11+ of the Best Car Rental Rewards Programs for Small Businesses

When your team travels a lot for business, car rentals are just part of the game.

But they can also be confusing.

Plus, how do you really know if you should rent from one company or another?

How do you know which reward programs are the best?

These are great questions. And admittedly, they’re not always easy to answer.

So, we’ve taken a closer look at a few of them from an operations manager’s perspective and put together this awesome short-list of car rental reward programs that smaller businesses can truly benefit from.

If you’re looking for the absolute best car rental rewards programs to save you money and facilitate hassle-free auto rentals, this is the list for you.

Let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

1. Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Program
2. Avis Preferred Plus
3. Enterprise Plus
4. Alamo Insiders
5. Budget Car Rental Fastbreak Program
6. Fox Rewards
7. Thrifty Blue Chip Rewards
8. Sixt Loyalty Program
9. National Car Rental Emerald Club
10. Dollar Express Rewards
11. Zipcar For Business
Best Credit Cards for Car Rental Deals
Want To Test Out Other Reward Programs? Try Status Matching
Earn Double Points With Engine

1. Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Program

The Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Program makes renting quality cars faster and more rewarding.

Sign-up is free.

Every dollar you spend earns you one point, and you can use your points to get free day rentals and online rewards.

Plus, you get to choose cars from the best of the Hertz fleet.

If you’ve already tried Hertz and like them, you really can’t go wrong here.

This is a genuinely helpful upgrade that literally won’t cost you anything.

If you’re going to be renting cars from Hertz, this is the reward program you want.

If you’re a serious renter, you can even upgrade to the Hertz Five Star program and work your way towards President’s Circle status.

2. Avis Preferred Plus

The Avis Preferred Plus reward program allows you to enjoy expedited service with plenty of rewards to go along with it.

If you’re already an Avis fan, this will probably be the plan to start with.

Earn Avis points for every qualifying dollar you spend while you’re a preferred program member, and then use those points for rentals, upgrades, accessories, and more.

You also get to go straight to your car and drive off the lot. When you’ve got Preferred status, there’s no waiting in line — which is awesome!

Everything can be accomplished right on the Avis website.

As a Preferred Member, you can also utilize the Avis App to its fullest potential. Choose your car, confirm, cancel, or even extend the rental, all at the touch of a button.

It’s easy.

If you want to expand your benefits even further, you can even upgrade to the Avis President’s Club or the Avis Chairman’s Club, their Elite Status Level tiers.

3. Enterprise Plus

Enterprise Plus makes rewards simple, where dollars spent equal points earned.

The more you rent, the more rewards you get. Your points never expire, as long as you remain an active member with at least one qualifying rental every three years.

Plus, you can redeem your points for free rental days on any car available on any day.

There are no blackout dates, and you get to choose from thousands of locations worldwide.

Want to earn even more points for your rentals?

There are three tiers above Plus if you rent enough to qualify:

• Silver status: 10% more bonus points
• Gold status: 15% more points
• Platinum status: 20% more points

4. Alamo Insiders

Alamo Insiders is free and easy to join.

Get 5% off base rates and book pay-later reservations.

If you tend to rent from Alamo a lot, this is the rewards program you want.

It may not pay quite as much as some of the others, but it’s still savings in your wallet.

Related: 13 Adventure Travel Tips from Business Destinations in the U.S.

5. Budget Car Rental Fastbreak Program

The Budget Car Rental Fastbreak Program helps you skip the rental counter, giving you the power to flash your valid driver’s license, pick up your keys, and go. Returns are easier for Fastbreak members, too.

Plus, you’ll get access to exclusive deals that’ll help you to save money on rentals.

Once again, this program isn’t the best in terms of points earned, but if you like to rent from Budget, you definitely want to be a member.

6. Fox Rewards

The Fox Rewards Program gives you the power to earn car rental reward points and enjoy members-only specials. You also gain access to coupons and benefits.

You earn four points for every dollar you spend. With these points, you can buy “SuperCertificates” to use at your favorite stores, restaurants, airlines, and hotels.

For example, for 2500 points, you can buy a $25 Bath & Body Works SuperCertificate.

You can also earn FoxBucks, which can be redeemed for Fox car rentals. When you spend 1600 points, you get $20 in FoxBucks.

All things considered, this program may not save you as much as some. But the reward system is clearly defined and easy, which makes it appealing.

Plus, if you like renting from Fox, it just gives you a lot more bang for your buck.

7. Thrifty Blue Chip Rewards

The Thrifty Blue Chip Rewards Program is free to join and saves you 15% on every car rental.

But you also get a bunch of other benefits:

• Skip the counter and go straight to the lot
• Enjoy faster reservations, pick-ups, and returns
• Get free authorization for an additional driver
• Receive exclusive discounted rates and deals
• Access priority counter service

Signing up is also pretty easy. Just visit their website, fill out the application, and submit it.

Then, you’ll be good to go!

8. Sixt Loyalty Program

Gaining SIXT Club status gets you access to the SIXT loyalty card.

This card helps to make renting a car that much easier and more affordable.

The more you rent, the higher the level of card you’ll qualify for.

Here are some of the perks you’ll get access to:

• Discounted rentals
• Free additional drivers
• ​Free car category upgrades

Best of all, you can start out with their Express Card, which is free. But if you rent enough, you can earn your way up to SIXT Gold or SIXT Platinum status.

Plus, if you’re already a member of another loyalty program, SIXT will actually match your rewards status.

We’ll get more into status matching later, but this basically means that they’ll observe your rewards benefits from any other rental company.

They’ll literally match your benefits, which makes them an awesome option if you’ve earned a high status with another company and want to try out something different.

Just display proof of status, and you can take advantage of your benefits from anywhere!

9. National Car Rental Emerald Club

The National Emerald Club is designed to make your car rental experience faster, cheaper, and more efficient.

For starters, earn one rental credit per qualified car rental. Then, get a free rental when you earn seven credits.

That’s like getting every eighth rental free!

You also get Emerald Aisle Access, which allows you to choose any car in the Emerald Aisle (midsize or above) while paying only the midsize rate for it.

Yep. That’s a lot like getting free upgrades. Which is awesome.

You also gain access to Emerald Checkout, which means that you can get your business done as fast as possible.

But, National Emerald Club also offers two higher tiers: Executive Club Status and Executive Elite Status.

Executive Elite Members unlock top-tier car rental status benefits by amassing 25 paid rentals or 85 paid rental days in a calendar year.

For this, you get some amazing benefits:

• One free rental for every five credits
• A guaranteed car with 24-hour notice
• Private airport delivery!

There’s also no annual fee, no monthly statement, etc. — it’s completely free to join.

10. Dollar Express Rewards

With the Dollar Express Rewards program, you can gain a ton of extra benefits at no additional charge.

Here are some of the benefits that members enjoy:

• Skipping the counter on rentals
• Faster reservations and quicker returns/pick-ups
• Free authorized additional drivers
• Priority counter service
• Potential to earn free rentals

Plus, the program is free to join.

If you’re already a fan of Dollar Car Rentals, then this could be the rewards program for you.

It may not be the fanciest program, but it still gets you some great benefits at zero extra cost.

11. Zipcar For Business

The Zipcar For Business program gives you access to cars parked near your home and workplace.

This isn’t necessarily a ‘traditional’ rental car rewards program, but more of a benefit that can give you quick access to rental cars.

Here’s how it works:

1. You join Zipcar and create a business account.

1. You book Zipcars whenever you need them.

1. When you’re done using the car, you simply return it to its dedicated parking spot.

Another interesting thing about Zipcar is that you pay for a plan and get a certain number of rentals per month.

So, it’s a unique way to rent cars. And sometimes, it’s a lot cheaper and easier than traditional car rentals.

Trying to save your company money on business trip expenses? Check out Engine, our booking tool gives you exclusive access to corporate hotel discounts!

Best Credit Cards for Car Rental Deals

You can also get great bonuses and discounts on rental cars by using certain credit cards.

A lot of people don’t know this, but there are a few specific credit cards that’ll give you some awesome kickbacks on car rentals.

Here are two of our favorites:

1. American Express Travel

The American Express Travel Card gets you awesome bonuses on all kinds of travel-related expenses, including rental cars.

If you’re looking to travel, this AMEX card should definitely be in your wallet.

2. Chase Sapphire Reserve

When it comes specifically down to car rentals, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card is hard to beat.

You get all kinds of benefits:

• Reimbursements
• Discounts on select rental cars
• Lost luggage protection
• Travel/emergency assistance

Want To Test Out Other Reward Programs? Try Status Matching

Some rental car companies offer status matching, which means that they’ll match benefits from other companies in an attempt to earn your business.

In other words, you may be able to cash in your rewards and special bonuses from one company by going to their competitors. And this can sometimes yield slightly better deals, options, and possibilities.

For example, the Avis Status Match program will observe the rewards you’ve earned from these companies: Europcar, Hertz, Enterprise, SIXT, and National.

The Hertz Status Match program acknowledges rewards from the same companies (minus SIXT).

These aren’t the only companies offering status match programs, though, so make sure to ask your favorite car rental company if they have one.

It’s a great way to get even more value out of your deal!

Then, Earn Double Points on Lodging With Engine

Engine has one of the best lodging rewards programs out there.

And if you’re going to be traveling anyway, you may as well save on hotel rooms too, right?

With HE Rewards, members earn points on every booking. You can also add your preferred hotel loyalty programs to your HE account to rack up double the points for double the savings.

And with over 700,000 hotels to choose from, you have a lot of opportunities for racking up those travel points.

Plus, members save a lot on business lodging while booking through Engine. So really, it’s a win/win.

Here’s how it works.

With HE Rewards, you get points every time you book that you can redeem for cash back on a future stay. Plus, you can add your loyalty information from your favorite hotel brands right into the Engine platform, effectively layering your points to save even more.

Even better, HE Rewards allows for partial point redemption and has no blackout or expiration dates. Engine is the only third-party booking platform that currently offers this type of double-rewards savings!

Here are some other articles you might enjoy:

Gifts for Frequent Business Travelers | Trip Risk Assessment Guide | How to Adjust Your Company Mileage Policy When Gas Prices Skyrocket

Conclusion

Now that you know about all of these awesome rewards programs, you’re well-equipped to save a ton of cash.

And don’t forget to let Engine help you save big on business lodging accommodations.

We’ve got your back.

All that’s left now is to hit the road (and start racking up those rewards points.)

Learn more about Engine:

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