American Express Membership Rewards - Using Amex Points for Car Rental

I want to use amex points for a car rental. Do I find the best deal on a car then book the reservation and then transfer points? Will I get a better deal with Hertz vs. Avis or National, Budget, someone else?

I plan to pickup and return the car to Denver International Airport.

I want to use amex points for a car rental. Do I find the best deal on a car then book the reservation and then transfer points? Will I get a better deal with Hertz vs. Avis or National, Budget, someone else?

I plan to pickup and return the car to Denver International Airport.

I have used Amex reward points for car rentals from Hertz on several occasions. I just rented as I usually do, through the Hertz website and found my deal. I then went to the MR page and requested the appropriate number of awards to cover the complete estimated cost of the rental. Once you get to the airport, you cannot use the "go straight to your car" services (e.g., Hertz #1 Gold, National Emerald Aisle, etc.) as you have to present the MR Award Certificate to an agency rep prior to completing the rental agreement.

If you do it that way, your MR awards will cover all of the taxes and ancillary fees. However, the certificate does not provide "change." If your rental is less than the value of the MR Certs being used, you don't get anything back.

Hertz Awards, on the other hand, do not include the taxes or ancillary fees, so you will have some out of pocket expenditures on return of the vehicle. Not sure if other car rental agencies are the same, I rent almost exclusively through Hertz.

DD,

With the certificates, can you mix and match certificates with different amounts, for example, can you use a $200 and $300 certificate combined together? Is there a PC (coupon) number that you have to enter into the hertz.com reservation site when you book your rental?

Finally, when you order the certificate, does it have your name on it? It says that they are transferrable, but would like to know if it comes with the cardholders name on it.

Thanks!

I have used Amex reward points for car rentals from Hertz on several occasions. I just rented as I usually do, through the Hertz website and found my deal. I then went to the MR page and requested the appropriate number of awards to cover the complete estimated cost of the rental. Once you get to the airport, you cannot use the "go straight to your car" services (e.g., Hertz #1 Gold, National Emerald Aisle, etc.) as you have to present the MR Award Certificate to an agency rep prior to completing the rental agreement.

If you do it that way, your MR awards will cover all of the taxes and ancillary fees. However, the certificate does not provide "change." If your rental is less than the value of the MR Certs being used, you don't get anything back.

I actually cannot recall if the certs had my name on them or not (been almost a year since I used them). I was able to combine value from the MR certs on each trip, in some cases using a $200 and a $50 cert at the same time, just keep in mind that you lose any leftover value from the certs used.

From what I remember about booking, there was a specific code you had to have in your reservation and Amex recommended calling Hertz as soon as you made your online booking to ensure the codes were stated properly.