Discover the importance of ACRISS codes in the car rental industry. Learn how these codes streamline booking processes and ensure accurate vehicle categorization.
Anyone interested in rental cars and doing more in-depth research will likely come across certain 4-letter abbreviations. You might be wondering what that means and if it's even helpful. Well, as it turns out, it is. These codes, called ACRISS codes (even more abbreviations!), represent the technical characteristics of rental cars you can expect in any given category. Below is the official description of an ACRISS code and each letter's meaning.
ACRISS (Association of Car Rental Industry Systems Standards) is used by car rental companies such as Avis, Budget, Alamo, Europcar, Hertz, Sixt, and National. Companies such as Orbit Car Hire utilise this standard.
The standard allows customers to choose what vehicle to rent by classifying cars using an easy-to-use four-letter matrix. The four-letter matrix provides 400 unique vehicle types. ACRISS codes are formed by assigning one letter from each category (category, type, transmission & fuel type and air conditioning).
When booking a rental car with Orbit Car Hire, you will see ACRISS codes used to define the available car types. The benefits of using ACRISS codes are that car rental company can clearly explain minor differences in car types, offer customers a greater choice of cars and ensure that customers receive the kind of car they booked.
For simple reference, the most important are the last two letters, which determine if the car is either with manual transmission (M) or automatic transmission (A) and if the vehicle is Diesel (D), Petrol (R), or can be either. It will be determined based on availability at the location (N).
Examples
- EBMN is an Economy car with 2-3 doors, manual transmission without air conditioning and could use either petrol or diesel
- CDMD is a Compact car with 4-5 doors, manual transmission, diesel fuel and air conditioning
- IDAD is an Intermediate car with 4-5 doors, automatic transmission and uses diesel fuel and has air conditioning
- DFMR is a Compact Elite SUV, with a manual transmission, has air conditioning, and it can use either petrol or diesel
- PWAD is a Premium estate car with automatic transmission, diesel fuel and air conditioning
- SDMN is a Standard car with 4-5 doors, with a manual transmission, without air conditioning and could use either petrol or diesel
The first letter in ACRISS codes represents the general classification of the vehicle type. Elite vehicles have a higher specification or are considered higher quality cars.
|
First Letter |
|
M - Mini |
|
N - Mini Elite |
|
E - Economy |
|
H - Economy Elite |
|
C - Compact |
|
D - Compact Elite |
|
I - Intermediate |
|
J - Intermediate Elite |
|
S - Standard |
|
R - Standard Elite |
|
F - Fullsize |
|
G - Fullsize Elite |
|
P - Premium |
|
U - Premium Elite |
|
L - Luxury |
|
W - Luxury Elite |
|
O - Oversize |
|
X - Special |
The second letter in the ACRISS code specifies the type of vehicle on offer.
|
Second Letter |
|
B - 2/3 Doors |
|
C - 2/4 Doors |
|
D - 4-5 Doors |
|
W - Estate |
|
V - Passenger Van |
|
L - Limousine |
|
S - Sport |
|
T - Convertible |
|
F - SUV |
|
J - Open air all terrain vehicle |
|
X - Special |
|
P - Pickup (regular cab) |
|
Q - Pickup (extended cab) |
|
Z - Special offer car |
|
E - Coupe |
|
M - Monospace |
|
R - Recreational vehicle |
|
H - Motorhome |
|
Y - 2-wheel vehicle |
|
N - Roadster |
|
G - Crossover |
|
K - Commercial van/truck |
The third letter in ACRISS codes specifies the vehicle's transmission on offer.
|
Third Letter |
|
M - Manual car with unspecified drive type |
|
N - Manual car with 4-wheel drive |
|
C - Manual car with all-wheel drive |
|
A - Automatic car with unspecified drive type |
|
B - Automatic car with 4-wheel drive |
|
D - Automatic car with all-wheel drive |
The fourth letter describes the fuel type and whether the vehicle has air conditioning.
|
Fourth Letter |
|
R - Unspecified fuel with air conditioning |
|
N - Unspecified fuel without air conditioning |
|
D - Diesel fuel with air conditioning |
|
Q - Diesel fuel without air conditioning |
|
H - Hybrid power with air conditioning |
|
I - Hybrid power without air conditioning |
|
E - Electric power with air conditioning |
|
C - Electric power without air conditioning |
|
L - LPG fuel with air conditioning |
|
S - LPG fuel without air conditioning |
|
A - Hydrogen fuel with air conditioning |
|
B - Hydrogen fuel without air conditioning |
|
M - Multifuel with air conditioning |
|
F - Multifuel without air conditioning |
|
V - Petrol fuel with air conditioning |
|
Z - Petrol fuel without air conditioning |
|
U- Ethanol fuel with air conditioning |
|
X - Ethanol fuel without air conditioning |
Book your rental car with Orbit Car Hire.
Now that you have a clear idea of car categories for car rental, you can compare car hire for your next trip today. If you want more travel inspiration, you can also read about more extra charges for car rental. For more car hire tips and tricks, look at our other blogs.
