Big thanks to Avis employee Victor N. I returned our rental car to Hertz and went down to the counter in the 1st floor counter and realized budget merged with Avis. Victor was nice enough to go back to the 3rd floor and explained to me I couldn't drive to the 4th floor Avis car return. So he had a driver pick up my car and take it to the Avis return. read more

Absolute bait-and-switch operation at this SJC location. I am an Avis President's Club member, which explicitly guarantees a hardcoded two-class upgrade from a Full-Size (Group E) baseline under Avis corporate loyalty terms. Group E plus two classes mathematically lands on a Group H Luxury Sedan (e.g., Cadillac CT5 / Lexus ES 350) or Group XF Standard Elite Sport, as formally designated on Avis.com. Tonight, the local gate manager flatly refused to honor this corporate policy, hiding behind a false claim that Group H is part of a restricted "Signature Series" and claiming upgrades are completely at "local discretion." Avis's official corporate website explicitly categorizes Group H as a standard "Luxury" tier and identifies Group XF as "Standard Elite Sport"--neither of which belong to the restricted specialty Signature track. According to this manager's completely broken logic, there is physically NO upgrade path above an Intermediate or Full-Size sedan baseline. Avis corporate explicitly states you must book an Intermediate or Full-Size to trigger your status upgrade, yet this location claims the classes above them are locked away. If there is no path above Full-Size, then your elite status upgrades and corporate promotions are a statistical impossibility. To make matters worse, management tried to force me into a basic, boxy, gas-guzzling crossover utility vehicle, claiming an SUV is a "voluntary upgrade." Let's be clear: a standard crossover is a body-style change, not a class upgrade from a sedan baseline. Forcing a premium sedan traveler into a boxy utility vehicle with poor aerodynamics, high wind noise, and worse highway fuel efficiency is a blatant downgrade. If this franchise location is allowed to arbitrarily rewrite corporate terms, ignore vehicle classification groups, and deny hard-earned elite loyalty benefits at the counter, then President's Club status is completely worthless here. Avoid renting from this SJC location if you actually expect Avis corporate to honor the rules they publish. Pathetic customer service. PRO-TIP TO USE THIS LOCATION'S BROKEN POLICY AGAINST THEM AND SAVE HUNDREDS: Avis corporate officially defines SUVs, sedans, and EVs in completely separate categories, but this specific SJC location lazy-codes standard SUVs as their default upgrade path to avoid handing out luxury sedans. Use this internal failure to your absolute financial advantage instead of booking their more expensive SUV rows directly! * If you have a 1-class upgrade and need an SUV: Do not pay retail. Book their cheaper Full-Size Sedan instead. When you arrive, their broken local logic dictates they will let you walk straight into a Full-Size SUV or a Jeep Grand Cherokee for zero extra fees. * If you have a 2-class upgrade (Preferred Plus / President's Club/Avis Official Promotions): You can save even more money. Simply book their dirt-cheap Intermediate Sedan and you will get handed the exact same high-tier SUV rows listed above! Stop paying their inflated SUV premiums and force them to burn through their high-margin utility inventory on cheap sedan baselines until corporate forces them to fix their system. read more

First, they need to try harder! Unbelievably poorustomer service. We were given a non descript car (seriously, no idea which make or model) that squeaked at every turn and stop. So we changed it for an even worse car (Kia) with no horn, a bubble on front passenger tire! There was a crusty substance on one of the seats (front passenger seat). Highly recommend staying away from this agency. It HERTZ to use this rental car agency! Plus they are phenomenally expensive. read more

Avis Rent a Car - A bulge on the passengers side front tire. - Car Rental Near Me - San Jose, California

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Waited in line at counter for 20 minutes while they dealt with a customer whose car was unavailable. Told I was in the wrong line because I am "Preferred." Waited in line again at Preferred counter because app not working. Sent up to 5th floor. Found car. Waited in line to exiy. COULD NOT EXIT GARAGE BECAUSE NO EMPLOYEE WORKING ON FIFTH FLOOR. Lost about 1 hour of time and ended up in rush hour because of complete and utter incompetence. This was worse than the time there were no cars in Charleston. read more

Absolutely terrible experience. I booked a car as preferred member and arrive on time and no car! Have to goto counter with 20 other people. Gave up and canceled in disgust and went to a competitor. There are some serious operational issues with Avis San Jose airport; this is the third time this has happened. read more

We arrived here in the afternoon on a weekday to pick up our reserved car. The line is so long and there is only one person slowly working there. It takes hours for people to get their rental car with virtually no sense of any sort of customer service. Giving it even one star is more than it deserves. AVOID IT AT ALL COST read more

Very disappointing experience with the manager I rented a vehicle from the Budget/Avis location at San Jose Airport for nine days and paid $433.10. Unfortunately, on the way back to return the car, there was a serious accident/truck crash on Story Road that caused lane closures, an emergency response, and significant traffic delays (documented). As a result, I arrived approximately three hours late -- something that was completely outside of my control. I explained the situation to the local manager, Lavell, hoping for some understanding or a courtesy grace period. Instead, I was met with a rude, sarcastic, and dismissive attitude. He essentially told me that he didn't care about the traffic situation and refused to offer any flexibility. I was then charged an additional $43.11 for being three hours late, bringing my total from $433.10 to $476.21. People don't return cars later intentionally, and the extra charge was disappointing, but what bothered me most was the way I was treated. After a nine-day rental and an unavoidable traffic emergency, I expected at least some basic courtesy and professionalism from a manager. Instead, the interaction felt unnecessarily hostile and unfriendly. I would not recommend this location based on my experience with the management. The way a company treats customers when something unexpected happens says a lot about its customer service. read more

Got a Ford Bronco at Avis Rent a Car in San Jose during a weekend trip recently for a wedding. This was my first time in San Jose and we were here for a wedding on the weekend. Friday we got in and it was the morning time, overall it wasn't packed at all and the process to get the car was fast and convenient. The car itself was quite big and large. A lot of space and it was pretty new and up to date. Overall had no complaints about this and we had a great time rolling around in the city with this car. Also loved how clean the car interior and exterior were! read more

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Avis. Do better. This was the upgrade they wanted to give us. Took 30 min to get a mid size...very average Nissan sedan. Please start to care about your customers. read more

Avis Rent a Car - An upgraded vehicle for only two people? Really? - Car Rental Near Me - San Jose, California

I booked with the rate of 45.00 a day. only to get charged over a thousand when I returned the car. Avis is a scam

One person working a line of 20 parties at 9pm. I feel bad for the employee, but a 1 hour wait to pickup a car is ridiculous.

Nigerian Prince level scam ... charged 50 bucks for gas after I filled up in full at the Extra Mile across from the airport. Avis Preferred with 50+ rentals a year and they basically told me to get f***ed when I called to complain. Better off taking an uber across San Jose. read more

I feel terrible leaving a 1 star review. I think this may be my first. But others have to be warned. I walked into the car rental area and all other rental car companies had no line. Avis' line was practically out of the door. I waited in line for nearly an hour to get my car. There was one poor Avis associate at the counter who had to check everyone in. This is at the AVis Preferred line on level 4. The line on level 1 was even worse. Do better Avis. read more

The worst of the worst. Never ever again will I ever be stepping foot in this place they have the worst employees.Horrible supervisor most disrespectful service and employees. Who left a new employee working only 3 days unsupervised it's not her fault she had no idea what she was talking about. This man name is LAVELL ( supervisor) was yelling at my sister and I in front of customers. Saying we were horrible people for making the new employee who he left unattended for over 15-30 min was very uninformed giving wrong information to us. That's false information from his employee. Took us 2 hours & 3 trips to rent a car. If I can give this place 0 stars I would. It's a shame people like this man himself is so disrespectful and disgusting to his customers. He threatened us to call security to kick us out. I will be calling AVIS upon this matter. CHECK CAMERAS !!! DISCRIMINATION AND HARASSMENT IS NOT TOLERATED HERE. Go work somewhere else read more

Avis Rent a Car - NEVER YELL AT YOUR CUSTOMERS - Car Rental Near Me - San Jose, California

Fast and easy service if you have preferred account. From Terminal A I had to take a short (5 min?) shuttle ride - if at Terminal B then just walk. Easy to find on Fourth floor. Car was ready and waiting, exit was super easy. Smaller airports always make this feel smooth and simple. read more

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We started our trip to Long Island off right by starting with Avis! Traffic from LaGuardia on the shuttle to the agency was grid lock and we had the stereotypical horn honking, fists shaking, hollering experience. I wasn't sure what to expect when I walked into the building. I was greeted by a delightful gentleman called Pops. He offered me a minivan and we giggled together over the bad rap that minivans take despite being comfortable to drive. There was some body damage so I documented it and spoke with the check out agent who agreed. The car itself was roomy and rode well for the 8 day trip. Upon return, we were greeted with a smile and warm welcome. The shuttle was prompt and efficient. Overall it was a great part of the trip. read more

The staff at the airport was nice and pleasant. Unfortunately, through changing my return to another airport location changed my unlimited mileage. I am Preferred user and have been for decades. A one day rental that should have at most $65 is now $253. Avis customer service refused to address the issue. It is unfortunate that they have zero appreciation for loyal customers. The online staff was not kind and supportive. I am done. Recently their Oakland location charged for gas when I returned the car full. The online agent indicated that it happens often and I need to remind them that it was full. They two examples are not directly related but reinforce the culture of the organization and the lack of customer appreciation. read more

WARNING! Avis scammed me for a bogus $450 "cleaning fee"... When I returned a rented car from Avis, an Avis employee inspected the vehicle and my $200 security deposit was refunded. Then nine days later I received an email saying my card on file was being hit with a $450 "excessive cleaning" fee. A quick google search showed many people reporting the exact same bogus charge for a supposed "smoke smell." I called Avis that evening, and the rep claimed our car smelled like smoke. I made it clear that was absolutely false--we do not smoke--and that this appears to be an ongoing scam affecting many customers. She then asked if they could waive half the charge, which I refused because I wasn't paying a single cent of a fraudulent fee. She eventually agreed to remove the charge but said her system was down, so I'd have to wait 24 hours for an email confirming the reversal. Instead of reversing anything, two days later the full $450 still posted to my credit card. Needless to say, DO NOT rent from Avis!! I will obviously not be paying the fee and will make sure people know not to rent from Avis. read more

If I could give this place NEGATIVE stars, I would. We went to pick up our rental around 6 pm and it wasn't busy. When we got to the counter to talk to the guy he kept trying to upsell everything and we just said no thanks. And then when we got the disclosures, we just wanted to read it before signing (and there's nobody else behind us btw), but the guy seemed to be in a hurry and kept rushing us and kept rolling his eyes at us. I was the secondary driver and they needed my credit card for some reason also, which other rental companies have asked me for before, but fine I gave it to him. Then I wanted to read my disclosures before I signed and he kept rolling his eyes at me. He told us the cost of gas per gallon if we didn't fill it up, and we just repeated the cost to him to confirm the cost, and he just rudely said, "well you're reading the disclosures, it's in there." The attitude and all the eye rolling was absolutely unnecessary. This is by far the worst pickup experience I have had in many many years of renting vehicles regularly. I can understand the rest of the ratings for this location because this is by far the worst customer service I have had in a very long time. read more

Watch out for them scamming you. I rented a van thought Priceline to go a funeral. Avis was the company they chose. At the pick up that one had 1 person working with 9 people in line they just sent me with my contract and a space number. I asked if there was a check out sheet for the car they said go talk to the people upstairs. I go upstairs and they said we don't do that you're good. I myself covered my ass and took picture of the car all around. As I returned the car 2 days later in perfect condition I asked the guy checking in the car is there a check in sheet and do you need to see my fuel receipt. He scanned the cars barcode and said no to both we trust you. I then took pictures of the car again and went on my way. 3 weeks later I get a letter saying the windshield was cracked and I ow $583. The pictures they showed me were at their offsite location about a mile away. So I called customer service and told them I have pictures of the car as I dropped it and no windshield was crack so it could have happened in transit over to the off site location after I dropped it off. I DID NOT have a picture from the driver seat looking out like they did but I had 4 picture of the front of the car clearly seeing no damage and they said if I didn't not have that same angle from in side the car that I am liable for the damage. They said I head the last person to rent car and it was on me even after showing all the pictures. Just beware do not rent a car from these guys they will get you on some bull shit charge one was or another read more

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Huge line that not moving. There was three people now theres two. It's been 1 1/2 hours and at this rate could be another 2 hours before I get to the front of the line. read more

If I could give zero stars, I would. I am a Preferred Plus member and had a 11am reservation for an Edge or similar. I waited for 1.5 hours and the car assigned to me never arrived. The person at the counter, claiming to be a supervisor refused to help me get another car. He told me to wait with no ETA and even threatened to call security to have me removed. Finally I asked him to cancel my reservation. This is how Avis treats their Preferred Plus members. read more

STOP!!! Whatever you do, run, don't walk, from Avis. I rented a car from the Avis location at Terminal B, San Jose Mineta International Airport on August 28, 2025. I was outright defrauded by Avis. First, I rented the car at about 5:30 PM. However, I did not need the car until 7:30 PM and asked if I could make the reservation and get the car at 7:30 PM. Avis told me that the rental rates were going up at 6:00 PM and that I should rent the car before 6:00 PM to avoid the cost increase. That was an outright lie. And, the Avis's lies and fraud continued. I told Avis that I needed a car with adaptive cruise control. I told them that I have been driving cars with adaptive cruise control for eight years, and that it would be unsafe for me to drive a car without adaptive cruise control because I am used to driving cars with adaptive cruise control. They told me that the car that I was renting had adaptive cruise control. The truth is that the car Avis rented to me was a stripped down model that did not have adaptive cruise control. And, more Avis fraud and lies. I asked Avis if they had a location in Monterey, CA. They told me that there was a location at the Monterey airport. I asked if there were any Avis locations in downtown Monterey, as opposed to the airport. Avis told me that the Monterey airport was their only location in Monterey. I told them that I would return the car at the Monterey airport. Nonetheless, Avis put the return location as the San Jose airport, which is a two hour drive from Monterey. And, even more Avis fraud and lies. Without telling me that they did so, Avis charged me for every optional charge--e.g., Loss Damage Waiver, Personal Accident Insurance, etc., etc.... I told them that I wanted none of the extras, but they included them nonetheless. It is my individual, personal, subjective belief that I was ripped off by this company.  Therefore, it is my individual, personal, subjective opinion and belief, that the company is incompetent, dishonest, and/or unethical.  The foregoing review solely provides my individual, personal, subjective opinions, beliefs, and interpretations. Any individuals who may view this review, or any part thereof, should examine the facts and issues for themselves and form their own individual, personal opinions, beliefs, and interpretations. read more

I rented from this place. Friendly staff average car. 2 weeks later I get a letter in the mail. Saying there was staining on the inside of the car and charged $125 dollars to my card. That is false information and no proof or an option to refute the charges was provided. I will NEVER Rent from Avis. The billing system was messed up also. The only positive was they gave me a bigger car and kept the same price of my original car. However, gas prices were $7 for a gallon, so I assume all the compacts were rented. I travel a lot for work and rent cars frequently. This is predatory behavior, and highly recommend to avoid this AVIS. read more

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Reserved a car in Champaign, Ill. Plane was late but Abdi was still there waiting for us. The car we reserved was not available and he upgraded us, a pleasant surprise. We were not familiar with the brand and Abdi spent time to explain some of the oddities. Patient, friendly and all in all the employee I would want representing our company. Good car great representative. read more

Do not rent from this avis. If you do, take full video before and after. I returned a car in the exact same condition I rented it for a short one day trip. Then I get a notice that it was damaged. I've tried to dispute this multiple times with their claims, national line and local line. If you have to do this, be prepared to be on hold for over an hour or two. Emailing will get an automated bs response. Never renting from them again. read more

1 star for their lost and found department. I left my sunglasses in the sunglasses holder in the car, I came the same day to get them, the car was gone. I call everyday, they don't answer. they email me they cannot find them, I explicitly said where I left them, would it not make sense to ask the person who rented after about my sunglasses? to make sure they don't just take them. seems really simple to me. if the car was not returned yet, why can't they just tell me that? I rented from hertz, a person left an item behind and when I returned the car, the lady first things first checked for the item and asked me about it. The employees here are the rudest I've ever met in my life, when I go to ask about my item, they get really rude and borderline cruel. I don't understand why this is such a complicated process. read more

If it's possible to give zero stars I will! Very unprofessional staff, the guy was first having a bad day took about 5mins and you can literally see that he's upset about something! Got an email from Avis stating if it's your first time please come to the Avis preferred desk to sign up. The guy was rude as hell and responded with saying I am not going to give you service instead of helping us out. Please train your staff or lose customers. When I asked the guy to share his name, he refused it and said I will not provide you service. read more

Avis Rent a Car - Horrible service Avis Preferred Desk - Car Rental Near Me - San Jose, California

This is based on two experiences in the last month. Avis, at least the one at the airport in San Jose doesn't deserve even one star. Avis was a good company but they are terrible. Cars barely have basic equipment, power windows and brakes is all the "upgrade". The service line is slow and ridiculously long wait. The customer service representative was hateful and rude. I'm short and asked if possible to have different car because certain cars are difficult to see out of well - customer service person snarled a sharp one word "NO" response. Second experience found a reservation means nothing. Husband had specifically reserved a certain model of car. Goes to counter and, "there are no cars" . Finally after long wait got a car not even close to one reserved. Had to wait for a return and get the car still wet and difficult to inspect in the dark garage. There was a ding in the windshield that couldn't be seen until out of the garage and in the light. Husband took a picture timestamped showing windshield ding to attendant upon return but THATS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. Don't they have some responsibilities for inspecting upon return? Damage was there before car was picked up. So the person responsible skates because of incompetent return inspection. Not a well run facility. read more

I booked through Costco a Toyota Rav4 $85.67, but they gave me a Hyundai Ioniq electric car $131.83. The car looks ok, full battery but I drove in 15 minutes to downtown San Jose, 5 miles away from airport then car was dead, no power. After 3 hours dealing with stupid systems called "road side assistance " and customer services with zero help, I have to return back to rental office in San Jose airport with hope another car replacement. After talking with manager Will and Linda, they still charged my full rental. I'll dispute to my bank, complain to Costco to get money back. Worst rental service ever read more

I received a bill 2 months after my rental stating that I was charged $450 for a cleaning fee due to SMOKE ODOR. I DO NOT SMOKE, and no one else used this rental car! I am disputing this, but just wanted to warn others of my experience. This is my first 1 STAR review. read more

Our flight to San Jose yesterday was faster than getting our rental car with AVIS. They were very short handed, rented cars that they didn't even have on the lot, the team was disorganized and literally walking in circles rather than trying to help customers. When I asked about the delay, the leadership person was argumentative and unwilling to help. We will think twice before using AVIS again. read more

I choose one star because I could not choose zero star. We had one of the worst experiences with this car rental service. Despite confirming our booking well in advance, including the date, pickup time, and drop-off time, they completely failed to deliver on their promises. First, they never informed us that the car we chose might not be available on the booked date. If we had known this upfront, we could have made alternative arrangements. Instead, we showed up at the pickup location and was forced to wait in an unnecessarily long line, well beyond our scheduled pickup time. After finally reaching the front of the line, we were told that we would have to wait at least 3 more hours to get the car we had reserved! This was unacceptable and completely ruined our holiday schedule. The lack of communication, poor organization, and sheer disregard for customers' time was shocking. If you value your time and peace of mind, avoid this company at all costs. Their lack of professionalism and failure to honor commitments make them completely unreliable. They can incredibly and comfortably destroy your holidays and schedules. read more

I rent with Avis/Budget via a family booking or my own personal booking about 4 times a year. I returned the car after Thanksgiving, and they sent a letter in the mail to my parent's house saying that they were going to charge me $450 for "pet hair" in the car weeks later. In reality, I did have my parents Labrador in the car, but it wasn't something that a little vacuuming couldn't fix, which they should be doing anyway after each rental. Not only that, but they also charged me another random $87 charge on my credit card as well, despite returning my car with a full tank of gas. If I had known they would do this, I would have never rented another car from them for this Christmas holiday. Their lines are always the longest at SJC, some of the cars smell like cigarettes and they want to assign large charges for BS? No thanks. I escalated this to corporate, and was fully refunded, but I felt like people should know if they see an additional large charge or two, that's it's not acceptable. Beware before renting with them. read more

Avis @ San Jose, CA Airport - I do NOT recommend this Avis. -Extremely long wait time -Air conditioner broken on 1st vehicle -Had to wait in line AGAIN for replacement vehicle -Dishonest ! Charged me for fuel BUT I provided a gas receipt - Dishonest ! Charged me saying I drove less then 75 miles when I drove more then 300 miles! - Rude customer service agents Extremely long wait time at 4pm. 1st vehicles air conditioning was broken and it was 90 degrees outside. Rather then changing to a vehicle with functioning a/c the garage agent sent me back to the customer service long line I just waited in over an hour to get a vehicle w/functioning a/c. Upon returning vehicle AVIS charged me for a full tank of gasoline fortunately I kept the fuel receipt that was date and time stamped but the agent still refused to remove the fuel charge said I had to speak to a manager I waited 30 minutes and she finally removed incorrect charge with an attitude and no apology for the hassle or wait time to do something she could've have done in 3 minutes. . This Avis was not professional. There were multiple problems and no apologies. They were DISHONEST and charged me incorrectly on multiple charges. I OPTED OUT of them filling up my fuel yet they charged me for a full tank of gas anyways but didn't tell me. Luckily I reviewed the end charges and caught the over charge. Fortunately I take photos and document EVERYTHING. Receipts, missing floor mats, cracks in window and original rental documents. I had my gas receipt! These people are dishonest. read more

I'm writing this so that hopefully it'll help people. You cannot exchange your rental car here! I booked a car at a different Avis and that person said if I wanted to, I could go to any other Avis and exchange the car with another one. I also confirmed this over the phone with 2 different customer service reps. They suggested I go to this SJC Avis because it has a larger selection. I did try and call them twice beforehand but it went to a customer service rep. I drive 35+ mins to get there only for them to tell me that they are not able to exchange. There needs to be better communication within the company with regards to restrictions like this! read more

Great customer service at the Avis Preferred counter at SJC. I had booked an intermediate SUV and you go directly to the 4th floor of the San Jose Airport Car Rental Center. This is across the street from the Southwest Terminal. I like that the Avis Preferred counter is on its own floor. It made picking up my rental a breeze. Just look for your name on the screen and it will tell you the space your rental car is parked in. Prior to landing at SJC. I got an email from Avis letting me know what type of car I had waiting for me. The make, model, color and license plate along with the parking space it was located on were all provided in this email. I liked that. It answered all my questions. The lady working at the Avis Preferred counter was very nice as well and even though her printer was having issues, she didnt want to make us wait because i needed to add a 2nd driver. So she got out the old carbon copy form. I appreciated her help in expediting our process. When you exit the Avis floor driving out in your rental. You will go down a spiral ramp until you get to the terminal level. It's a dizzying drive so watch your speed. The deduction in 1 star is due to the rental car itself. The Mitsubishi Outlander Sport I was assigned wasnt the newest of models and the charging ports were not working. All 3 of them. 2 cigarette lighter ports and 1 USB. Of course we were well on our way by the time we found this out. Good thing we weren't staying too far away or going on long drives that weekend. It would have been an issue otherwise. Other than that, the experience in renting with Avis at SJC was great. It pays to have Avis Preferred. Satisfied customer here. read more

Charged us for gas even though the car was returned with a full tank. Very disappointing and not truthful

I was scammed here. I declined all insurances, confirmed with the person at the counter that insurances were declined. They told me the extra amount on the contract was $200 deposit which will be refunded to my account after I return the car. Well, they charged me insurance in the final bill anyway. read more

Worst location I've ever dealt with! I left a pair of headphones in my car and I submitted an online claim 20 min after returning my car. Next day I got an email stating that nothing was found. The following week I fly back and ask in person. No one checked anything or moved a muscle they simply stated if you haven't been contacted then nothing was found. 0/10 customer service! Either they stole my headphones or they are too lazy to check! read more