PARSIPPANY, N.J., July 17, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avis Car Rental today announced its integration with Amazon Alexa, which will allow travelers to book and manage car rental reservations through the popular voice platform on Amazon Echo devices. The initiative positions Avis as the first car rental company to offer the innovation and paves the way for easy, intuitive travel arrangements. The offering is being demonstrated at the Global Business Travel Association’s (GBTA) Convention this week and will be available to the public by the end of August.
With the new skill for Alexa-enabled devices such as the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot, Avis customers will be able to make a car rental reservation, review current or past reservations and request an e-receipt of their last rental. Business travelers will be given instant, voice-controlled access to the car rental booking process with such commands as “I need a car at La Guardia Airport at 9:00 a.m. this Friday.” The voice platform manages the booking process through secure integration with Avis that utilizes travelers’ preferences stored in their Avis Preferred profile. These include car preference and additional options such as SiriusXM, GPS devices and coverages.
“We are constantly looking for ways to make the customer’s experience more magical,” said Arthur Orduña, chief innovation officer, Avis Budget Group. “We have our mobile app, which allows renters to manage their entire experience from their smartphone at approximately 175 locations globally, and now with Alexa integration, we will provide them with yet another way to engage with us seamlessly thanks to transformative digital technology.”
By 2018, 30% of consumer interactions with technology will be through voice assistance platforms, according to Gartner, Inc. The Avis integration with Amazon Alexa underscores the brand’s commitment to driving innovation that paves the road to the future and to creating a competitively superior reservation and rental experience for its customers.
For more information, or to enroll in Avis Preferred, the Company’s express rental/loyalty program, 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.