How to Get Free or Cheap Rental Cars

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Spend enough years as a travel rewards geek, and you can almost book free flights and hotel stays in your sleep. But these days, rental cars can be one of the largest expenses you’ll have to worry about on your next vacation. That’s because during the COVID-19 pandemic, the rental car industry spent 2020 selling off cars while attempting to avoid bankruptcy. And prices are surging as rental-car services still haven’t been able to replace their cars quickly enough to meet the growing post-pandemic demand.

Thankfully, I've learned a few tricks along the way. Here's how to get discounted or free rental cars, including by redeeming credit rewards and finding special discounts.

1. Book Through a Travel or Airline Portal

One easy way to pay for your rental car with credit card rewards is to use a card that allows you to redeem your points directly for travel.

Chase Sapphire Preferred®

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• Our Rating 5/5 How our ratings work
• APR20.99% - 27.99% (Variable)
• Annual Fee$95
• Sign Up Bonus 60,000Chase Ultimate Rewards Points More Info

  Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Dollar Equivalent: $1,320 (60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points * 0.022 base)

The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is one of the gold standards for earning travel rewards. It has a generous sign-up bonus and you can earn points on travel and dining expenses. The card does have an annual fee, but you can continue earning points through bonus categories and an anniversary points boost.

• Overview
• Pros & Cons

Overview

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is pretty flexible as it lets you transfer rewards points into miles or points several airlines and hotel programs. You can take advantage of strong transfer partners such as United, Southwest, Singapore Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Hyatt. Similarly, you can book any reservation you want through the Chase Travel℠ portal. Although the card might not be ideal for the most frequent travelers, it has a built-in upgrade path, so when it’s time to level up your travel rewards game, you won’t have to start from scratch.

Pros

• Points are easily transferable to airlines and hotel partners
• Accelerated earnings on dining, travel & household purchases
• Excellent travel and purchase protections
• No foreign transaction fees

Cons

• Not ideal for the highest spenders
• $95 annual fee

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card lets you book rental cars through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Center, which is powered by Expedia. The rates are fairly low, and you get 1.25 cents in value per point redeemed.

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

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• Our Rating 4.5/5 How our ratings work
• APR20.74% - 25.74% (Variable)
• Annual Fee$95 More info

  This fee includes extra cards for authorized users, such as employees, at no additional charge.

• Sign Up Bonus 90,000Chase Ultimate Rewards Points More Info

  Earn 90,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Dollar Equivalent: $1,980 (90,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points * 0.022 base)

Those with travel and advertising expenses will like the high earning rates in these categories, plus cardholders can eke out even more value with fully transferable rewards through the Chase Travel℠ portal. One drawback is the modest annual fee, though many can offset this with the card’s earning potential.

• Overview
• Pros & Cons

Overview

This card offers a whopping 90,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 in the first three months — with the card’s 25% bonus on travel booked through Chase, that’s worth $1,125. But you could potentially get more through one of the bank’s transfer partners. The rewards you earn from the Ink Business Preferred Card can be transferred to 10 different airline partners including United, Southwest, Virgin Atlantic, Singapore and British Airways, as well as hotel partners Hyatt, Hilton and Marriott.

Unlike the other two Ink Business cards, you can use this card to transfer your rewards directly to airline miles and hotel points. Travelers may also like this card’s cellphone protection policy that will cover up to $600 per claim.

Pros

• 3x points on 5 different categories (up to $150,000)
• Robust travel, purchase and cellphone protections
• Ability to earn transferable points to use on travel partners
• No additional charge for extra cards for additional authorized users

Cons

• $95 annual fee
• Businesses that don't spend on the category bonuses won't benefit

Chase Ink Business Preferred® cardholders can do the same. And if you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you’ll receive 1.5 cents in value per point redeemed toward rental cars and other travel reservations. So if your rental car or other travel reservation costs $150, you’d only need to redeem 10,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points from your Sapphire Reserve account, or 12,000 points from your Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card.

2. Get a Credit Card With Travel Statement Credits

Another great way to use points and miles to pay for your rental car is to use a travel credit card, including one that offers statement credits toward travel purchases. The leading card in this field is the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. This card offers double miles on all purchases, and its miles are worth 1 cent each as statement credits toward a variety of travel purchases, including rental cars. What's more, you can earn 5 miles per dollar on all rental car and hotel purchases that you make with the card through Capital One Travel.

Other benefits of the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card include a $100 credit toward the application fee for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, and the ability to transfer rewards to airline miles or hotel points. There’s a $95 annual fee for this card.

Similarly, the Discover it^® Miles card offers 1.5 Miles per dollar spent on all purchases and will match the miles you earn during your account’s first year. Miles can be redeemed for travel statement credits, cash back or other options. There’s no annual fee for this credit card either.

3. Sign Up for a Loyalty Program

You may want to join a rental car company’s loyalty program to earn rewards you can redeem later to help pay for a rental. Of all the rental car loyalty programs, my favorites are National and Hertz.

National is great in my experience because it offers points based on the number of times you rent a car. This is ideal for those who rent often for shorter periods of time, rather than those who occasionally rent vehicles for many days at a time. It also makes sense for those who rent a midsize or other inexpensive cars.

Similarly, Hertz has a decent loyalty program that rewards you based on the amount you spend. So it’s often a better program than National for those who rent expensive vehicles and for those who rent for longer durations.

You can also occasionally find Hertz points sold during the U.S. Travel Association’s Daily Getaways online promotion. And while this can be an excellent value, these points sell fast. The program was on hiatus during the height of the pandemic but is returning in 2023, so it's worth checking out if it will be offering Hertz points again. Also note that Hertz significantly devalued their program within the last few years, but I feel it’s still a program worth using.

4. Use Corporate or Alumni Codes

Depending on your situation, you may be able to take advantage of a discount code through your job or college. Many employers, especially at larger companies, offer discounts to staff on services like car rentals, phone plans and more. Check your discount portal to see if there are any offers or ask your human resources team if you’re not sure. Some government employees and private sector staff are also eligible for discounts or free rental cars if they’re on official business for their jobs.

5. Take Advantage of AAA Discounts

If you’re a member of AAA, you may have some lucrative discounts at your fingertips already. The auto club offers deals with multiple rental car companies. For example, AAA members get a percent off car rentals at Hertz, Thrifty and Dollar Car Rental. You could potentially save up to 20% on a rental through AAA.

6. Check Out Car-Sharing Services

A rise in car-sharing services have made renting a vehicle cheaper in some situations. Turo, for example, is a little bit like Airbnb, but for cars. This peer-to-peer car-sharing service pairs automobile owners with drivers looking for short-term use of a car. Hosts can list their vehicles, and drivers can search based on their dates and other needs to find and rent the right car. In many cases, Turo is cheaper than traditional rental car companies, and it boasts free cancellations up to 24 hours before your reservation, so if you find a cheaper option, you’re not out any money.

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7. Look for Military Discounts

If you’re a member of other organizations, look into any perks or promo codes they offer. For example, military service people can sign up on miltary.com to access a range of deals, including discounts on rental cars through Hertz, Enterprise and others. You may also be able to get a discount directly through some of the big car rental companies by letting them know you are an active member of the military. Check with their customer service and shop around before you reserve a car so you can find the best deal for your situation.

Bottom Line

With many rentals selling for two to three times what we used to pay, now is the best time to look for ways to redeem your points and miles—or get a discount—instead of paying full price. By examining all of your options, you might be able to get the wheels you need without feeling like you’re being taken for a ride.