When it comes to the bare necessities in life, Avis Rent A Car and Crest are giving airport travelers a needed helping hand.
The rental car agency and toothpaste-maker have teamed to replenish carryon toiletries customers are forced to leave behind because of recent security changes in airports nationwide. Crest, a Procter & Gamble brand, is donating 25,000 “smiles packs” filled with full-sized Crest toothpaste, mouthwash and Glide dental floss products. Avis is distributing smile packs on the front seats of car rentals at 25 U.S. airports for members of Avis Preferred Service, a program that gives frequent customers extra amenities and service.
Participating locations include Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, Nashville, Oakland, CA, Orlando, FL, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Sacramento, CA, San Jose, CA, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, FL and Washington, DC.
Crest approached Avis earlier this month after the Transportation Security Administration banned liquid products—from bottled water to hair gel and lotions—in carry-on bags on airplanes. The move came after British officials arrested 24 people Aug. 10 in an alleged terrorist plot to use liquid explosives to blow up U.S.-bound airplanes from the U.K.
“Our consumers were losing their toiletries,” P&G spokesperson Tonia Elrod said. “We wanted to do something to replenish those items. Avis became an ideal partner.”
The smile packs, which contain full-sized Crest Pro-Health products—Crest’s newest product—are valued at more than $10 per pack. Crest wanted to go beyond the sample size products and give consumers more of a value-add, Elrod said. After the initial 25,000, the Cincinnati-based company plans to ship additional smile packs over the next two weeks, she said.
For Avis, the premium offer has its top customers buzzing. With its new found relationship with Crest, the Parsippany, NJ-based company can help make travel a little less stressful via free premiums, Avis spokeswoman Susan McGowan said.
“It’s a discovery kind of thing,” McGowan said. “We knew our customers would really appreciate it. We’re happy to reward our best customers. It was a timely thing to do.”
Online materials support.
Hotels chains, too, ramped up efforts to offer more free toiletries in responses to airline restrictions (PROMO Xtra Aug. 15, 2006).
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