Travelers are more eager than ever to hit the road and travel since restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have ended. But since the very onset of the pandemic, renting a car has come with its own particularly frustrating baggage.
As travel dropped in 2020, rental car companies were undoubtedly hit hard. Companies like Hertz were forced to file for bankruptcy (having since bounced back) and others had to sell off thousands of cars from their fleets. Unfortunately for travelers, this has often meant higher car rental prices and lower availability.
Usually, I almost never recommend using rewards for rental car bookings since you can almost always find a rental car deal through AutoSlash, Hotwire, Kayak or Priceline if you don’t care what company you’re renting from. When these kinds of deals don’t exist, however, here’s what you need to know about booking a car rental with miles or points.
Using Miles or Points to Book a Car
Airline miles and points
Nearly every airline has a frequent flyer program that has the option to redeem your points or miles for rental car bookings. The exchange value of airline miles for rental cars typically isn’t as good as using miles for booking flights, but it is an option. It might be worthwhile if you’re earning more miles than you can spend on flights through a co-branded airline credit card.
Flexible credit card rewards
If you have a card that is part of a flexible credit card rewards program, like American Express Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards, you can book a rental car through the travel portal just like you would for booking a flight or hotel. Redemptions are still tied to the cost of the rental but will vary based on the rewards redemption value of your particular card.
