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. The one thing that can make your car rental experience better is to allow to use our free days on upgrades. Another idea would to give me a “showcase car”, something sponsored by an automobile manufacture that allows to be to drive a current year model with all the bells and whistles.

  4. Definitely believe a reasonable gas fill-up rate is the single most important thing which could be done to improve the rental experience. Hate having to find a gas station while trying to return a car.

  8. I would like car rental agencies offer free car seats for families who need them. Most car rental agencies run a racket with the exorbitant prices they charge. Given the cost of renting a car seat for a week, you might as well purchase a cheap car seat, but it’s a hassle to travel with car seats on planes.

  9. Having the car waiting for you when you get off the shuttle makes everything so much easier. No waiting in line, just drive to the gate and you’re on your way!

  12. The best rental car experiences are where you can walk to the cars from the terminal (looking at you DCA, RNO, OKC & countless other airports!). The 10+ minute bus-rides to off-site rental locations are the worst.

    (Using a different e-mail as BoardingArea still thinks my email is spam? Ug.)

  13. better customer service certainly makes the rental experience better. I have found too many inconsistencies in service.

  15. Having the car right outside the shuttle ready to go would be nice although logistically a nightmare.

  16. have always had great experiences with National. Definitely our go-to car rental company!

  20. being able to choose exactly the car I want with a mobile device 24 hours prior. Year, make, model, color, options from a list of cars.

  27. I would like it if car rental agents didn’t employ hard sell tactics on the prepaid gas and car rental insurance. I know these are the big margin items, but it diminishes the experience.

  29. I’ve had a chance to enjoy the benefits of Emerald Aisle in the past and it makes car renting a pleasure! I’d love a $200 gift cert for my upcoming trip (this Friday!) 🙂

  31. I’d love to win these–didn’t rent cars enough last year to maintain any status, but have a number of trips coming up where I’ll need a rental.

  32. Emerald aisle is wonderful, Last month o was denied a car form the aisle they told me i need to upreared to get car

  34. All cars should come with…… Free Wifi! All we need and we’re up and about! Thanks for the promotion and thanks for all you tips!

  35. It would be nice to get a benefit with some minimum rental period, like free GPS with 5-day rental.

  37. For me, it would be awesome if you could get access to real-time inventory and choose your specific car.

  40. I love National, but I also find the Enterprise pick up option is often a money saver when avoiding super high airport rates.

  41. Being able to pick out any car and not having to wait in line. Also I’ll be turning 25 soon so no more young drivers fee!

  45. Two things make a difference to me: not having to take a shuttle, and having working satellite radio.

  47. Anything that the rental company does to make the pickup and dropoff as quick and as painless as possible is always appreciated.

  48. The rental experience all depends on how easy it is to get to the site from the terminal and how quickly I’m able to get in and out to get on with my vacation or trip

  49. Would love the ability to have a spouse pick up car… Logistically it can be easier on occasion and avoiding the planning to have elite member pick up car.

Comments are closed.