While airline and hotel loyalty programs come with all sorts perks that we know and love, rental car programs don’t always seem to get the same kind of airtime. In some ways, it’s too bad, because many rental car loyalty programs offer great benefits, from expedited queues to a choice of upgraded vehicles, for just about anyone who bothers to sign up.
Furthermore, there are plenty of programs out there that partner with airlines or credit card companies, allowing you to further bolster your status to the next level and ensuring that you never drive off with a Chevy Spark again.
National Car Rental Executive Status
National’s Executive Status comes with the following benefits:
- The ability to choose any car in the Executive area when you book a midsize car or larger
- Expedited free rental credits (more on that below)
- Priority service
- Guaranteed upgrades in the U.S. and Canada when you rent a midsize car or larger
The new Amex + National promo
As of this week, there is a new offer available to all American Express cardholders. If you are a new member and enroll in National’s Emerald Club between 9/16/18 and 1/31/19, you will receive Executive Club status until February 2020.
It looks like the offer is only available to new Emerald Club members, so if you’re already enrolled in National’s loyalty program, unfortunately you’re out of luck. But if you are an American Express cardholder, a newbie to National’s Emerald Club, and you sign up through this link, you should be good to go.
I signed up right away and my Executive status cleared immediately.
I’ll admit, I’ve been a Hertz loyalist myself thanks to their partnership with Delta, but I have no problem trading in Gold for Emerald.
As long as they don’t give me a car that is being held together with duct tape:
It’s also worth noting National doesn’t charge for secondary drivers who are spouses or business associates, which gives them an additional leg up on Hertz.
Six Emerald Club Credits
In addition to the automatic bolster in status, the promotion offers six Emerald Club credits, as long as you rent a car with National between 9/16/18 and 1/31/19 and pay with an American Express card.
Which is great, if you know what the heck an Emerald Club credit is. And if you’re eligible for the program, chances are you are new to National and their loyalty program lingo, so let me break it down for you.
Unlike airline loyalty programs, each tier earns Emerald Club credits at the same rate – one rental equals one credit. However, each tier redeems at a different rate. For standard Emerald Club members, seven credits earn one free rental day. Executive members can redeem six Emerald Club credits for a free rental day, while Executive Elite members can redeem for a free rental day with just five Emerald Club credits.
Got it? Good.
In other words, this is all really just a fancy way of saying that by registering for this promotion and paying for a National rental with an American Express card, you get one free rental day.
One Caveat
If you carry your own car insurance, it’s important to note that American Express rental car coverage is secondary, which means that you would have to go through your own car insurance company before using any of their coverage. You can buy up to Amex’s premium rental car coverage, at a flat rate of $12.25-$24.95 per rental, but personally, I wouldn’t use an American Express card to book a rental car outside of this promotion.
Other ways to get Executive status with National Car Rental
National Emerald Club offers a status match program, which is an easy way to attain Executive or Executive Elite status. This gets you better cars, and a better earning rate on your rentals.
National® will now match your status in more than 40 of the world’s most popular car rental, airline and hotel loyalty programs, including American Airlines AAdvantage®, United Air Lines MileagePlus®, Hilton Honors®, Starwood Preferred Guest® and many more.
Alternatively, a few credit cards offer elite status as cardholder perks. WorldElite Mastercard holders can receive automatic Emerald Club Executive status. Those cards include:
WorldElite Mastercard products
The American Express Platinum cards also offer Executive status, with the option to enroll online, or you can call the number on the back of your card to activate Emerald Club Executive status. This includes all the Amex Platinum cards, and authorized users should be eligible as well:
Amex Platinum cards
Visa Infinite cards, such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, also come with complimentary National Executive membership, and the possibility of a 25% discount.
Bottom line
If you find yourself spending more time clicking around the parking lot and waiting for a car to light up than you do driving your own vehicle, this could be a great promotion to take advantage of.
I’ve heard plenty of great things about National from my road warrior friends, and I know that many of you out there have sung National’s praises as well, so I look forward to trying out the Emerald Aisle next time I rent a car.
Has anyone else signed up for this promotion? Is National as awesome as everyone says?
I actually just used my Marriott Plat Premier status to match to National Executive. It took them 3 days to process and it’s good through the end of next year. The Emerald Aisle is excellent.
Chase Reserve gives this out right, no?
US Airways doesn’t exist anymore and neither does their frequent flyer program. Do they accept American Airlines status instead?
The Chase Sapphire Reserve gives you this status automatically too, and it’s not promotional, it’s ongoing as long as you have the card.
I did a status match in March – is there a way to find out when it expires?
Doesn’t the Platinum give you executive status always?
What is the difference between Executive and Executive Elite? How does this new benefit help us towards Executive Elite?
It says it gives Executive (not elite) and then it requires 7 credits, but it gives 6… confused on why that would mean 1 free rental?
Chase Sapphire Reserve’s converge is priamry.
it’s a shame National’s rates always seem to be way higher than almost everyone else whenever I check rates
@raksiam:
I’ve noticed that, too. Their rates are in line with Hertz and Avis (whom I consider to be “top tier” agencies – though that’s totally arbitrary and I don’t know why I think that way) but I consider National to be more “budget conscious”, like Alamo, Dollar, etc. Anymore I just go with whichever company is cheapest then use autoslash.com to find a better rate.
@AdamR – I’d rank National above both Hertz and Avis.
Just to add to this. They give status match with Hilton gold to emerald executive elite (ongoing), so if you have an amex plat or amex aspire/ascend, you can status match through Hilton gold/diamond status rather then this promo.
biztraveler is right. AmEx Platinum has long provided National Executive status as a permanent benefit, not a promo.
Sung, no need to status match through AmEx plat, as that card provides this benefit directly and has done so for years.
@ biztraveler @ shza — Yes, that was mentioned in the post! For this promo all Amex cardholders are eligible, not just Platinum/Business Platinum members.
National is consistently more expensive than most other rental car companies, but I LOVE the Executive Aisle…the last time I used the privilege in Los Angeles, I drove away with a Mustang convertible. So if you’re looking to drive something much nicer, renting a midsize with National can be very lucrative, especially at larger airports that will have a greater selection to choose from.
The rental credits are great, free day every six rentals. Throw in the one-two-free promo and they’re giving away days. And I love the Executive Aisle…a few weeks ago DFW had cars moving through like crazy. Rather than taking a Hyundai I just waited a bit and got a Tahoe with 2 miles on it. other trips I’ve had BMWs and Infinties, hard to beat that.
@shza
Executive “Elite”?