AU student clubs and organizations will have more travel options besides AUTO vans next semester, when Avis Car Rental expands rental services to 18-year-olds for university-sanctioned travel, according to Student Government President Andy MacCracken.
Effective Jan. 1, clubs at AU can rent cars from the Avis Car Rental office at 4400 Connecticut Ave., near the Van Ness Metro stop, for use by their student club or organization. Students can rent any car on the Avis lot, including a 12-passenger vehicle; AUTO vans can currently only hold up to 10 people for insurance reasons, according to MacCracken.
MacCracken said that he has been working on the Avis rental car contract over the summer and for most of this semester with the AU administration. Hallie Porter, who is in charge of contracts and purchasing for AU, negotiated with Avis over the rentals and secured the contract a few days ago.
Porter said that AU originally reached out to several car companies about expanding AU’s car rental services, but Avis had the best pricing.
“Avis rental car provided us with an agreement that not only approved 18-year-old drivers, but also with aggressive pricing,” Porter said. “Avis rents only by the day, week or month. Hourly rentals will be left to Zip Car and Flex Car.”
Rentals will be $36 per day for a compact car or $101 per day for the 12-passenger van. Clubs and organizations will be paying for rental fees out of their own club funds, according to Porter.
MacCracken said that this new Avis rental car contract would end the limitations that many clubs and organizations have in regards to where they can travel.
“AUTO['s insurance policy] sets it so that you can’t travel with their vans out of a 50-mile radius,” MacCracken said. “If you are an AU organization, and you have to go somewhere where AUTO has limitations, this [Avis car rental program] would be a great service.”
MacCracken said that use of Avis rental cars will be limited to AU's clubs and organizations for now, including club sports.
It remains to be seen whether the lowering of the car rental age to 18 for AU students using Avis cars will affect the SG’s ongoing project to lower the Zipcar rental age to 18, according to MacCracken. He said that there are no new developments on lowering the Zipcar age right now, but the SG will be working on this project next semester.
MacCracken said that the new Avis rental car program is part of AU’s continuing efforts to expand services for students.
“Opening the age requirement is part of a two-part approach to helping students travel [with clubs and organizations] by giving students more accessibility and decreasing travel costs,” MacCracken said.
Corrections appended Dec. 3, 2009 at 10:26 a.m. and Dec. 17, 2009 at 4:14 p.m.
You can reach this staff writer at jryan@theeagleonline.com.
