National - Emerald Club Question

I've been a member of Emerald Club for several years and am currently an Executive member. My girlfriend had a car accident and needed a rental car, so I had her sign up for an emerald club membership.

She has had the car for 3 weeks now. It's due to go back tomorrow. In the reservation she selected to receive miles as a reward since we don't usually rent cars in her name. She's under 25, and therefore usually doesn't get the best deals.

Can / Should we change the reward to a National reward instead of the miles on the airline? Will we get more out of it? I know you get lots of rewards for multiple rentals, but what about 1 long rental?

Is this even possible?

Thanks!
Rez

you'd accrue 1 rental credit for every 4 days' worth of rental (1 day rental = 1 credit; 4 days = 1 credit; 5 days = 2 credits; etc.). If a regular EC member, you'd need 7 rental credits for 1 free day...a full 3 weeks (21 days) would get you 6 rental credits...

Actually you only get one credit per 4 days AFTER you pass the 8 day mark. So a 7 day rental would only net one credit. As the OP's partner will have had the car for 22 days if I read correctly, that will net five credits (one credit per 4-day period inclusive x five whole periods).

It depends what you're looking for. As a regular EC member, you can redeem free days up to a midsize car. Also keep in mind the credits expire after one calendar year, so you'd need to rent at least two more times (or one 8-day rental) in order to earn enough credits for a free day. On the other hand, staying with miles means you're putting all your eggs in one basket as I'm sure you collect miles for other things too.

The free days are only of value if you rent a LOT. If you get to Executive Elite status (25 rentals or 85 rental days per year), then you can earn rewards faster and redeem them on almost any car class. So in that case, you have more incentive to earn rewards instead of miles as you can redeem them for acool products like luxury cars or convertibles. As a regular EC member who rents infrequently, trying to save up for a reward might not be worth it, especially if she has to pay extra fees for being under 25. I say stick with the airline miles unless you know she'll be renting twice more in the next year.

thanks for the correction. after a while, i forget some of the details. i agree that it may not be worth trying to go for the free rentals if you're not renting a lot (but if you do, executive elite is well worth it--esp. for one-way rentals of whatever car you want!). also, i'm not sure you can change it at this point anyway (since it appears that you've already started the rental).