Avis will go “smoke-free” next month

by Christopher Elliott on September 4, 2009

cigAvis will ban smoking in all of its cars, effective Oct. 1.

In an email sent to its customers today, the car rental company promised the change would make the rental experience “more enjoyable and satisfying.” (Almost sounds like a cigarette ad, doesn’t it?)

Our friend Daryl forwarded the letter to us at Consumer Traveler:

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Smoking bans have been slow to catch on in the car rental industry. Only two other companies — Alamo and Enterprise — are smoke-free, according to Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights. Hertz and National offer nonsmoking cars.

Hertz has also developed new odor-removing technology for its cars, rather than going completely smoke-free.

Will Avis’ move push other companies to the nonsmoking side? We’ll see.

(Photo: lanier67/Flickr Creative Commons)

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Tagged as: Avis, ban, car, smoking

  • Ron

    It is about time. A long time coming. And before the smoker rights people say an anything, this is strictly a dollars and cents thing. A clean, car that doesn’t smell like an ashtray and have burn holes in the seats will generate higher resale values.

    I am sure this will cut down on the cleaning costs of the cars…..what am I saying? Cleaning costs? When was the last time a rental car with more than 5000 miles actually looked like the interior had actually been cleaned beyond grabbing the last guy’s day old USA Today in the back?

    Now maybe I can get a car that doesn’t have windows covered in nicotine. It makes for great driving at night in a strange town.

  • http://www.shorttraveltips.com Vilmis @ Travel Tips

    I thought this policy is already in place for some years, I was renting a lot at Avis in Canada and looks it always was sticker: “No smoking”. Or may be it is just my imagination as I don’t smoke anyway :)

  • Bill

    Where I live, it has been illegal to smoke in commercial vehicles – including rental cars – for more than a year and a half.

    As for other places, I will not accept a car that smells of smoke. So it is in Avis’ and Hertz best interests to keep the smoke out of them.

    I hope that the smokers realize that “no smoking” does not mean you hold your hand out the window and bring the butt in to puff.

  • Natalie

    Anyone notice the new fee in the letter? It’s up to $250 if the car is returned and smells like smoke. Good in principle but who is going to judge if the car smells? I can pick up cigarette smoke smells in a car no matter how many times a rental company cleans the car. I wonder with making the move to a smoke-free fleet and cleaning the once-smoking cars, if Avis is going to run into any issues with the cars still carrying a tinge of smoke smell. I guess this is just something to be tacked on to the stuff I note before driving the car off the lot.

  • Jason

    As a former smoker (10 years), I see both sides of the issue. I had a choice of whether to smoke or not. Children, pregnant women, people w/ compromised immune or respiratory systems DO NOT HAVE A CHOICE as to whether or not they can smoke. When I smoked (it was at its worst when I was a 911 dispatcher, where every hour, I needed my smoke), I’d always step well away from doors (not stand in the doorway).

    Now that my asthma’s gotten pretty bad, I certainly appreciate when people offer me the same courtesy as I did previously. I don’t understand why people are so mad about not being able to smoke when and where they please – how hard is it to exit a bar, car, restaurant to enjoy your smoke? Has one lost self-control?

  • Jason

    As a former smoker (several years), I see both sides of the issue. I had a choice of whether to smoke or not. Children, pregnant women, people w/ compromised immune or respiratory systems DO NOT HAVE A CHOICE as to whether or not they can smoke. It’s not even about the SMELL of smoke for these folks but more so the CHEMICAL residues left over from the smoke, which can still affect them. When I smoked (it was at its worst when I was a 911 dispatcher, where every hour, I needed my smoke), I’d always step well away from doors (not stand in the doorway).

    Now that my asthma’s kicked in, I certainly appreciate when people offer me the same courtesy as I did previously. I don’t understand why people are so mad about not being able to smoke when and where they please – how hard is it to exit a bar, car, restaurant to enjoy your smoke? Has one lost self-control?

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