Q1 2016 Car Rental Update

Santa was very busy this holiday season so he took a great vacation and saved lots of money on his car rental!

trvlvip is here to help you maximize your car rental reward program earning and redemption opportunities to save you time and money. The more you know, the bigger your advantage and the greater the travel Luxury you’ll enjoy for your Loyalty. We have some great car rental updates for you this month!

Avis Preferred

First of all, for those of you who were not previously an Avis First member, and haven’t yet opted in to the Avis Preferred program introduced in mid-2015, you’ll receive 250 Avis Preferred points just for renting once within the first three months of opting in to the new program.

And here’s a reminder of the main features of the Avis Preferred Program:

• Points are earned based on the amount you spend

• The redemption of points is dynamic – the quantity of points required for benefits varies based upon elements such as duration of the rental, date of rental, car class, time of year and location

• Points can be used for free rental days, upgrades, accessory rentals and extended roadside assistance

Remember, with each Avis rental, you may choose to earn either Avis Preferred points or a hotel, airline or other discount and bonus offer with one of Avis’s partners. So, which should you choose?

• If Avis is your preferred car rental company and you rent from Avis often, we suggest you choose Avis Preferred Points as your earning preference and one of Avis’s ongoing money-saving specials

• If you shop around for car rentals based on price versus loyalty, it makes more sense for you to choose a current offer from American Airlines, IHG, Hilton, Hyatt or American Express Platinum (typically Avis also has Alaska Airlines and Starwood bonus offers so be on the lookout for new 2016 offers)

Before any car rental, it’s a great idea to look through the partner offers on trvlvip.com and to review the the money-saving Avis Tips, which contain special credit card and other discounts (i.e. American Express Platinum, USAA and AARP). And always perform a quick comparison between the partner deals and Avis’s ongoing specials and discounts (since you can only apply one discount and bonus at a time) to find the best deal for you!

If you’d like to learn more about the Avis Preferred program and why it makes sense to sign up, see our great overview of the Avis loyalty program.

And if you are a member of AARP (which is actually open to all ages), Avis has an exclusive partnership with AARP that provides members discounted rates and special offers on vehicle rentals with Avis, Budget, Payless and Zipcar (the world’s leading car sharing network).

Hertz Gold Plus

Congratulations to Hertz, the world’s largest car rental brand, for being recognized as the Best Car Rental Company in the World with two top travel industry awards – Global Traveler magazine’s GT Tested Reader Survey Award and Business Traveler magazine’s 2015 Best in Business Travel Award!

Riding that high tide, Hertz continues to offer several great ongoing promotions that are worth a closer look.

And don’t forget, members must choose to earn either Hertz Gold Plus Rewards points or hotel, airline or other partner discounts and rewards. So, which should you choose?

• If Hertz is your preferred car rental company and you rent from Hertz often, we suggest you choose Hertz Gold Plus Rewards as your earning preference and one of Hertz’s ongoing money-saving specials

• If you shop around for car rentals based on price versus loyalty, it makes more sense for you to choose an airline offer from Alaska, American, Delta or United, or a hotel offer from IHG or Marriott

• And for the most lucrative partner offer, consider United’s exclusive partnership with Hertz, which includes an ongoing, lucrative bonus of up to 1,250 miles and Elite benefits for MileagePlus members; in fact, a special promotion running through May 31, 2016, rewards an extra 1,500 MileagePlus miles per rental simply for choosing Hertz

So, before any car rental, take a look through all of the Hertz hotel and airline partner offers on trvlvip.com and review our money-saving Hertz Tips, which contain special credit card and other discounts (i.e. American Express Platinum, USAA and AAA). And always perform a quick comparison between the partner deals and the Hertz ongoing specials (since you can only apply one discount and bonus at a time) to find the best deal for you!

If you’d like to learn more about the Hertz Gold Plus program, see our great Tip on the Hertz loyalty program.

Bonus TRVLVIP Tip Reminders:

First, if you’ve ever had to find and then pay for parking in any major city, particularly an unfamiliar city, you know the pain and expense involved. What if you rented a car from Hertz and could park almost anywhere for free? Well you can. Check it out!

Second, if you are a member of AAA, don’t miss out on the special Hertz and AAA bonus offers rewarding up to two FREE weekend rental days and other great discounts and perks!

National Emerald Club

As you likely already know, National launched its best promotion of the year (perhaps the best promotion of any car rental company) in August. The One Two Free Promotion rewards a Free Rental Day with every two qualifying National rentals of two or more consecutive days, or 600 points, through January 31, 2016. You won’t be able to benefit until you register, so jump on it if you haven’t already! We hope you’ve experienced great success with this one!

Ever wonder while on the rental car bus whether it makes more sense to choose National credits toward free rental days or participate in a partner bonus? I know we have (but, that’s our job…). To learn more, see our great Tip on the topic!

And don’t forget that National members must choose to earn either Emerald Club credits or hotel, airline or other partner discounts and rewards. So, which should you choose?

• If National is your preferred car rental company and you rent from National often, we suggest you choose Emerald Club credits toward free rental days as your earning preference and one of National’s ongoing money-saving specials

• If you want to take advantage of the One Two Free promotion, you must forgo any of the partner bonuses and elect to earn National Emerald Club credits toward free rental days; we believe no partner bonus offer exists that is more valuable than choosing to earn with National during the One Two Free promotion

• If you shop around for car rentals based on price versus loyalty – and won’t have at least 2 qualifying rentals to earn a free day during the ONE TWO FREE promotion – it makes more sense for you to choose one of the current airline offers from Alaska, American or Delta or a hotel offer from Hilton

So, before any car rental, take a look through the National hotel or airline partner offers on trvlvip.com and review the money-saving National Car Rental Tips, which contain special American Express Platinum credit card perks and other suggestions. And always perform a quick comparison between the partner discounts and bonus deals and the National last minute and other specials page (since you can only apply one discount and bonus code at a time) to find the best deal for you!

We hope you enjoyed our monthly car rental update. We’d love to have you follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (New!), and to share trvlvip with friends and family who enjoy travel and desire more Luxury for their Loyalty.

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Happy Loyalty, Happy Travels!

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