Rental car loyalty programs guide: Shortcuts to elite status, earning and redeeming free days, and more

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On a recent Frequent Miler on the Air podcast, Greg and I discussed the major car rental programs, including shortcuts to and advantages of elite status, earning and using elite stauts, and more. This guide is a companion post laying out our key discussion points from the podcast in a guide that we can edit and expand over time to serve as a resource for everything you need to know about the major car rental rewards programs.

Starter tip: always join the car rental program and attach your number when renting a car

This might seem like an obvious tip to those accustomed to airline and hotel loyalty programs, but it might not be immediately intuitive to those renting through third party sites: always join the frequent renter program and attach your loyalty number to your reservation whenever possible.

For starters, you want to do this for the chance to skip the rental counter. Even programs that don’t offer any type of rewards may offer the chance to create an account (typically storing your license and credit card information with the rental company) and then skip the rental counter and head straight to the rental lot. I can’t even begin to measure the amount of time I’ve saved over the years by not going to the rental counter and waiting in a long line but rather skipping straight to the lot, either finding my name on a board with an assigned parking space or waiting in a much shorter line at the dedicated booth for program members.

It is worth mentioning that you can often attach your car rental program number even when booking through third parties like Priceline (and likely through other OTAs as well). On Priceline, this requires expanding a box to enter your loyalty program information during the checkout process. Furthermore, this may create the opportunity to double dip benefits: skip the line, earn rental car rewards, stack with a shopping portal and accelerate toward status with Priceline at the same time.

Car rental elite status via credit card

Several credit cards offer some level of complimentary elite status for cardholders.

Amex Platinum cards (both business and consumer)

Amex Platinum cardholders can navigate to the “benefits” section of their account to link/activate the following car rental elite statuses:

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card holders can get the following rental car elite status:

Visa Infinite Cards (Chase Sapphire Reserve Card, Ritz-Carlton Visa Infinite, etc)

Several rental car companies offer complimentary elite status to Visa Infinite cardholders. These benefits should apply to cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, Ritz-Carlton Visa, and perhaps others like the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve card.

The New United Club℠ Card and The New United Club℠ Business Card

Both United Club cards offer top-tier status with Avis:

Which rental car elite statuses matter?

Most forms of car rental elite status come with benefits such as increased rewards on paid rentals, upgrades, and more. However, a few specific statuses stand out:

Hertz Five Star / President’s Circle

    • Book a midsize car (C) or larger and you can choose your car from a special selection of vehicles. Those vehicles in the Five Star section tend to be a notch above what is available to general Gold members. The President’s Circle section often includes newer / more fully loaded vehicles and sometimes small or medium-sized SUVs. Don’t expect an SUV with third row seating in the President’s Circle section and be aware that selection can vary widely from one airport to another. Still, being able to choose which of the available vehicles you want can be a great perk.

National Executive / Executive Elite status

      • Book a midsize car, choose from the Executive Selection area. Cars in the Executive Selection area tend to be newer / larger / more fully loaded. It used to be common to find larger SUVs and minivans in the Executive Selection area, but that seems to have dried up in recent years. These days, National tends to have full-sized sedans and small/medium-sized SUVs in the Executive Selection area.
      • Earn free days faster. While general members earn a free day after every 7 rental credits, Executive members earn a free day after every 6 rental credits. Executive Elite members earn a free day after every 5 rental credits.

Avis Preferred Plus / President’s Club

    • Use “QuickPass” where available to select your vehicle before arriving at the lot. This is a service that allows you to log in to the Avis app and select a specific car in the app and show a QR code at the booth when you leave to expedite the pick up process.

Sixt Platinum Status or higher

    • The key benefit with Sixt is better car class upgrades. Anecdotally, many people report getting nice upgrades with Sixt elite status. Personally, I’ve never gotten a meaningful upgrade with it.

Rental car elite status matching

Many car rental companies offer elite status matches to attract frequent travelers from their competitors.

Avis Rent A Car elite status match

Avis does not offer an obvious/simple elite status match, but they do offer status matches. Whereas other car rental companies offer specific landing pages to request a match, with Avis you’ll need to send an email to profile.update@avisbudget.com in order to request a status match. Inlcude a screen shot of your competing status and include your Avis account number in the email request.

Hertz Car Rental elite status match

Hertz offers a public status match whereby they will match your status with a competing rental car company.

Hertz publishes a chart showing which competitor statuses match to Hertz Five Star and President’s Circle:

As you can see, matching to Hertz President’s Circle requires having top-tier status with a competing program (or Avis Preferred Plus with quite a bit of rental activity).

National Emerald Club status match

National Car Rental offers what may be the broadest status match opportunity among the major rental company programs.

According to National’s website, they match status with “more than 40 of the world’s most popular car rental, airline and hotel loyalty programs, including American Airlines AAdvantage®, United Air Lines MileagePlus®, Hilton Honors® and many more”. In other words, not only will they match car rental elite status but they will also match your airline or hotel elite status. That’s a great deal as there are several hotel elite statuses that one can have by simply holding the right credit card.

I would only expect a match to Executive status (rather than Executive Elite) in most cases, but that’s going to be good enough for most people since it offers access to the same Executive Selection area.

Sixt car rental status match

Sixt offers to match status with any competing rental car company. You can find a link to enroll in a status match with Sixt by going to the loyalty program’s home page and then scrolling down the page until you find the section titled, “Transfer your membership to Sixt”.

Earning and redeeming rental car free days

Several of the major car rental company loyalty programs offer the ability to earn “free” rental days, though not all car rental free days are created equally.

Avis Rent a Car

Earn points

Avis offers the following points earning structure:

  • Avis Preferred member: 1 point per $1 spent on base rate
  • Avis Preferred Plus status: 1.25 points per $1 spent on base rate
  • Avis President’s Club status: 1.5 points per $1 spent on base rate
  • Earn a minimum of 100 points per rental

Use points for free days

  • Avis free rental days range from 700-3,500 points per day based on cash price:
    • Under $50 = 700 points per day
    • $50.01 – $85 = 1400 points per day
    • $85.01 – $125 = 2,100 points per day
    • $125.01 – $225 = 3,500 points per day

At the low end, it would be possible to earn an cheap Avis free day from as few as 7 rentals (since you earn a minimum of 100 points per rental). However, if you want to redeem for a more expensive “free day”, you’ll need a lot more points. Renting a car that costs $100 per day costs 3 times as many points as a car that costs $50 per day.

Hertz Car Rental

Earning points

Hertz points are earned according to elite status and spend:

  • Gold Members earn 1 point per $1 spent on base rental rate
  • Five Star members earn 1.25 points per $1 spent on base rental rate
  • President’s Circle members earn 1.5 points per $1 spent on base rental rate

It is important to note the Hertz point expiration policy: points expire 5 years after they are earned, with no way to extend them (use them or lose them). It isn’t obvious in your account when your points are set to expire (this becomes particularly difficult to track if you rent often). Furthermore, points expire after just 12 months of activity. You need to complete a rental every 12 months in order to keep your points alive.

Note that the redemption of points, which happens at the time when you reserve a free day, does not count as activity to keep your points alive. Once you return the car from your free day reservation, the completed rental will re-set your 12-month clock. Be aware that the act of simply making a reservation at the 11th hour will not re-set your clock — you’ll need to return the rental car in order to maintain activity.

Using points for free days

The number of points you need for a free Hertz rental day depends on whether rental cars are available at the “Standard” reward rate or the “Peak” rate. Hertz publishes a list of rates per day / several days / week, but the gist of it is this:

  • 1 free day in a standard car (up to large sedan) costs 950 points standard / 1,900 points peak
  • 1 free day on a one-way rental in a standard car costs 1,900 points standard / 3,800 points peak
  • 1 free day in a specialty car costs 1,900 points standard / 3,800 points peak
  • 1 free day in an “Adrenaline” series car costs 2,787 points standard / 5,373 points peak
  • 1 free week in a standard car costs 4,750 points standard / 9,500 points peak
  • Find the full Hertz award chart here

A free week is obviously a much better value than individual free days (a standard reward-level week comes out to an average of about 678.5 points per day). Single free days can be a decent value at 950 points, though be aware that the peak award calendar can include most of the year at some locations (look up your preferred location here to see the peak pricing calendar).

National Car Rental

Earning free days

The speed with which you earn free days varies based on status. You earn 1 rental credit for a rental period of up to 7 days. If your rental extends beyond 7 days, you’ll get 1 additional rental credit for each 7 days or part thereof.

In other words, rent for a period of 1-7 days and you’ll earn 1 rental credit, rent for 7-14 days and you’ll earn 2 rental credits, rent for 14-21 days and you’ll earn 3 rental credits, etc.

The speed with which you earn a free rental day varies based on your status level with National Emerald Club:

  • Base members earn 1 free day after 7 rental credits
  • Executive members earn 1 free day after 6 rental credits
  • Executive Elite members earn 1 free day after 5 rental credits

Redeeming free days

National free days are especially awesome because a National free day is valid for a free single rental day, regardless of return location. You can reserve up to a large sedan (and then select from the Executive area).

My favorite use of National free days is for 1-way rentals. While you will sometimes be on the hook for minor airport-specific taxes (usually less than $10), you’ll not pay any additional one-way fees.

Do you need anything special to rent cars internationally?

In many (most?) cases, a US-based driver’s license will probably be sufficient to rent a car overseas. I’ve rented cars in dozens of countries and the only place where I’ve ever been asked to show my International Driver’s Permit (IDP) was Taiwan.

That said, I’ve heard anecdotal reports of some companies requiring an IDP even in countries where I’ve rented many times with my US driver’s license. Given the low cost, you may find it worth the peace of mind to get an IDP before you leave home.

I would also note that a knowledge of how to drive a car with a manual transmission is a skill that will come in handy if you intend to rent internationally. In some cases, you’ll be able to save money by reserving a car with a manual transmission and in some cases it may be the only car available. In most European cities, you’ll find an ample supply of automatic vehicles, but in some parts of the world, manual transmissions are still much more common. I tend to always reserve manual transmission vehicles overseas for cost savings.

How do you get an International Driver’s Permit (IDP)?

To my knowledge, the only entity offering an IDP in the United States is AAA. You can download the application form and bring it to a AAA office in person (along with your current US driver’s license and two passport photos) and get an IDP for a fee of $20 (see the website here). Note that you can also get the passport photos done at most AAA offices for a nominal fee.

AAA also recently began offering the IDP application online (find the online application here).

How do you save money on car rentals?

This is a broad and separate topic of its own, but a few key tips for saving money on rental cars include:

  • Use Autoslash.com. I almost always start my rental car searches with Autoslash and often find the best prices through Autoslash by checking the various boxes for discounts I have available to me. Furthermore, once I have reserved a rental car, I will often use Autoslash to track the price. Autoslash monitors for a better deal and often saves me money.
  • Stack with a shopping portal. Most rental car companies and many online travel agencies appear on major shopping portals. You can compare portal rates with Cashbackmonitor.com. Also keep an eye out for targeted Capital One Shopping offers. I often have offers for around 30% back on rental cars via Priceline and I have frequently seen targeted offers of 15-40% back on major car rental brands.
  • Check Costcotravel.com. Many readers swear by Costco for great rental prices.
  • Check for employer or other affiliated rental car codes. Many employers and some organizations have rental car codes that could save you a substantial amount of money on a car rental. Some employers or organizations offer better pricing, additional amenities/drivers, or even a removal of one-way rental fees. In some cases, you may be eligible to use your employer’s code even for leisure rental purposes (check the terms of your program).

Note that I do not use credit card travel portals to reserve rental cars. I find most credit card travel portals to be highly overpriced for car rentals. Furthermore, the inability to stack with shopping portal rewards or use coupon codes further reduces value. I generally do not recommend using transferable points to pay for car rentals because it is rare that you’ll actually get a good deal for your points.

Why are some rental car programs missing from this guide?

This guide is meant to be a work in progress that we will update with relevant information, so we certainly want to hear from you about additional programs we should include. It is worth noting that some car rental companies have a program to join for skipping the rental car line, but do not offer a rewards program. For instance, Budget Car Rental offers its Fastbreak program to skip the line and get to your car, but there are no rewards or elite status earning. This guide is meant to primarily focus on rewards programs.

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19 Comments
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Eric

Twice this year now I’ve found a significantly better rate on Capital One’s portal than I found on Autoslash.

Andrew

I would emphasize corporate rates as the number one savings tip if your company has them. I worked for a mid-size company of a few thousand employees and their corporate rate with National & Enterprise beat all other options 95% of the time, and was fine to use for leisure travel. During major events in a city it would be hundreds cheaper than other options for longer rentals.

Anecdotally National still has some interesting and larger Emerald Aisle cars. Las Vegas had a bunch of Wagoneers last week and I got a Dodge Challenger in ABQ a year ago. My one strikeout was Vancouver where they had a Hyundai Palisade with the third row but it couldn’t fit 6 plus luggage. No minivans and ended up having to rebook with Alamo unfortunately.

Spud

I find the online Hertz points system to be deliberately confusing and difficult to use. I rent from them more often than I should. Will probably move more to National although they can be a lot more sometime.

Bob

Yes, you’ve saved time not going to the rental car counters. Now imagine the time you could save in addition to that by not checking your luggage:)

Pierre

Team #onebag

J E

National’s match with Hilton Diamond (which we got from the Aspire card) got us Executive Elite, FYI.

Pierre

Looks like Hilton Gold gets you Executive Elite as well https://www.statusmatcher.com/company/national?page-to=1

Andrew

Interesting that many hotel status matches are reportedly getting Executive Elite (even seeing Hyatt Discoverist will?).

Caesars Diamond matched to Executive Elite when the Wyndham Earner Business card still granted that status.

iahphx

You get better service from the US rental car companies by joining their loyalty programs, and it’s not hard to obtain high status with status matches and such. I always use my free day points for one-way rentals, as they tend to be far more expensive than local rentals. National and Avis don’t charge more for one-way award rentals.

Last edited 6 days ago by iahphx
iahphx

Are you sure there are variable free day redemptions at Avis? Mine always seem to cost 2100 points/day, regardless of what the car would cost me to rent (and regardless of whether it’s a local rental or a one way).

LarryInNYC

So, anyone have suggestions for the best rental program for elite benefits if you are specifically renting at locations in Manhattan, preferably above 61st street? We gave up our car a year and a half ago in favor of Kyte rentals, but Kyte just shut down. Not enjoying the subway trek and 30 minute wait for rentals on the Upper West Side.

KENNETH

Thanks for a great podcast and summary above. My question is how do we maximize rewards – for instance the 1 free credit / rental of National. Will back to back reservations count. Like split a 5-day vacation requiring a rental car and swing by the local National location daily to check in the old car and take out a new one for the next 24hours …and so on. Any tips here? . What about spacing out reservations by a day and do the daily exchange but say from National to Hertz on one exchange and Hertz back to National on the next exchange..and so on. A bit extreme perhaps…but you know this community – always squeezing for more juice!

Pierre

You can apply the 1 free night to a multi-day National rental if that’s what you’re asking.

Jimmy

One disadvantage of renting automatics in Europe is that it seems more common to get upgraded to a larger car versus when renting a manual. This might sound like a good thing, but if you have driven much in European cities you know it can be a nightmare to drive and park a larger car. I think the companies tend to have very few small automatics but plenty of small manuals, so if you want something to whip through tiny streets, go with the manual.

On the IDP question I always get one for the simple reason that when I rent a car I usually have no other backup option for transportation, so if they suddenly start enforcing IDP requirements my trip is a total loss.

YoniPDX

Ven X gives you Hertz Prez Circle (top elite) which you can easily match to Avis President Club – see email link for Avis in Nick’s post above

With Avis PC I have gotten decent upgrades (even not booking mid-tier (but cheapest
Car/SUV upgraded to Premium Sedan/SUV at Airport and non-airport locations – also no Hertz AI damage issues ior Arrest issues with Avis.

PSA
If you have a longer rental 5 days or more days it’s worh checking Google maps for an Avis location 3-5 miles from airport (it saved us $240 on a 6 day rental picking up this AM). Even Including Rideshare RT from rental lot.

PSA
Also for Boston area – PVD has the cheapest car rentals in BOS area (Taxes) ialso an nexpensive Hyatt house at airport UR pts).

MaSS Toll pass is the cheapest and no monthly fees good on I-95 from Maine to Fla (Google for exact toll that are in network on FL. You can also take transponder and attach to rental License plate.

Ben

You also get Avis elite status at 60k and 100k Loyalty Points with AA.

Jack

Delta provides Hertz tier status. Hertz level depends on Delta level.

Jack

Forgive me if I missed it, you can credit rewards to an airline loyalty program instead of the rental car loyalty program.