Rental car loyalty programs

Wondering if there is a loyalty program with any of the major corporations that anyone thinks it is worthwhile as compared to going with one of the discount sites like priceline, Expedia. Thanks

I’ve used Hertz for years. Loyalty points are just Ok and the price, while competitive, is nothing special. What I like is the service, newer cars, and just drive off the lot.

I just book through Costco travel. If you are an Executive member you get 2% back plus whatever your credit card gives you in points. You can also cancel and rebook at no charge, so I book early and then recheck several times before the trip. Sometimes the rates come down substantially, sometimes they go up too.

When we went to Paso, we used Budget and booked online. I have the Honey browser plug-in, and it found several discount codes, and probably cut the cost in half.

I enjoy Executive Elite at National and President’s Circle (from Delta Platinum status).
Almost always get a great car to drive.

I always go to either Costco or directly to the company and rarely use Expedia etc. I’m an elite or whatever at several of them, but I’ve found shopping around is better than relying on points - though skipping the counter is nice.

I probably use budget and enterprise the most. I find Hertz not to be competitive very often.

I have the same (although through United). Generally nicer cars and the ability to add an extra driver for no cost.

But, I don’t feel brand loyal, and most of the car rental companies will just status match which helps me not feel chained to one brand.

Thanks all for the replies. No silver bullet but some good suggestions. If you’ve tried to reserve a rental car recently, you know how much higher it is now. Hopefully as travel starts to ramp up again, the supply/demand change will move prices lower. Cheers.

Before Covid I used to book closer to my travel dates as I would get better deals. Now I book way ahead as prices just keep going up. In April, I had rented a car in Florida and when I went to pick it up, the guy said “pick any car out there, the keys are inside”. Well, there was only one car in the entire lot so I didn’t have to think about it much. Let’s hope it gets better.

Bolding above is mine.

That’s it in a nutshell. No line. Just get your car and drive away.

Other car rental companies’ loyalty programs have the same perk. I don’t see that as a major advantage for Hertz.

I believe the prices of rental cars are extremely high because during the pandemic airlines got bailouts but not rental car companies. So they sold off their inventory as rental car companies always do but during the pandemic they sold even more cars into the used car market. So the supply is way off now and the demand will not be going down anytime soon especially as summer travel picks back up. Eventually they will restock their fleets but that will take time as even the auto manufactures are low on inventory to sell.

Re: a good program - I am a huge fan of the “points game” and I’ve traveled the world mostly for free. The rental car programs are mostly rubbish unless you are a road warrior traveling for business weekly and are always renting cars. Renting one for 3-4 days 1-2x a year will pretty much get you next to nothing in terms of loyalty programs, so just go with the best deal you can find. Personally, pre covid, I’d book a rental car in advance just so I had something, and days prior to my trip I’d go onto Priceline and name your own price or do Expedia and see if you could find a last minute cheap deal and if so, cancel the original booking. That said, I do not believe in this market you’ll find many great “last minute deals”.

Car market will be crazy for another year. Should have bought another car during pandemic, no deals now.

I should have added Avis and National.

I do this regularly for trips. I’ll book far in advance then click a lot right before the trip. I’ve saved considerable sums (even from same company) this way.

That was pre covid, of course. I’m off to Hawaii next week and happy to just have a car.