Easy Giveaway: $1000 and National Car Rental Top Tier Elite Status!

by Gary Leff

National Car Rental has what I believe is the strongest promotion in the market each year, “One Two Free.”

You earn a free rental day for every two qualifying rentals (mid-size or larger for 2 days or longer). And when they run the promotion, they do so for long periods of time. The most current offer is for a five month stretch which concludes at the end of January.

I’ve been renting regularly from National for the past couple of years. The unique selling proposition to me isn’t the rewards, though I’ve earned plenty of free rental days. It’s the ‘Emerald Aisle’ where being a member of their Emerald Club program means you walk out to the lot, take your choice of cars from the designated row(s), and just get in and drive to the exit.

Sometimes I’ll take whatever is closest, other times an SUV when I want something larger, and occasionally I’ll get in a bunch of cars to look for the one with lowest miles and features I want. National calls it “speed, choice, and control.” I call it not having to go asking for something other than a Taurus.

As the current One Two Free promotion wraps up, National offered me the chance to interview one of their frequent renters and also give away status and gift cards. I jumped at the chance.

  • To be clear, I’m not taking anything from National for doing this — all of the prizes and benefits go to you, my readers.
  • I thought if they could put me in touch with someone to interview who rents much more frequently than I do, a minimum of 100 days a year, they could offer a really interesting perspective.

So here’s the giveaway:

  • (5) $200 gift cards
  • (5) National Emerald Club Executive Elite status upgrades.

There will be (5) prize winners, each to receive a $200 gift card and Executive Elite status. Not only do Executive Elites get to pick from the Executive aisle of higher category cars (as National Executive status allows) but they earn free rental days faster and in my experience are able to redeem those free rental days for premium vehicles.

All you need to do to enter is leave a comment on this post answering the question: what is the one thing that can make your car rental experience better?

Please enter only one time. This contest will run through January 19 at noon Eastern, and I will draw the winners with the assistance of random.org. All of my decisions are final.

Here’s the interview, so you can learn about car rentals from someone who rents more than I do

I had a great discussion with Bruce McNeal who rents well over a hundred times a year, and thought I’d ask how he thinks about his rentals and since he more or less lives in a car how he approaches making it as comfortable and easy as possible.

How often are you on the road, and what leads you to travel so much?

    I am on the road sometimes for 15 days a month. I am part of the store support team on a national retailer. I have locations in ten states.

Are you renting from the same locations over and over, or different locations?

    I fly to 4 or 5 airports and try to know the staff on the Aisle or at the rental counter at the airports. The rest of my rentals come from the great staff at the National located in Naperville, IL. I park my car at that location and drive to areas where I can visit 3 or 4 stores at a time.

How many of your rental days are through National?

    All my rentals are with National, when the Markham location was closed, I tried Hertz local and the cars were inconsistent. I also had an issue with the I Pass ( toll road auto pay)system that they had.

Why do you choose National as your primary rental company?

    Our corporation uses National as a primary car rental company, the special treatment as an Emerald Aisle member and other perks keep me coming back.

How do you book – do you have an assistant, do you book yourself, and if so online/phone/mobile app? Why?

    I book thru a corp. travel site, as required by my company. I used to book on`line and take advantage of the great discounts sent out from National. I do not have anyone assisting me.

When taking cars from the Emerald Aisle what do you look for in making your choice – specific vehicle type? Do you get in multiple cars and select based on features or look at mileage? In other words, do you take the first car to get out quickly or do you use the Aisle to be picky?

    The first thing is a personal matter; I have several family members that either are retired from American car manufactures or are currently working for one; I take great pride in “Buy American” whenever I can. I enjoy SUV’s in the winter when roads can become hazardous. Then I like the great looking cars( in my opinion) like the Chrysler 300. Currently I am crazy about the Ford Explorer especially when it is fully loaded and has satellite radio.

Do you take any accessories or optional items? Why or why not?

    When I am in an area that I do not know and not working, I take insurance, I pass on everything else.

How do you refuel – do you prepay, fill up the tank yourself, or just return the car without a fillup? Why?

    I always refill, the National in Naperville is part of an Enterprise location, so I return with the same amount of gas. The main reason why is that it is our policy not to prepay gas.

How do you use your free rental days? Business or leisure? How do you decide whether to pay out of pocket or use a free rental day?

    More often than not I attach the extra days to a rental when I intend to enjoy a weekend in or near a city that I am working in that week. There have been several times that I let my wife drive my car and use a rental car if her auto in in the shop for several days. I will pay for the rental instead of using free days, if there are great weekend rates in the discount coupons that National sends out. Why use a free day for a nineteen dollar rental?

Any other tips and tricks that my readers should know?

    Being nice goes a long way. There was an airport location, I befriended one of the Aisle attendants; I would call and they would find the best available car for me. Please be pleasant to the people working at the locations, they rent 100’s of cars daily and some things do not always fall together. Lastly a smile means a lot to everybody.

Thanks, Bruce!

Now, leave your comment on this post to enter to win a gift card and status! And take advantage of 1-2 Free while there’s still time!

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  2. Making my rental car experience better is exactly what National has done with the Emerald system. I don’t have to stand in line at the counter, I don’t have to complete paperwork, I can choose what vehicle appeals to me that is available and I just get in and go. Couldn’t be easier and the return is just as easy.

  8. I’ve been using Hertz Gold Plus, but I’d like to go back to the Emerald Aisle, where I think the selection of cars was better and more varied.

  12. Drop off and pickup transfer to/from the terminal and rental depot so I don’t have to take the bus.

  13. I love getting the car that’s right for my situation. Whether I need a car that sips gas or an SUV when my nephew is with me, I can have the car that’s right for me, all for the price of a midsize.

  14. Mid-size airport locations open longer hours, and more consistent transport to/from the terminals.

  16. The one thing that makes the experience better for me is a short check-in line and not having to battle with the agent to get the car that I reserved (I hate attempts at upsell…..)

  17. If I already booked online, please don’t attempt to get me to pay more. I know what I want and I don’t have much time to banter. If it’s a walk-in, trying to up-sell is still OK, although I usually do know what I wanted…

  18. Short wait time and cars in excellent condition. I once had a rental that smelled slightly of wet socks, and another time one that went “squeak squeak” every time I accelerate.

  19. For me, the keeping the check in process as short as possible is the most important thing. Being able to bypass the process completely with Emerald Aisle is great

  20. Planning my summer vacation with family, could use the upgrade. National is always my “go-to” but I don’t rent frequently enough when not on vacation

  24. Nice article, I like National. They consistently have newer cars than their competitors and it’s great to pick your our ride!

  29. The one thing that could make my car rental experience better is never having to wait for a clean car.

  31. Car rental experience would be better if I could use the Emerald Aisle so that it was easier to get and return a car. I don’t travel as much as the gentleman you interviewed so I didn’t both sending this first times I saw contest. Thanks for encouragement.
    ps my college age daughter had to help me find where to put this response as I didn’t know that in order to get to comment section you scroll to end. Love your blog.

  35. The one thing that could make it better is the shuttle bus experience – too few National shuttles – especially at LAX!

  38. the one thing that can make your car rental experience better: is that it not ever be with Alamo.

  39. Speed up the paperwork process at the beginning. Even when I’ve pre-paid for the car online, there is still a significant amount of time standing at the counter, waiting for the clerk to fill out a myriad of choices on their computer, print out various forms, get signatures and more signatures and more signatures… NONE of that should be occurring. I should be able to make all choices and sign all waivers ONLINE. I SHOULD be able to walk to the counter, give my confirmation #, and be handed the keys.

  43. The one thing that can make my car rental experience better…would be to have quality customer service during the car rental process. I rent cars regularly enough, but have found that most of the employees are pretty jaded and don’t provide a great experience despite my attempts at being friendly or nice to them.

  44. Thank you for the article. I needed an advice for renting a car for my first time family Hawaiian trip in this coming spring break. It would be our first time using the rental car for our vacation:)

  46. Ta-da!

    On the other hand, I hate car rentals. It feels like a scam, they are trying to nickel-and-dime you (thou, truth to be told, for now I do most of nickel-and-diming. Once I even managed to return a seriously damaged car!)

    Anyway, hope it will improve someday.

Comments are closed.