Chances are, you’ve been here. It’s Friday night at the airport, raining, the bags take an eternity to show up on the carousel, the kids are getting scratchy, and all you want to do is get the family into the rental car and head off to the Airbnb for the long weekend. That’s when you see the queue of similarly frazzled parents at the hire car counter, frantically hunting for their licences and credit cards.

Or it’s Monday morning, the red-eye flight’s been delayed, and you still have to sign for the rental car, pick up the keys, find the vehicle in a crowded parking lot and fight the rush-hour traffic into the city for that 10am meeting.

Chances are, you haven’t been here instead: you walk into the terminal, open the Avis app on your phone, click “Unlock My Car”, jump into the vehicle and you’re on the motorway.

This is a new concept, introduced by Avis New Zealand, called “Straight to Car”. It’s one of those brainwaves that seems so simple and so practical you wonder why no one thought of it before.

That’s because of the technology integration required to make the experience possible, it’s taken time to bring everything together. Now it’s available, domestic and international leisure and business travellers can enjoy fast and easy car pick-ups with the Avis App and an Avis Preferred membership.

Here’s how it works. You don’t have to be a previous or regular Avis customer; simply download the company’s Avis Car Rental app to your phone from Google Play or the App Store.

Sign up to Avis Preferred membership for free (no catches like minimum spend involved).

Another bonus: Avis will include an additional driver for free when you rent in New Zealand or Australia.

When you sign up, you’ll be asked to set a password and provide basic information required to rent a vehicle like credit card and driver licence details.

You can then book with Avis online, by phone or via the Avis app. You can also book via third party websites – however, not all these websites capture your Avis Preferred number, which must be included on the booking to enable Straight to Car pick-ups.

In the days before you pick up your car, you’ll be asked to electronically verify your ID and driver licence, which you must do 24 hours before picking up the car.

When you get off the plane or head for the Avis depot, log into the app and - 20 minutes before pickup time – it will tell you exactly where you’ll find your vehicle in the Avis carpark. Head straight to the spot, click “Unlock My Car”, and you’ll find the keys and can drive off. No paperwork, no queues, no fuss.

Plans changed, or you like the look of another vehicle? No problem. The Avis Preferred programme gives customers the option of changing the assigned vehicle for another one that’s in the Avis car park, available and ready to go. Again, simple: the app will show what’s available and you can make the change in real time, so it won’t slow you down.

When it’s time to return the car, head back to the Avis depot, park and lock the vehicle using the key, and either put the keys in the drop box in the Avis carpark or return them to the Avis counter.

Does Straight to Car do what it says on the tin? We road-tested the experience under the most difficult combination of circumstances we could think of – Auckland Airport (one of the busiest Avis sites in the South Pacific), at lunchtime, during the school holidays, and in the middle of the one of the city’s most torrential mindwinter downpours.

We opened the app, hit “Unlock My Car”, learned the silver Hyundai SUV (number plate provided) was in Bay 110, walked – undercover, thankfully – to the spot, opened the driver’s door and found the keys. All in less than five minutes, while the Avis staff were efficiently dealing with the queue of customers signing their paperwork at the counter.

For more info visit avis.co.nz/preferred

*Available at select locations. Conditions apply for Avis Preferred membership and benefits.