The quick guide to renting a car with points and miles

17 Oct 2023 · 5 MIN READ

Updated: May 2026

Most frequent travelers are used to using airline miles to book reward travel or using hotel rewards to get free nights.But as car rentals continue to grow in popularity among travelers, you might be wondering if you can also use points and miles to rent a car.The quick answer is yes!There are a variety of ways to use miles or points to book a car rental. We’ll show you how in this article.

How to rent a car using miles or points

There are three main ways to book a rental car with travel rewards, and they're not equal on value or effort.
Method
Best for
Typical value
Watch out for
Car rental loyalty program
Frequent renters who use the same brand
Highest — free days from 600–950 points
Brand lock-in, blackout dates on some programs
Credit card travel points
Occasional renters with a rewards card
Moderate — varies by transfer partner
Redemption rates differ by portal
Airline frequent flyer miles
Travelers with surplus miles
Lowest — often ~200 points per $1
Airport-only pickup on some programs

1. Join a car rental reward program

Joining a car rental loyalty program is the most efficient way to redeem points for a rental. Programs work like airline miles — the more you book, the more you earn — and most layer on extras like skip-the-counter pickup, member-only discount codes, and status upgrades.Here's how the major car rental rewards programs compare in 2026:
Program
Earn rate
Free day starts at
Member perks
Avis Preferred
1 pt per $1 spent
700 points
100 bonus points in first 3 months, no blackout dates
Hertz Gold Plus Rewards
1 pt per $1 spent
950 points
Expedited pickup, status tiers
Enterprise Plus
1 pt per $1 (more at Silver/Gold/Platinum)
600 points
No blackout dates
National Emerald Club
1 credit per qualifying rental
7 credits = 1 free day
Choose-your-own-car at Emerald Aisle
Europcar
Flat member discount
No points — 10% off all rates
Free weekend rental after 3 paid rentals
Sixt
Status-based discount
No free days — 10–20% off base rates
Gold after 3 rentals, Platinum at top tier
If you rent cars regularly through the same brand, this route gives you the fastest path to free days and the cleanest redemption process.

2. Use credit card points

If you don't rent often enough to climb a loyalty tier, credit card travel points are the next best option. Many personal and business cards let you redeem points directly for car rentals through their travel portal, or transfer them to a partner loyalty program for better value.
The corporate cards most commonly used for travel rewards include:
  • Chase’s Ink Business Preferred Credit Card
  • American Express Business Gold Card
  • Capital One Venture X Business Card
Each earns points on travel and other business categories, and each lets you redeem those points for rental cars and other travel. Many also support point transfers to airline and hotel partners, which can stretch the value of a redemption.A note for finance teams: when employees pay with personal cards on work trips, the points usually go to them, not the company. Perk's business payments solutions supports this through Pass-Through Payments, which lets travelers pay suppliers directly with their card to collect rewards, while the company keeps full visibility and control over the spend.

3. Use airline miles from a frequent flyer program

Finally, if neither of the above options work for you, you may be able to use airline miles from a frequent flyer program . However, Airline miles are the third option, and usually the least efficient one. You'll typically get less value per mile compared to redeeming for flights, and some programs restrict redemptions to airport pickup locations only.Here's what major airline programs offer for car rental redemptions:
Airline program
Rental partners
Starting redemption
Notes
AAdvantage (American)
Avis, Budget
~6,000 miles/day
Cardmembers and Elite members redeem for fewer miles
United MileagePlus
Avis, Budget
~12,000 miles/day
Direct booking via United portal
Southwest Rapid Rewards
Multiple partners
Varies
Currently limited to Southwest credit cardholders
Delta SkyMiles
Hertz (via Delta Vacations)
Miles + cash on packages
Tied to Delta Vacations bookings
British Airways Executive Club
Avis
Varies by base fare and location
Avios miles

How to book a car rental with frequent flyer miles

To redeem airline miles for a car rental, log into your frequent flyer account, head to the "Use miles" or "Travel partners" section, and select car rentals. Enter pickup location, dates, and confirm the partner brand. You'll see the points cost per day plus any taxes or fees that need to be paid in cash at booking or pickup.

What to consider before booking a car rental with points

Points aren't always the better deal. Before redeeming, check the fine print and run the cash-vs-points math — for short rentals at off-airport locations, paying cash (or using a corporate rate) often wins.

Read the fine print

Most reward rentals come with conditions that aren't obvious until checkout. Common ones include:
  • Blackout dates around holidays and major events
  • Taxes, surcharges, and airport fees payable in cash
  • Mandatory insurance or young-driver fees
  • Pickup restricted to airport locations
  • Minimum rental days for free-day redemptions
  • No combining with promotional discount codes

Compare rates

Always run two checks before you redeem: compare cash rates across car rental companies , and compare the points cost against the cash price to calculate your cents-per-point value.
Here's a real example:

A one-day Budget rental booked through United's portal cost around 12,500 miles. The same rental booked directly on Budget was about $60 — roughly 200 points per dollar of value. Compare that to a Boston-to-Miami roundtrip flight at 19,000 United miles vs. $320 cash, which works out to around 60 points per dollar. The flight redemption delivers more than 3x the value per mile.
Redemption
Points/miles cost
Cash price
Points per $1
1-day Budget rental (via United)
12,500
$60
~208
BOS-MIA roundtrip flight (United)
19,000
$320
~59
Key takeaway: save airline miles for flights, and use car rental loyalty points or cash corporate rates for the car.

Best programs for renting cars with points

For most travelers, the best value comes from the car rental brand's own program. Enterprise Plus has the lowest entry point at 600 points for a free day, Avis Preferred starts at 700, and Hertz Gold Plus Rewards starts at 950. If you're a status-driven renter who prefers discounts over free days, Sixt and Europcar offer flat-rate member savings instead.For business travelers, the math often flips entirely. Negotiated corporate rates can beat reward redemptions outright — and you keep your loyalty points to spend on personal trips. Companies using Perk get access to exclusive corporate rates on car rentals, and travelers can add their loyalty program numbers to their Perk profile to keep earning points on every eligible booking.

Is using points a good deal for renting a car?

It depends on how you earned the points. If they came from a car rental loyalty program, yes — free-day redemptions from 600–950 points typically beat the cash rate. If they came from an airline program, usually no — you'll get 3x the value redeeming those miles on flights instead.The one exception: if you fly so often that you earn miles faster than you use them on flights, burning them on a rental is better than letting them expire. For everyone else, the smarter play for work trips is a corporate rate through a travel platform like Perk, which keeps your personal points balance intact while giving the company full visibility and control over spend.
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