I just only found out that Avis is a huge company because I never saw their rental services in the places I’ve visited. My friend had been ranting about her trip to Thailand because the driver of the rental got lost. The driver was a local, but he didn’t really know his way around Bangkok. The supposed 30 minute drive from the airport to her sister’s house turned into a nightmare for her when they ended up in neighboring towns and nowhere near the address she had given. The GPS wouldn’t work, and they were afraid to ask the other locals for directions. Finally, after stopping at a gas station, they finally got directions from the owner. The driver was just supposed to drop her off at her sister’s address but she ended up having a tour of Thailand for free.

I guess that’s about the same with most of the drivers in rental services, because I’ve had the same experience before. When no one can pick me, I would always opt for Avis rentals instead of the usual cab. I feel more secure with Avis, because all of their drivers have gone through background checks. It is costly, but if it means I can sleep halfway and be sure that I won’t be massacred or robbed I’d rather pay the extra money for that. To avoid being lost while I sleep, I always ask the receptionist at Avis to give me a driver who knows his way around the Manila and the other neighboring cities so I don’t have to keep on giving him instructions on which short cut to use if there’s heavy traffic. I once had a driver who didn’t know where Antipolo was, and I ended up giving him directions instead of catching up on lost sleep. So far, I’ve only had good experiences with Avis, and they have never given me any reason to get a headache - unlike my friend. Avis has a branch in the international airport in Manila, and if you ask around the terminal someone will point you to the right direction.

Rating: 9