National Car Rental, Alamo And Enterprise All Have The Best Car Rental Programs Part 1

National Car Rental’s Free Days has saved me thousands of dollars over the years – and I plan on seeing all 30 MLB Parks again in 2015 based on the rewards I receive for the next 18 months from them.

By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024

Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports

A year ago I started writing a travel blog series, and I think it is time to resurrect some of those concepts, and apply some of the updated version to the advice I gave.

Just a quick history lesson.

I own an independent Courier business that requires me to log between 3000 – 4000 Miles a month.  At the end of my first 6 years in operation from 2001 – 2007, I was almost in a position of losing money.

Cars I used for business would break down too often, I needed the right fleet insurance on many cars, and the quality of car I could buy was just not conducive to what I went through on a daily basis.

I was spending between 12 – 14 hours a month at the auto garage, and countless of other hours worrying about every mechanical feature of any of the cars I owned.

The competition can be fierce for Car Rental Companies, but the best reward companies for cars are National/Alamo/Enterprise followed by Thrifty/Budget and Hertz. Avis doesn’t have a great rewards program, but you can get good deals on them for weekend rentals anywhere in the world!

It had to change.  It was about this time, I started road tripping to all of the ballparks in the States, and during one trip, I discovered some things about car rentals I never knew.

Once you rent a car for 28 – 31, the $$ per day become way less.

You have fleet insurance on all car rentals – that covers the requirement one needs to conduct a courier business that is transporting consumer goods.

The unlimited mileage was part of the contract, and it really meant just that.

After crunching numbers in my head for about a week, I realized that my life was about to change…

Fast Forward 6 years later.

I have driven over 250 different cars in 6 years, and have accrued over 100 free rental days from renting cars all over the area I am in.

The majority of my car rentals have come from National Car Rental, then trailed by both Avis and Thrifty.

I have trended down in paying my monthly $$ figure every year since 2007.

I have tallied over 300,000 Miles in those 72 Months I have done this.  About 25% of those totals were from my own personal travel.

The operation expense for all of these Miles, have worked out to be about 40 Cents a Mile to operate.

I never even have had to pay for an oil change. Yes, there are about $250 a year in incidentals, like screws in tires or a hubcap scratched, or cleaning the car out to return it

I have a contract currently with Enterprise Car Rental, where I am also being given back $75/per month on a long term leasing program.

In the current deal, I receive 7 Executive Elite Emerald  credits for every 30 days.  In a 12 month cycle, I will accrue 90 credits – that will translate into 18 free Car Rental days anywhere I want with the National Car Rental company.

Thrifty

They give you a free car rental with every 16 days worth of car rentals you do. This is the 2nd best rewards program, however there is a catch.

Thrifty charges you all of the taxes for any location when you apply your free rental credit day.  So while this company is better than Nationals 1 free car for about every 20 days worth of rentals, you pay more.

An example was a day I rented a car in SFO ( San Francisco Airport).  The bill if I didn’t have a free car rental day would have been $120.00  Because I had the free rate of rental day voucher, it knocked this total to about $30.00 for the 24 hours stayed there.

I know I saved a fortune off the daily expenditure, but National Car Rental barely charges anything for rendering their free rental days.

Also, I am at the top for several of the Rewards Programs for each of the establishments already said, but Thrifty still likes to assign you a car to rent.

Thrifty’s cars from my experience, always have bigger mileage on them, are far less serviced at oil change stations, and are a little less clean inside.

If you are an Avis First Member, these guys do have a nice fleet, however I rented for them for a year smooth, only to be given 4 free weekend rentals as my Rewards limit.  Not only that, they put 3 month expiring dates on them.

Like I have discussed with other ballpark chasers, sometimes where you are located, and where the car rental companies are positioned can dictate which is a better place to rent.

Avis typically has better rates than most of the rental companies on weekends.

Enterprise and National have the best long term rental solutions.

Priceline is also a good way to decipher who you go with.  Please read my bidding tutorial on that here .

Here are my benefits as an Executive Elite Member in the USA.

I can book any free day with a Mid – Size car, and automatically upgrade to a premium car.  In fact, as you see on the commercials, you are able to pick your own car.

This is the biggest advantage out of any rental place.

To be able to pick your car (based on luxury status and fuel mileage), you are able to do your research on the most cost effective way to plan your trip.

As it stands right now for my 365 day contract with Enterprise, I am driving a brand new Chevrolet Sonic  This beauty gets 51 MPG on the highway, and after I drive a car between 4,000 and 6,000 Miles, and then I simply switch it.

Now, I usually call my place to see if they have another car just like this, and I wait until they call me in to exchange it.

National Car Rental Free Days Are Lifesavers

Not only can you reserve a MID – SIZE car, proceed to walk to the aisle of an airport and pick any car you want as an upgrade in the Executive Elite row… Here is what else I have.

1.  I am allowed up to 4 other drivers on my contract, that can drive the rental car.

2.  I can travel anywhere from airport to airport (or any location with a 24 hour period) and the ONE WAY Fee dropoff is waived. 

3.  You are only charged a few bucks for them to clean out the car.

My best trip was picking up a brand new Toyota Camry at LAX Airport at 11 AM on a Sunday, then going to a game at Dodger Stadium.   After the game was over, I drove all night to watch a sunrise at the Grand Canyon in AZ.

I was able to make it to Albuquerque, New Mexico before 11 AM – and my total bill for the whole show was only $7.

I don’t expect everyone to use their rental car for business like me – but do you have to rent vehicles for work? 

Check out the latest promotion  by National Car Rental.  They run this promotion every fall.  Essentially, you receive a free car rental day – whenever you rent 2 separate rentals in the time frame alotted. 

Just consider how much money you could save in the summer if you picked up a car, and traveled from let’s say from Phoenix to Colorado?  If you have a free day with National Car Rental, a one way fee is negated.

Other trips I have done on my one way rentals. 

I Picked up a car in Boston, dropped off in Washington within 24 hours…$6

I had a friend fly in with me to Cleveland last April to watch a game, and she was able to drive from Cleveland to LuGuardia Airport for just $9.00 – and it was a brand new Dodger Charger.

It was because I had a free rental – and I had compiled more than 85 rental days with National.

In the summer of 2015, I will have 20 free car rental days, and I plan on traveling throughout the whole USA to see all 30 MLB Parks again.  As I will be going one way most of the time, I will capitalize on these free one – way maneuvers all day long. 

ACCELERATE

Register to earn Free Rental Days with every two qualifying rentals
or 600 points.

SEPT. 9, 2013
THROUGH
JAN. 31, 201

Executive and Executive Elite status:

Rent your way to even more rewards and recognition.

Emerald Club Executive® status is yours with 12 paid rentals or 40 paid rental days in a calendar year. You’ll enjoy all the benefits of Emerald Club® membership plus a higher level of privileges, including:

• Choice of Fullsize or better cars from our exclusive Executive area.
• Guaranteed upgrades: You always pay for one car class less than the car you reserved.
• One Free Rental Day with six rental credits.

Emerald Club Executive Elite® status is attainable with 25 paid rentals or 85 paid rental days in a calendar year. You’ll enjoy all the benefits of Executive status plus:

• A guaranteed car (up to a Fullsize) with 24-hour notice.
• Vehicle delivery to most private airport terminals at many U.S. National locations.
• One Free Rental Day (any car class with no blackout dates) with just five rental credits.

Some restrictions apply. See Program Rules for details.

How to use the Executive area:

• Simply reserve a Midsize car at participating counter bypass locations in the U.S. or Canada.
• When you arrive at the location, follow the Executive signs and go directly to the Executive area.
• Choose any car on the Executive area (all cars are Fullsize or higher classes) and you’ll only be charged the reserved Midsize rate4.

• At National, as an Executive Elite Member, when I receive a free rental day, I pick any car I want from the Executive Aisle, and can drive it anywhere within 24 hours in the USA, for just a few a few $$. I am also allowed 4 additional drivers, and I am guaranteed a car. My best trip was from Los Angeles to Alburquerque for under $7.  As someone who rents from the National/Enterprise/Alamo fleet every day of the current year and 2014, I will amass 18 Free Rental Days in the next 365 Days.

For all of the Rosters, Depth Charts, State of the Unions and Salaries Posts that we do, please visit our dedicated page link here.

Chuck Booth - Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner and author of the Fastest 30 Ballgames:   To learn more about my  “The Fastest 30 Ballgames Book” and how to purchase it, click here .

You can also follow my Guinness Book of World Record Successful Bid to see all 30 MLB Park in 23 Days - click here.  I am happy to be part of such an awesome Magazine-Style Baseball Website and am looking forward to talking to all of the fans of the MLB. 

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