This was the absolute WORST car rental experience I have ever have. If I could give it a negative 5 stars I would! Talk about disorganized and utterly ridiculous! I reserved and prepaid for my car a month in advance (as an Avis Preferred member). Arrived @ the Sarasota airport and rec'd an email that I could use the Avis app to "check in now and SAVE TIME AT THE COUNTER". Low and behold that feature of the app says it's unavailable. To our horror, the Buget/Avis line is out the door with people telling us they've been waiting for over an hr and the line has not moved. Being a "Preferred" member, I make my way up to where THAT line is supposed to be. Nope, a MOB of people standing in the way of the line telling us that everyone if the extremely long line is a preferred member. Back of the line we go, where we wait for over an hour.. maybe moving up 2 spots in a line that looks to be about 300 deep. I decide to again make my way up to the "Preferred area", where there is a line of 3 other people waiting. I proceed to stand and WAIT in that line for almost another hour. Let it be known that THERE IS A PREFERRED LINE (The understandably irritated guests that had already waiting for hours were attempting to block the entrance to it). Now, we're into it for 2 hrs. Finally get up to the counter where other people in line are shouting at one another. Tempers are flaring as some have waited THREE HOURS PLUS in this cluster F&CK!!!! And this is for cars that we have all pre-paid for ... so we're all trapped at this point!! I get to the counter and wait ANOTHER 30 mins while the single clerk calls back and forth on her phone trying to find out where our mini van is (and apparently the keys cannot be found - she rummaged through her pile of 20 or so keys). She finally sends us out the lot where she tells us it'll be about 10 mins and thanks us for our patience. Well, we wait ANOTHER 20 mins out in the lot before a single mini van shows up. Of course there are other groups also standing and waiting and they rush to the minivan (where the clerk has to sort out who's car this is). Thankfully ours. We were utterly exhausted after the almost THREE hour ordeal to get a car. NEVER again, Avis. Never. Ever.Again. I can't imagine if I was NOT a "Preferred" Avis member. I'm certain at least 4 hrs of my vacation would have been waiting in that ugly line. read more