Long lines at the rental car counter can be agonizingly slow, especially at busy tourist destinations or at night when fewer staff are present at the rental counter.
While regular customers have to wait their turn, those with elite status can go to the front of the line or skip the counter altogether and go straight to their vehicles. Fortunately, you may already hold a credit card that offers you elite status with a rental car company to get you to the front of the line.
Let's discuss which credit cards give you elite status with rental car agencies, how to claim that status and the benefits they provide.
Both The Platinum Card® from American Express and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express offer complimentary car rental elite status with Avis, Hertz and National. Each elite status isn't created equal — let's explore each of the benefits. Enrollment required for select benefits.
Amex Platinum cardholders can enjoy complimentary Avis Preferred Plus status, typically requiring 10 rentals completed or spending $4,000 in a calendar year for eligibility. Avis Preferred Plus members are eligible to receive the following benefits:
You'll need to enroll in the Avis Preferred program first to take advantage of these perks. To do so, visit this page and click the Enroll Now link. If you already have an Avis Wizard number and want your status to be upgraded, you can follow the link on that page to send an email.
Amex Platinum cardholders can enjoy complimentary Hertz Gold Plus Rewards President's Circle status, which typically requires 20 rentals completed or spending at least $4,000 in a calendar year for eligibility.
President's Circle members are eligible to receive the following benefits:
You'll need to enroll in Hertz Gold Plus Rewards first to take advantage of these perks. To do so, visit this page and click the Enroll link.
Amex Platinum cardholders will get automatically upgraded to Executive status upon signing up for National's free loyalty program, Emerald Club.
Executive status normally requires 12 paid rentals or 40 paid rental days. As an Executive member, you'll have access to these perks:
To enroll, click on this link and follow the prompts to enroll with Emerald Club.
Booking through National gets you some of the best perks (compared to Avis or Hertz), so we recommend checking these rental options first.
Related: The Platinum Card from American Express review
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers special privileges with National and Avis. As a Visa Infinite card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve offers complimentary National Emerald Club Executive membership, which includes the perks listed above. When booking with National, you can also enjoy complimentary upgrades, the ability to skip the counter and more.
Activating all of these benefits is one of the first things you should do when you get your card. You'll need to log into your Ultimate Rewards account and select Card Benefits under "Use Points" to register for these benefits. From there, you'll be able to see the offers that are available to you in real time.
Related: Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card review
A great benefit of the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is that it offers top-tier Hertz President's Circle status**. Cardholders must enroll through their account's benefits tab on the Capital One website or mobile app. Cardholders can also enroll their authorized users using this same process.
You get all of the member benefits of the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards program, plus the following perks with President's Circle status:
**Upon enrollment, accessible through the Capital One website or mobile app, eligible cardholders will remain at that status level through the duration of the offer. Please note, enrolling through the normal Hertz Gold Plus Rewards enrollment process (e.g. at Hertz.com) will not automatically detect a cardholder as being eligible for the program and cardholders will not be automatically upgraded to the applicable status tier. Additional terms apply
Related: Capital One Venture X credit card review
United Club℠ Infinite Card offers complimentary Avis President's Club membership, which typically requires an invitation to join. To join, cardmembers (and those with United Premier Platinum status or higher) can use this link. This is a change from United's previous partnership with Hertz, where cardmembers received President's Circle status.
Avis President's Club status includes:
Related: United Club Infinite Card review
National Emerald Club stands out as a favorite car rental program because of the ability to choose your own car from the Emerald Aisle Executive selection. This is ideal when renting a car for families because the Emerald Aisle is where they tend to park the minivans. This status is easy to get if you have an Amex Platinum or Chase Sapphire Reserve.
The next best is Hertz Gold Plus Rewards paired with the Amex Platinum. While this isn't technically elite status, booking with the Platinum's CDP will unlock a four-hour grace period. This amounts to a free day on rentals between 24 and 28 hours long, and it's perfect whenever your departure time is more than a couple of hours beyond your arrival time.
Note that you must have a qualifying card to enroll in these elite status programs. Once you do, you often can use any card to pay for the rental car. Choose the right card to maximize points and miles earned and obtain primary rental car insurance — and be sure to review our guide to saving money on rental cars.
Another way to earn value from these programs is to let them match your status. For example, Hertz offers a status match that should grant Hertz Five Star status to those with National Executive status. Similarly, National's status match program provides Executive status to those with Avis President's Club status. If you hold elite status with one program and are thinking of switching, it can't hurt to ask for a status match even if it isn't explicitly offered.
Related: The complete guide to car rental elite status matches
It's far easier to enjoy rental car elite status solely through your credit card than it is to earn hotel or airline status. And while you might not find rental car status to be that exciting, it can definitely save you money and speed up your travel experience — especially in a time when rental cars may be hard to find. By learning which credit cards offer rental car status, you can enjoy all of these perks sooner than you might have thought.
Apply here: Amex Platinum
Apply here: Chase Sapphire Reserve
Apply here: United Club Infinite
Learn more: Capital One Venture X
Related: Hitting the road on your vacation? Everything you need to know about rental car elite status
For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum, click here.
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