One of the most overlooked aspects to travel is the rental car. Unless you are working in a downtown area, or one with good access between your work site (tourist spot), hotel, and the airport, you most likely have to get a rental car. Most companies that have extensive travel have one or more rental car companies that they have negotiated agreements with. While you are of course bound to choose one your corporation has an agreement with (if they impose such a policy) you oftentimes will still have a choice. The various companies have their own loyalty programs, each with their own benefits (or lack thereof).
Enterprise has agreements with quite a few companies, but if you care about rewards, they should be your last choice, as rewards do not exist. All their program is, is a scheme where you can be processed at the counter quicker to pick-up your car.
Avis has a decent program (Preferred) that is nice and free, and has one level of Elite (Avis First), that gives you a supply available upgrade, and a free weekend rental after every 4 rentals of 2 days or more, but these free rentals usually expire 6 months after you earn them.
Hertz has a multi-tiered program: #1 Club. The base program is just a rewards program based on spend, and offers no benefits, but is also free to join for anyone. They have #1 Club Gold, which offers elite status, special bonus offer, and express pick-up on getting your car at certain locations. Officially, this program costs $60 a year, however through corporate contracts, and regular offers, there is no reason you should ever have to actually pay for this program. This builds on the #1 Club in that there elite tiers based on how much you rent, with the highest publicly Earned tier including bonus points and a guaranteed one car class upgrade. They have a variable point scale with
National offers a similar deal with their Emerald Club, which mirrors the Hertz #1 club Gold, except that it has one elite level, and a different point scale. I am not as well versed, as it has been years since I have rented from them (when I was traveling for business before I turned 25, they were still charging me the underage fee.) The advantage of National is their car selection. At major airports, you choose your own car, and if you are renting a midsize or larger vehicle, you get to choose from the Emerald Aisle, which houses the newest and higher trim level cars on the lot, and if you are Elite, you choose from a different section where you are guaranteed at least one car class upgrade.
I hope this has been enlightening for many of you, as I know this is a subject that has not really been covered on the site before, and also to provide a frame of reference for those needing to decide, and frame of reference for if/when I have something that involves rental cars.
Feel free to chime in with your comments/experiences with any of these or other rental car programs.
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