---|---|
| Avis | No | 64% |
Overall score is a combination of the customer score (overall satisfaction and how likely people are to recommend the company) and our expert analysis. Survey carried out in February/March 2026.
What's Avis like?
When we checked the clarity of the pricing and T&Cs on Avis’s website, we were very frustrated with how poorly some charges were displayed – even mandatory ones like one-way fees. And trying to find the deposit amount for an Avis rental in France tested both our initiative and our French. The list of ‘pré-autorisation bancaires’ eventually turned up in the small print of the third lengthy set of T&Cs we were directed to.
In response, Avis told us that it remains ‘focused on improving the visibility of key details, including fees and rental requirements, to support customers in making informed choices’.
Customers were also disappointed with Avis. It came third from the bottom in our table, just above budget brands Dollar and Goldcar. It did receive some good four-star ratings for things like vehicle condition and return speed, but there were also some poor two-star ratings (for clarity and collection speed).
Its middling three-star ratings for customer service and value were disappointing for a brand of this size. This customer’s dreadful experience may serve as a warning to others thinking of booking with Avis: ‘There was a one-hour queue at the desk. Then they couldn’t find my wife’s driving licence details. I should have had a free additional driver but was charged €167 on return. I followed Avis’ dispute procedure but didn’t get a response, ever. In the end, I had to claim the money back from my credit card company.’
Should I book with Avis?
No. Avis offers high-quality cars worldwide, but the clarity of its pricing and T&Cs is poor, while its customer service and value-for-money ratings are underwhelming.