Hertz Car Rental offers numerous options in its points program. The Hertz #1 Club is free to join and earns points that can be used for rentals and upgrades, or exchanged for airline miles. You can also earn miles and hotel points with Hertz if you have a code from the program that you are in and add it to your reservations. The Hertz #1 Gold Club -- which has a cost to join -- earns additional points after a certain number of rentals.
The National Car Rental Emerald Club gives you a choice of frequent flier miles, hotel points, or credits within the National program that you can redeem for free rentals. Frequent renters with National can earn an elite membership, which allows you to choose whatever car you want from the "Emerald Club Aisle," even if you paid for the lowest model. National does not charge to join its Emerald Club.
The My Avis/Wizard Program helps you make faster rental car reservations by keeping your profile on file, but the program does not off any type of points. Avis does offer the option to earn points with dozens of airline and hotel partners, as well as additional companies such as Citibank and UPromise.
Rental cars at Thrifty obtained by members of its free Blue Chip program get faster reservations and can earn complimentary rental days. According to the Thrifty website, you can also earn hotel loyalty points and frequent flyer miles through rentals. Each program has its own set of rules and most come with a frequent flyer surcharge of around $1 a day that Thrifty charges you if you want to collect points from outside programs.
If all of your rentals are for business and your company pays for everything, it may not be worthwhile for you to accumulate points within the rental car company. Before you do, ask what options are available. Sometimes you can exchange the car company's points for products and gift certificates so you don't necessarily have to use the points for car rentals or upgrades if you work for a company that already pays for these things.
