9 rental car rewards programs you need to know about

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During the early days of the pandemic, rental car companies were short on cash and sold vehicles to liquidate assets. When travelers returned, rental car demand skyrocketed.

Like many people, you’ve probably booked the cheapest rental car option in the past without giving much thought to loyalty programs. But you should — being a rewards member can get you some sweet perks like car upgrades and points toward free rentals.

Here’s a breakdown of each car rental rewards program and what you need to know about them.

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Unlike many of the programs below, Alamo Insiders doesn’t have elite status tiers and you can’t earn rental car points. However, Alamo Insiders will receive a 5% discount on rates in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America.

Insiders members can choose to earn miles or points on qualifying car rentals from Alamo airline or hotel partners, such as American AAdvantage, Hilton Honors and Southwest Rapid Rewards. To see the full list, check out this page.

Related: Credit cards that offer elite status for car rentals

Avis Preferred has four elite status tiers. Preferred and Preferred Plus can be earned, while President’s Club and Chairman’s Club are offered only by invitation.

If you hold status with another rental car company, you can request a status match to Avis here.

The primary benefit of Avis Preferred is the ability to skip the line at the rental counter at most locations worldwide.

You can reach Avis Preferred Plus when you rent at least 12 times or spend $5,000 within a calendar year. Once you reach that level, you’ll earn 1.25 points per dollar spent on the rental cost and 2.5 points per dollar spent on optional products. After $7,000 spent or 25 rentals, that increases to 1.5 points and 3 points, respectively.

You’ll get all the Preferred perks as a Plus member, along with the following:

How to get this status: United Premier Silver and Premier Gold members, click here. Cardholders of The Platinum Card® from American Express can enroll on the American Express website.

There isn’t a published way to earn Avis President’s Club status on its website, but there are some ways to earn this status.

Here are the benefits of Avis President’s Club status:

How to get this status: United Club Infinite Card, United Premier Platinum or 1K status here

Chairman’s Club is the highest tier in the Avis Preferred Program, and the details about how to become a member aren’t made public. If you do become a member, you’ll get the following benefits:

Related: How to never pay full price for a rental car

Budget Fastbreak

Budget’s Fastbreak loyalty program is free and allows members to proceed directly to the lot and choose their own vehicle.

Like Alamo Insiders, there are no elite tiers. Instead, a few times a year, Budget will offer enticing promotions to its members, like $25 in Budget Bucks to use toward a future rental when you rent twice through Dec. 31.

Related: Which car rental company is right for you?

Dollar Express Rewards

The Dollar Express Rewards program allows you to earn points toward free rentals. You also get access to perks like priority service, the ability to skip the counter and adding a spouse or domestic partner as an additional driver free of charge.

There’s no elite status with Dollar. You’ll earn 1 point per dollar spent on qualifying rentals within the U.S. and Canada. Although Dollar, Thrifty and Hertz are technically one company, you can’t earn or redeem points with the other brands.

Free rental car redemptions start at 500 points for weekend days and 625 points for weekdays.

Related: Dollar Car Rental charged me $59.99 for a single $1.75 toll — here’s how to avoid the same fate

Enterprise Plus

All Enterprise Plus members start with Plus status, with the ability to earn Silver, Gold and Platinum. If you have elite status with another rental car company, you can participate in a status match here. Enterprise’s benefits are limited, but there are a few valuable perks if you regularly rent from the company. Here’s a breakdown of each tier:

Enterprise Plus

You can get Plus status just by signing up, and you’ll have it through your fifth rental. Membership is free and there are no perks to speak of.

Enterprise Silver

You’ll get Enterprise Plus Silver status after six rentals. Silver members receive 10% bonus points for qualifying rental dollars and one free car upgrade per year.

Enterprise Gold

The tiers get a bit more interesting after Silver. To earn Enterprise Gold status, you’ll need either 12 qualifying rentals or 40 rental days. The two lower tiers required rentals only, not days. You’ll also receive 10% bonus points for qualifying rental dollars and two free car upgrades per year.

Enterprise Platinum

Enterprise’s top-tier Platinum status requires 24 qualifying rentals or 85 rental days. You’ll receive 20% bonus points for qualifying rental dollars and four free car upgrades per year.

Related: Everything you need to know about rental car elite status

Fox Rewards

The Fox Rewards loyalty program is relatively simple. Members earn 4 points per dollar spent. You have two options for using those points: SuperCertificates or FoxBucks.

Fox partners with Tango Card to let you spend your points at merchants like Macy’s or Bath & Body Works. These rewards start at 2,500 points for a $25 gift certificate and go up to 12,500 points for a $125 gift certificate.

Another option is earning FoxBucks, which lets you redeem rental car rewards points to pay for your car rental. FoxBucks redemptions start at 1,600 points for $20 in FoxBucks and go up to 8,000 points for $100 in FoxBucks.

Neither option is particularly lucrative, but if you spend time earning Fox Rewards points, which are pretty easy to earn, it doesn’t make much sense to blow them on gift cards. You’re better off using them for actual rentals.

Hertz Gold Plus Rewards

Hertz’s loyalty program is called Hertz Gold Plus Rewards, and it’s free to join. As a member, you’ll enjoy designated parking stalls and can earn at least 1 point per dollar spent. You can then redeem your points for free rentals.

Hertz Gold

Members become Gold just by signing up. There aren’t a ton of perks, but here’s what comes with this tier:

There are also two elite tiers in the program, Five Star and President’s Circle. Here’s a detailed breakdown of how to qualify and the benefits for each.

Hertz Five Star

You can earn Five Star status after completing 10 Hertz rentals or spending $2,000 on rental cars in a year. The most notable benefits include:

How to get this status: Delta Medallion Gold status.

Hertz President’s Circle

You’ll earn President’s Circle status after completing 15 Hertz rentals or spending $3,000 on rental cars in a single calendar year. President’s Circle members get the same benefits as other elite members, plus the following:

How to get this status: Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, Delta Platinum and Diamond Medallion status.

Amex Platinum cardholders also will get up to a four-hour grace period on rental returns and a one-car-class upgrade when renting an intermediate or full-size car. Make sure you use CDP code #211762 when booking to get the benefits.

Related: Stacking rental car perks with Hertz and the Venture X

National Emerald Club

National’s loyalty program, Emerald Club, has three levels: Emerald Club, Executive and Executive Elite. I’ll break down each tier below:

Emerald Club

Emerald Club members can skip the counter and choose any car from the Emerald Aisle when renting a midsize car or above. You can choose to earn either free rental days or points/miles in your favorite frequent traveler program. There are other perks, including:

Emerald Club Executive

Emerald Club Executive status requires 12 paid rentals or 40 paid rental days per calendar year. You can also skip those requirements and get National Emerald Club Executive status instantly if you hold The Platinum Card® from American Express through Amex’s Car Rental Privileges program.

In addition to the base member perks, Executive members will also have access to the following:

How to get this status: Amex Platinum here, Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Emerald Club Executive Elite

Members can earn Emerald Club Executive Elite status after 25 rentals or 85 rental days per calendar year. Top-tier Executive Elite members get the following benefits:

One last thing to note about National’s Emerald Club program — it will match your status in over 40 loyalty programs. Members of TPG’s staff have been successful in using Hilton Honors Gold status to match to Emerald Club Executive and United Airlines Premier 1K to match to Executive Elite. It’s definitely worth doing a status match here. It just takes a few clicks.

Related: Credit cards that offer elite status for car rentals

Thrifty Blue Chip Rewards

Thrifty Blue Chip has no elite status tiers and did away with its points-earning structure. As of Oct. 1, 2020, Thrifty Blue Chip members began receiving a 10% discount on all rentals instead of earning points.

Blue Chip members can skip the counter and go straight to the lot, add a free authorized additional driver and earn free days.

Best credit cards to use for car rentals

When renting a car from any company, the key to earning the most rewards is choosing the right credit card. The following cards offer bonus points for all car rentals purchased directly:

The information for the CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Some cards also offer primary car rental coverage, covering any loss, theft or damage to a rental without you needing to file a claim with your insurance company. All you have to do is decline primary rental insurance when you pick up your vehicle and pay with the card offering this coverage.

Bottom line

Renting a car isn’t nearly as exciting as flying, staying at a hotel or even taking the train. But sometimes it is necessary, especially if you’re traveling off the beaten path.

If your credit card (or airline loyalty program) includes automatic elite status with one or more car rental agencies, go ahead and sign up. Even if you don’t get elite status through a credit card, it’s still worth signing up for as many programs as possible. It may save you the next time you need to rent a car and don’t want to wait in long lines at the counter.

Additional reporting by Kyle Olsen.

Featured photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.