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.
- Worth noting that WorldElite MasterCard cardholders and American Express Platinum cardholders are entitled to National’s Executive status, which also gets access to the Executive aisle. That’s worth signing up for.
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!
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For me it is making sure the inside of the windows are clean! Nothing is worse than trying to drive at night with dirty windows! This seems to happen to me a lot! Always seem to be trying to track down towels are something to clean windows!
Quick, friendly service
One thing that could make the National rental process better would be a removable sticker in the window that tells you the most important features of the vehicle. Functional satellite radio, heated seats, 4WD, and perhaps the current mileage. This would eliminate the need to get in and out of cars by just glancing at the sticker instead.
When the car is ready to drive off the lot and I just need to show ID at the exit without having to go inside and wait on long lines.
An automated return system would be awesome to avoid long lines for returns when heading back on a flight.
Cut the wait time plz
Not having to pay exorbitant fees to the car rental agency for tolls in addition to paying the toll.
I am not sure of what I would change at National. The ease of renting to returning the car is always such a breeze. Maybe some locations could have a few more nicer cars in the Exec. aisle, but over all I am very happy with my rental with National!
Insurance pricing and choices if they are better, they would make car rentals much easier for the non road warriors.
The most important feature is not having to wait in line to get my rental car. The Executive aisle at National is great.
Definitely an automated return system to help simply and speed up the process.
what is the one thing that can make your car rental experience better? SIMPLE CAR CHOICES. Often you make a reservation and arrive to the location not having the slightest clue of what type of car awaits you. It would be wonderful to know ahead of time what exactly what you’re getting.
I don’t like going off site from the airport and standing in a really long line. Then the counter experience always takes forever. It just seems like in this computer age, the information is already in there, from prior rentals or what you filled in online.Maybe they are actually checking social media? Ha!
I would make sure all important details of a rental car are sent out ahead of time in an easy-to-use (and emphasized) fashion. I recently traveled to Costa Rica and quickly overlooked the fact that I had to use a credit card with raised numbers and that my credit card would not provide insurance coverage unless I supplied a letter from my bank stating it had coverage included.
The One thing to make a car rental experience better is to go straight to the vehicle upon arrival: no waiting in line, no insulting walk around with a staff member, etc.
I am a devoted National renter. Would love to see a sticker or a marking on the car indicating satellite radio.
Being able to pick out any car parked in my status tier area after arriving at the lot!
National’s elite status should definitely making renting a car easier! The idea of being able to just walk up to a group of cars a choose the one of your liking is key. No standing in line! No begging for another car. Just walk up, choose your pleasure, and drive away!
What would make my experience better would be not getting upsold when you don’t have the car I booked anyway. I don’t mind an upsell, but not when you are going to give me that car anyway when I turn down the offer because you don’t have my car.
Simply have what I requested/rented available and ready when I arrive. I can’t tell you how many times it’s all wrong when I get there.
Speed is the king, thank you!
The one thing that could make my car rental experience better is more airports with on-site rental (no shuttle required)!
Picking any car on the lot makes the car rental experience SO much better.
No hassle renting: go directly to the car with no line, automatic picture of car exterior when exiting the lot so there is no dispute on damages.
What would make my rental experience better is a faster checkout. Especially the smaller locations should have my car ready and the paperwork printed.
The one thing that would make it better would be to allow the renter to go straight to the lot and pick whichever car they would like. No lines, no agents, no back and forth.
Best part of a rental is when the agency provides free pick up and drop off service.
Better vehicles in the em. aisle. Bit thin @ YYZ lately.
Knowing where to pick up the car seats when using national at a new airport. I have learned to do this ahead of time so I can avoid going to the desk.
Being able to go straight to the lot and not have to wait in line at the counter to get everything from an agent! Even when the choice of cars isn’t that diverse I appreciate saving the time and not having to deal with someone trying to up-sell me on a bunch of stuff I don’t need.
One thing that could greatly improve the car rental experience is not having extra fees for getting and using an EzPass / TollPass in the vehicle.
what would make it better is consistency with e-mailed receipts
Shorter wait times for sure. Especially for late night flights. I just want to get to my hotel.
Less scamming. I have had great, wonderful, happy experiences with car rentals, such as the one at National at Kona. [This is why I would love to win the National Emerald prize].
However, Avis at Lihue was a nightmare for my elderly parents–it was a real fight for my mom to get several hundred dollars of extra charges removed from a pre-booked reservation with the Avis employee’s hard-sell tactics. In additional to all the add-ons, the agent first tried to say my parents needed to pay for an upgrade because they were too big for a Ford Focus sized cars and would not be comfortable. Mom is 5’4″ and weighs about 120 pounds (Dad is about 5’7 and about 140 pounds). When they said they did not want to upgrade, the agent said they were out of the Ford Focus type cars and said that they would get a reduced price for an upgrade since their reserved car was sold out. My parents paid after spending the prior 30 or so minutes arguing and and getting removed all the other add-ons.
I am sure there are unethical types would add on baby car seats and Fast Trac electronic toll payment for people who are driving without children (with no intention on driving with children) in areas that have no need for Fast Trac, like Lihue! Afterwards, I asked my mom if part of the Avis inflated price (three times the Avis reservation price I had booked at Costco) included charges for child car seats and Fast Trac. Mom was in a bad mood and did not answer me. Fighting at the car rental office really started the trip on a bad note for my parents.
The only issue I’ve had with National is charging to the default credit card in my account rather than the one used for the rental itself. So very little to improve my experience — National is doing a good job.
Consistent billing would be great!
hedge. make 2 reservations at 2 different agencies. in case the 1st one is out of cars.. happened many times to me.
I’d like better publishing of some of the higher level elite benefits. I.e. getting a car dropped off X miles from a location when flying into a smaller airport w/o a National location nearby. A couple years back I looked high and low only b/c I read of it and still could barely find any firm information…let alone agents that knew of it either. Just makes for a worse experience trying to obtain a benefit you’re allowed, but not disseminated well.
Finding your name on the board and going straight to your car.
Avoiding counters
the one thing that makes my rental car experience better is fast and friendly customer service. Waiting line is made better by happy people.
So many locations available and ready for my cross country trip without any worrisome. Thanks!
Already have the status – but could totally use the gift cards!
My car rental experience could be improved by the company providing a full listing of toll fees, etc. that will be charged to my credit card when using the e-toll or rental car pass. I rented a car in October and toll payments are still showing up on my card without any email or explanation from the company. Thank you!
my last experience with national rental was stellar! the gentleman at the desk helping me out made me laugh the entire time I was standing there and he even helped me with an upgrade. That experience alone has made me a loyal customer. the return process was just as easy and pleasant. the only thing that might need improvement on is maybe a speedier check-in process.
Faster check-in and check-out is always what I’m looking for in a rental car. And a free GPS! Hope I win!
All I care about is getting in and getting the car as fast as possible. I hate waiting in lines, so self serve machines are on my radar when looking who to rent from!
Never used National before, but sounds a lot like the Budget Fast break – nothing better then skipping the line and jumping into any car in the row and driving away. Love to give national a try!
Being able to skip the counter and pick any car on the lot would be great! It sounds like National’s Executive status lets you do just that.
Counter bypass options make my experience better