Earning airline miles with ‘2nd tier’ car rental companies

Last month I published a long piece on earning Avios points for car rentals.

In summary, whilst the ONLY partner for British Airways Executive Club members is Avis via the special avisba website, this is not your only option.

Iberia Plus has deals with Hertz, Sixt, Europcar and Budget – and you can transfer Avios points from Iberia Plus over to BAEC via ‘Combine My Avios’.  Iberia also has a partnership with Avis which may be more generous than the British Airways deal depending on what and where you are renting.

That only covers Avis, Hertz, Sixt, Europcar and Budget, however.

What happens if you need to rent from Alamo, Dollar or Enterprise?

Alamo

The obvious partner is Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.  As you can see here on the Virgin website, you will earn 1,000 Flying Club miles per Alamo rental.

The only other European / Middle Eastern airline they work with is Etihad – see Etihad Guest here.

A list of US airlines Alamo works with can be found here.

Dollar

Of all of the European and Middle Eastern airlines, only Emirates Skywards allows you to collect airline miles for a Dollar rental. You will earn 500 miles on rentals of under 30 days.

Enterprise

Finally, Enterprise – which, given their UK city centre network, is probably one that a lot of HfP readers have used.

Enterprise is well-known for not playing the mileage game at all.  It does, however, have a partnership with Air France-KLM and their Flying Blue scheme.  You can earn from 50 miles per day (that is sadly not a typo).

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How to get FREE car rental status and other benefits via UK credit cards (April 2024)

If you hire a car in the UK, you can get special benefits (discounts, upgrades, free additional drivers etc) if you have elite status with a car rental programme. You can get elite status for free via certain American Express cards.

The Platinum Card and American Express Business Platinum

The Platinum Card from American Express and American Express Business Platinum come with two free car hire status cards. Your supplementary Platinum cardholder can also receive status in their own right.

From Avis, you receive President’s Club status in Avis Preferred. This gets you up to 25% off standard rates, a free additional driver and a guaranteed one class upgrade. For weekend rentals you will receive a two class upgrade, subject to availability.

From Hertz, you receive ‘Five Star’ status in Hertz Gold Plus Rewards. This gets you up to 15% off standard rates, a free additional driver and a one class upgrade, subject to availability.

Hertz also offers Platinum cardholders a 4 hour grace period on rentals. Your final day is treated as 28 hours, so a 1pm pick up with a 5pm return the following day is only charged as one day, not two days. We wrote about the Hertz / Platinum 4 hour grace period here.

The Platinum Card also comes with full car hire insurance with no obligation to pay for the rental via American Express. You can refuse any attempts to sell you additional insurance at pick up. This benefit has substantial value if you rent on a regular basis.

You can find more details on the two Platinum cards, and apply, in our full reviews linked below. You can apply here for the personal card and here for the business card.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is an excellent card in its own right. You receive 20,000 Membership Rewards points for signing up (convert to 20,000 Avios amongst other things), four airport lounge passes and £120 of Deliveroo credit. Even better, your first year is free.

There are two car rental benefits:

• you receive Preferred Plus status in Avis Preferred

• you receive a special package with Hertz – 10% off best available rates at participating locations, a one class upgrade for rentals of 5 days or more, subject to availability, and no additional driver fees

Find out more about the benefits of American Express Preferred Rewards Gold in our review. You can apply here.