Avis Car Rental Expands Innovative Mobile App Capa

PARSIPPANY, N.J., Feb. 14, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Seven months after announcing enhanced mobile app features that re-engineered the entire car rental process, Avis Car Rental is expanding the mobile app’s innovative offerings to new markets. Now, travelers renting cars at airports across Australia can use their smartphones to experience complete and unprecedented control when renting a vehicle.

“Since the successful U.S. launch in July 2016, more than 400,000 travelers have enrolled and nearly 300,000 rental transactions have been made using the Avis mobile app,” said Larry De Shon, chief executive officer, Avis Budget Group. “Our goal was to take customer feedback and create a unique service that simplified the rental process while addressing common pain points vocalized across the industry. With downloads continuing to climb and nearly 45 percent of app-enabled rental transactions coming from repeat customers, we are excited to build on the program with this roll-out in Australia.”

Compatible with Avis’ entire fleet, travelers in Australia who are enrolled in Avis Preferred, the Company’s express rental/loyalty program, will have the opportunity to use their smartphones to save time and ensure a seamless rental process from start to finish. Benefits include the ability to:

• Book a rental via the mobile app. See all the details of the rental on one screen.  
• Exchange or upgrade a vehicle before arriving, or at the lot.  
• Save time by bypassing the counter. With push notifications travelers can identify the exact location where their reserved vehicle is parked.  
• Extend rentals in real-time with a tap of the app.  
• Return the vehicle without assistance.  
• View an itemized receipt on the app.

In the United States, the mobile app also works with approximately 40,000 connected vehicles in the Avis fleet. Travelers can use the Avis app to lock and unlock car doors and flash vehicle headlights – a function that may be offered elsewhere as the connected vehicle market expands into other territories.

The Avis app can be used at more than 60 locations across the United States, and is now available at four airport locations in Australia including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide. For more information on Avis Preferred or to enroll, visit www.avis.com .

About Avis Avis Car Rental operates one of the world's best-known car rental brands with approximately 5,500 locations in approximately 170 countries. Avis has a long history of innovation in the car rental industry and is one of the world's top brands for customer loyalty. Avis is owned by Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAR ), which operates and licenses the brand throughout the world. For more information, visit www.avis.com .

Contact: Alice Pereira 973.496.3916