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.
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:
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:
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.
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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See how to save money in your next business trip
Frequently asked questions
- Yes. AAdvantage, United MileagePlus, Delta SkyMiles, British Airways Avios, and Southwest Rapid Rewards all let you redeem miles for rental cars through partner brands like Avis, Budget, and Hertz. Value is typically lower than redeeming the same miles for flights, and some programs restrict pickup to airport locations.
- Redeem points within the loyalty program that earned them — car rental program points give the best per-point value for rentals. Stack member discount codes where allowed, time bookings outside blackout dates, and compare the cash price before confirming. For work travel, use corporate rates and save personal points for leisure trips.
- Yes. With Perk, travelers can add their car rental, airline, and hotel loyalty program numbers to their profile and continue earning points on every eligible booking — while the company gets corporate rates, policy enforcement, and full spend visibility.
- It depends on the program. Avis Preferred and Enterprise Plus advertise no blackout dates on free-day redemptions. Most airline-partner redemptions and some Hertz reward bookings have date or location restrictions, especially around holidays and major events.
- Yes, when companies enable pass-through payments. Perk's Pass-Through Payments lets travelers pay suppliers directly with their personal card to collect all the rewards, while finance retains oversight, reconciliation, and reporting on every transaction.
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