Easy Ways to Earn Free Car Rentals (2019)
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There are several car rental promotions that let you easily earn free car rental days.
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National One-Two-Free promotion
Every year in the Fall and Winter, National has historically run a promotion where you get a free car rental day after every two car rentals. This is on top of the credits you earn from the normal loyalty program. You just need to to register for the promotion ahead of time.
The program is actually points-based, and two car rentals will earn enough points for the free car rental day. But, you can also earn points from a number of additional activities, such as renting in specific regions, or taking advantage of different rental options.
This is a tremendous deal, especially if you are booking shorter rentals. Starting with the 2018 version, rentals need to be 2 nights long to qualify for the promotion. It is no longer possible to get a free night from a total of only two day's rentals, but you can still earn one from only four nights. Official details.
After you signup for this promotion, make sure to try to earn additional points for additional activities that show up on your dashboard, possibly including:
- 25 points for downloading the National Car Rental App, 75 points for using it to make the rental, and another 50 points for completing the rental with the App's checkout feature. For a total of 150 points.
- 50 points for taking a quick survey and 50 points for opting-in to receive emails.
- 200 points when you rent at a neighborhood location (limit of 3x for the promotion), 100 bonus points for a weekend rental of 2-4 days, 200 bonus points for a weeklong rental.
- 100 points if you complete a third rental, and an extra 300 points if you make rentals in three different countries.
Free Avis weekend rentals for Amex Platinum cardholders
If you have the Amex Platinum card, you can earn a free Avis weekend rental certificate by completing a total of two Avis rentals during the during the first half (Jan. 1 – June 30) or second half (July 1 – Dec. 31) of the year. You'll need to pay with your Platinum card and use the A756900 rate code, which tends to give you pretty good rates. But, you might be able to find a lower rate elsewhere, so always check to see if taking advantage of the promotion is worthwhile.
The certificate can be used or 2 free days, on up to a full-size car, at locations in the United States (except Alaska and the NYC metro area). You can earn one certificate during every six-month promotional period. Official details.
Thousands of United points with Hertz rentals
While you aren't technically earning a free car rental, you can earn back the cost of a Hertz rental by taking advantage of their frequent United miles promotions.
United and Hertz frequently run promotions where you can earn thousands of United miles on a Hertz rental. The exact number of miles depends on the specific promotion and your United status. The current promotion is typically posted on the United website.
For example, you could receive up to 2,750 miles United miles for a car rental as short as a single day. If you value United miles at 1.2 cents each, you'd be getting $33 in rewards back. At a value of 1.5 cents per mile, you'd be earning $41. This could easily be more than the cost of making the rental. Too bad, you don't earn any additional rewards on multi-day rentals.
With the most recent promotion, the minimum rental length was increased to two days. There is not much of a possibility that the $35-40 worth of points are more valuable than a two day rental, but it is still a nice bonus for a rental that you already needed to make.
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