CFB Travel Guy

National’s rewards, ease of use, and contract pricing create a compelling value proposition

What separates a college town from a city that happens to have a university? In many cases, it’s whether or not you have to rent a car.

As someone who travels weekly in the fall for college football, I rent dozens of cars per year. Over the years, I’ve used every provider, but nowadays I mostly use only one: National.

Here’s why I go with National Rental Car over others (I swear this isn’t a paid post, but if they want to give me money, I’ll gladly take it):

1. Easily Obtainable Status

I have National’s Emerald Club Executive status through my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, plus I’m able to match my lifetime Marriott status to get Emerald Club Executive Elite, the highest rewards tier. National matches status with a number of competing car rental brands, plus a bevy of airlines and hotel chains, so if you have status with one, you can easily get equivalent status at National.

2. Skip the Counter

I’m able to skip the check-in counter entirely at most airports and head straight to the car pickup area. Look at the long line at Avis in the video, below left. Meanwhile, I walked right out to the lot, picked a car, and was on my way without ever having to stand in line. I just handed my driver’s license to the exit gate agent, waited 90 seconds to be handed my printed rental agreement (which is also sent automatically to my email), and drove off.

3. Pick Your Own Vehicle

I’m able to access my choice of any car in the Emerald Executive Aisle by paying the midsize rate, often including trucks and SUVs. Simply by enrolling for free as a base level Emerald Club member, you gain access to skipping the counter and picking your car from the Emerald Aisle.

4. Frequent Upgrades at Regional Airports

Smaller airports without an Emerald Aisle almost always give free upgrades, if available, to members. Since I have status, National frequently lets me pick whichever car I want from the available inventory. The actual rules on this seem a bit nebulous, but National is very service-oriented and generally aims to please its repeat customers.

5. Vehicle Quality

This is anecdotal and certainly varies by location, but I’ve found that National/Enterprise generally has higher quality cars than competing brands like Hertz and Avis. Also, there have been a few occasions I wanted a specific vehicle type, but was unable to find it on the Emerald Aisle. I’m not sure if this is consistent policy on this, but due to the relationship between the two brands, in each of those cases, Enterprise had the vehicle availability on its lot and I was able to nab the vehicle I wanted.

6. PRICE!

Now the elephant in the room is that National is frequently more expensive than the budget brands (Thrifty, Dollar, Budget, Alamo, etc) at list price. But National/Enterprise, along with Hertz, dominates the market for pre-set contracts at reduced rates that you may qualify for.

For example, lots of university alumni associations have deals for discounts or pre-negotiated contract prices for their alumni. Universities and state entities frequently have contracts for employees and even guests. Many large companies, insurance companies, and trade unions have pre-priced contracts too.

So it’s fairly likely that you’ll be able to find contract pricing that you’re eligible for if you’re willing to search a bit, and this often makes National’s pricing cheaper or at least comparable to the budget brands. (Note: In some cases, the preset contracts also include a measure of additional insurance benefits.)

Particularly great deals can be found when big events — like college football games — are taking place. While pricing surges as demand increases, the combination of status and contract pricing ensures that you’ll get priority car selection while still paying a preset fixed rate.

7. Free Day Rewards

By consistently renting with National, I earn free rental days. With Executive Elite status, I earn a free day every 5 rentals (it’s 6 for Executive status and 7 for Emerald). These are especially useful for one-way rentals that involve one-way return fees, since those fees are waived as part of the free day award. All you’re responsible for are the taxes and airport fees.

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These are the reasons I opt for National more often not. Between the status benefits & rewards, efficiency of skipping the counter, and cost savings via contract pricing, I find it to be the most stress-free and cost-minded option for my rental car needs.

For more discussion of rental car tips, strategies, and savings, check out my Rental Car Basics.