I was looking for a long-term SUV rental (11 months) anywhere in the US. The cheapest SUV rate I found was $6,340 ($576/month) at a small Avis location in Memphis, TN. The location had horrible reviews, all of them with the complaint that when they showed up to pick up the rental, the location was sold out. I was doubly worried since I obviously didn't want to fly down and find out that they didn't have a car for me, but I also wanted to ensure that they would have an SUV available and wouldn't try to downgrade me to a Sedan. It occurred to me that I can rent a car in Memphis Airport (which has an Avis Preferred Aisle so I'd be more likely to get something to fit my taste) and set the return location at the smaller office where my SUV was scheduled to be picked up for the 11 month rental. After receiving confirmation from a fellow DDF'er that locations commonly allow you to drop off a vehicle and then check it out again right away under a different reservation, I went ahead and booked the Memphis Airport rental. It cost me $200+ for just 24 hours but I decided it was worth it in an effort to prevent heartache down the line.
Lo and behold the night before I was scheduled to pick up my long term rental I received a call from the local Avis location that I shouldn't bother to show up for my reservation since they were out of vehicles. I explained to them that I was actually dropping off a vehicle at the same time as my pickup was scheduled for, and that they should please hold the reservation open since they will have a vehicle for me as soon as I drop it off. The guy was a bit confused by the dropoff and then pickup shpiel, but after checking his dropoff list he confirmed that I was indeed on it and that I can check out the same vehicle again for my reservation!
Additionally:
-Avis long-term rentals (referred to as a "mini-lease") are not set up as one long term rental, but rather at pickup they had me sign 11 contracts for 1/11th of the price, each for 30 days. Each month at the close of the contract they send me an invoice for 1/11th of the total and bill my card (card is charged after the 30 days wraps up, not before) so I didn't have to put up the full $6k in advance.
-On the 11 contracts I signed at pickup, the pickup date and mileage were blank. Each months on the day the contract rolls over I receive a call from Avis inquiring as to the current mileage reading (the reservation has unlimited miles so this doesn't matter price-wise), and they then send me an updated contract that has the pickup date (the start of the current 30 day period) and mileage filled in. This allows me to be covered by my credit card CDW insurance, as no single rental contract exceeds 30 days.
-I booked my reservation on Prime Day, when Avis cashback at Amazon (
https://www.avis.com/en/offers/partners/amazon-benefits) was 20% (note that the Amazon offer only applies to the base rate), so I'm receiving that each month as well! That brings my effective monthly rate down to ~$500 including insurance:)