Just leave the driving to Avis

Rental car news: Avis has teamed up with WeDriveU , a nationwide certified and insured chauffeur service, to offer professional drivers (for a $90, three-hour minimum plus $30 an hour after that) along with Avis cars for Avis Preferred and Club in Boston, Chicago, Miami, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and other cities . . . Charge a National car rental to your American Express card now through Nov. 15, and you'll get double card rewards points and a two-class upgrade on your car. See NationalCar.com/offer/double and use code NU1775DDL.

A new route to Greece

New Englanders heading to Athens got a new option last week that requires only a connection in Newark, not Europe: a Continental Airlines daily nonstop from Newark Liberty International Airport, leaving at 5:30 p.m. and arriving in Athens the next day at 10:20 a.m. Return flights, about 11 hours, are same-day. Service, on 174-seat Boeing 767s with cushy BusinessFirst seats 55 inches apart, drops to five or four flights weekly after October but returns to daily next April, Continental says.

Frequent flier perks get personal

If you can't find a flight, you may be able to use your Delta frequent-flier miles for lunch with a baseball star or a trip to the circus. Delta last week launched Delta.com/SkyMilesAuction, where SkyMiles members can bid miles for a game-day Mo's Grill lunch with New York Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera ; four tickets to an Atlanta Braves game, with fun freebies like throwing out the first pitch and cruising around the field in the Delta MiniCooper ; and a Cirque du Soleil premiere in Toronto.

PETER J. HOWE