How to redeem points and miles for car rentals

From credit card discounts to special group and corporate rates, it's clear there are numerous ways to save on rental car costs.

No matter how often you rent, it's essential to know how to use points and miles for car rentals. In this guide, we'll show you how to redeem your rewards and reduce your expenses on your next car rental.

Redeeming car rental rewards

Many major car rental companies offer loyalty programs where you can earn and redeem points for car rentals. Here's a quick guide to the top car rental rewards programs you should know about.

Avis Preferred: As an Avis Preferred member, you earn 1 point for every dollar spent on rentals and at least 100 points per booking. You’ll need 700 points for a free rental with a base rate of up to $50, and there are no blackout dates. Additionally, accessories can be rented for 250 points per day.

Budget Fastbreak: Budget doesn’t use a points system. Instead, members earn $25 in Budget Bucks for every two qualifying paid rentals, which can be redeemed for discounts on future rentals.

Dollar Express Rewards: Redemptions start at 500 points per day for weekend rentals and 625 points per day for weekdays. Members earn 1 point per dollar spent on rentals, meaning it takes at least $500 worth of paid rentals to earn a free day.

Enterprise Plus: Enterprise doesn’t have a fixed award chart, so the points required for a free day vary based on your rental details. Members earn 1 point per dollar spent on rentals, with elite members receiving 10% to 20% bonus points.

Hertz Gold Plus Rewards: Free rentals at Hertz start at 950 points per day at the standard level, though blackout dates apply. For unrestricted free rentals, you'll need 1,900 points per day. Base Gold members earn 1 point per dollar spent, while Five Star and President's Circle members receive bonus points of 25% and 50%, respectively.

National Emerald Club: National doesn’t use a points system. Instead, members earn rental credits for every qualified rental. Depending on your status, you’ll earn one free day after accumulating five to seven credits.

How to redeem credit card rewards for car rentals

If you have a cash-back card or a card offering transferable rewards, you can use those points to book a car rental.

While the process can vary depending on the card, cash-back rewards are generally the easiest to redeem. For instance, with a cash-back rewards card like the Chase Freedom Unlimited®, you can request a statement credit or bank deposit and use those funds to cover your rental car (or any other purchase).

You can also use Capital One miles to offset nearly any travel-related charge on your card from the past 90 days. You can redeem Capital One miles at a fixed rate of 1 cent per mile. For example, a $100 rental car expense would require you to redeem 10,000 miles.

The Chase Travel℠ portal offers another option for redeeming points for car rentals. If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card, your points are worth 1.5 cents each when booking through the portal. With the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you can redeem points for rental cars at a value of 1.25 cents per point.

You can also use American Express Membership Rewards points to book rental cars via Amex's Pay with Points feature, although this may not provide the best value for your points.

Is it worth using airline miles for car rentals?

Some airlines allow you to use miles for car rentals, but keep in mind this is not the best way to maximize your rewards. Airlines typically offer much more favorable redemption rates for flights.

To give you an idea of what to expect, here’s how many miles you would need for a one-day weekday car rental at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) through three major airlines: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines.

American Airlines

American Airlines lets you book car rentals with Avis and Budget using either cash or miles. If you have American Airlines status or a cobranded American Airlines credit card, you can receive a discount of up to 30% when paying with miles. Start your search here to check rates.

You can also use a mix of American Airlines miles and cash to pay for your rental car.

You can earn 2 AAdvantage miles per dollar spent on paid car rentals when you book here. For example, an economy car rental starting at $164 would earn you 328 miles, as well as Loyalty Points that bring you closer to your next status level. If you redeem American Airlines miles for the rental, you would get a redemption rate of about 1.1 cents per mile, which is much lower than TPG's July 2024 valuation of 1.55 cents per mile.

Delta Air Lines

Delta collaborates with most major car rental companies, offering at least 2 SkyMiles per dollar spent on rentals when booked through Delta's portal. However, you can't directly pay with miles for a rental. To redeem SkyMiles, you must book a bundled package via Delta Vacations.

To redeem SkyMiles for a rental, start by searching for a vacation package here. First, select your hotel and flights, then add a rental car as an additional option. Switch the price from dollars to miles to see how many SkyMiles are needed for the car rental.

The same car rental costs $130 through Delta Vacations, giving a value of 1.15 cents per mile — which aligns with TPG's July 2024 valuation for SkyMiles. While not a terrible way to use your SkyMiles, it's more complicated to redeem them for a car rental when the rental is part of a vacation package.

United Airlines

You can use United MileagePlus miles to book Avis and Budget rental cars here, but keep in mind that this is not the most efficient use of your United miles.

The same $164 weekday rental I mentioned earlier would require 14,700 MileagePlus miles, providing a value of 1.1 cents per mile — which is lower than our July 2024 valuation of 1.35 cents per mile.

Bottom line

Using points and miles for car rentals typically doesn't offer the best value. In most cases, it's better to use cash-back rewards to reduce the cost or redeem points from a rental car loyalty program instead.

You can get a decent redemption value by using Chase Ultimate Rewards points for a car rental through the Chase Travel portal, though there are usually better ways to maximize Chase points.