NHS or key worker? Get free membership to Enterprise Car Club for a year

If you’re a key worker, you automatically qualify for free membership – for at least a year – of Enterprise Car Club, saving £60.  You will also get up to 45% off the hourly rental rates.

This offer is open to NHS staff and volunteers, emergency services and Armed Forces personnel and other ‘key workers’, although the latter is not fully defined.

You can find full details, and apply, here.

What is Enterprise Car Club?

Enterprise Car Club is a competitor to Zipcar.  It offers cars ‘by the hour’ which can be booked online or via an app and picked up and dropped off – in big cities – at parking bays near your house.  In smaller towns, cars can often be picked up at railway stations, car parks or Enterprise Rent-A-Car branches.

Cars are available 24/7.  On top of the £60 annual fee, you pay an hourly charge (from £4.50) when you rent a car and a mileage charge to reflect the distance you travel.  Fuel costs are include –  if you need to fill up, a fuel card is in the car – as is £750 of excess damage cover.

At present, an ‘enhanced cleaning regime’ is in place to ensure vehicles are cleaned between each reservation.  This means that online booking is not currently available and cars must be booked via the phone or an online reservation form.

I have no personal experience of Enterprise Car Club, although I have seen plenty of their vehicles around in London, but I have had a Zipcar membership for around 10 years now.  It works well for us, with around 10 cars within 10 minutes walk of our house, and has meant we have had no need to buy a car for day to day use.

Where does Enterprise Car Club operate?

Whilst car clubs are most commonly found in London and other big cities, Enterprise operates in smaller towns too.

There are 1,400 cars available across the UK.  The website currently shows over 150 towns as having cars available.  However, I am guessing that – outside big cities – cars are only available from your local Enterprise Rent-A-Car branch and not on residential street corners.

How do I claim my free ‘key worker’ membership?

You need to apply via this page of the Enterprise Car Club website.

You must be at least 22 years old.

Once you have submitted the application form, you must email Enterprise within 24 hours with proof of your key worker status.  You will be told within 72 hours whether your application has been accepted.  Enterprise can use its discretion as to what counts as a ‘key worker’ if your job is not amongst those listed above.

Your free membership will run until at least April 2021.  Enterprise has not decided whether it will charge you for your second year, but it says that all members will be given an opportunity to cancel if membership fees are reinstated and the hourly discount removed.

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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.