National - One Two Free 2009 - Earn 8/10/09-1/31/10 - Redeem 9/17/09-6/25/10

I was checking a reservation and saw the ad on the homepage. It appears that there is no minimum rental length this year but we lose multiple rewards for multiple EC referrals. A win for my travel habits ^.

The deails:
EARN:August 10, 2009 to January 31, 2010
REDEEM: September 17, 2009 through June 25, 2010

{EDIT - Link to get your "coupon" codes for the free days - https://www.emeraldclubpromos.com/12free09redeem/ }

This is great ^

Here is the link to the ONE TWO FREE promotion (https://www.emeraldclubpromos.com/12free09/?tab=enroll&sourceCode=1979).

Here are the T&Cs

National Car Rental
ONE TWO FREE
Terms and Conditions


One Free Day will be awarded for every two qualifying rentals made after the date on which the member has registered. Credit will not be given for rentals made prior to a member’s registration date. A qualifying rental is the paid rental, via the Emerald Club, of a Midsize or larger vehicle at participating locations in the 50 United States, including the District of Columbia, for a period of two or more consecutive days during the promotion.

Earned Free Day fulfillment will begin after September 17, 2009, (solely by email to the email address provided at the time of registration) and thereafter will occur within 1–2 weeks after the second qualifying rental. Free Days are non-transferable and will not be replaced if lost or stolen. To receive a Free Rental Day, rent a Compact through Fullsize car starting after September 17, 2009, and before June 26, 2010. To take advantage of this offer, make a reservation at least 24 hours in advance. No more than three Free Days may be redeemed toward one rental of three or more days. Unfortunately, we cannot combine this offer with any other discount (except member discounts), and cannot apply the offer to a previous or existing reservation. All standard rental qualifications apply. Be aware that taxes, surcharges, recovery and recoupment fees and other charges may apply, and that optional products and services (such as damage waiver and additional drivers fees) are extra charges. Please check your auto insurance policy and/or credit card agreement for rental vehicle coverage. Regrettably, the availability of this offer is limited to participating U.S. locations and is subject to change without notice. Blackout dates may also apply. We cannot accept the coupon if it has been purchased, bartered or sold for cash.

Referrers of friends and colleagues will earn a maximum of one Free Day, regardless of how many friends and colleagues enroll. In order to receive credit, referred friends and colleagues must use the email address provided by the referring party at time of enrollment.

To be eligible for the complimentary credit toward a Free Day, you must electively opt in to receive emails from National. Offer expires January 31, 2010, and is valid for new opt-ins only.

Once you're registered - https://www.emeraldclubpromos.com/12free09/?tab=enroll&sourceCode=1979 - there is a link for a free day for referrals.

There is a 2 day minimum rental for qualification as always.
I'll make this a sticky and change the title.

One Free Day will be awarded for every two qualifying rentals made after the date on which the member has registered. Credit will not be given for rentals made prior to a member’s registration date.

I've never noticed this verbiage in a National promotion before (mainly because I've never read the fine print :)), but the bolded part indicates that a lot of us might need to do a quick cancel/rebook (or least a "modify") online to get rentals to qualify.

I have a current rental - Aug 7 through 10 - but its rate has jumped sharply from when I booked it, so I'm not switching it. (Plus the fine print doesn't really specify whether the 10th is the first allowable pick-up or drop-off date.)

I've never noticed this verbiage in a National promotion before (mainly because I've never read the fine print :)), but the bolded part indicates that a lot of us might need to do a quick cancel/rebook (or least a "modify") online to get rentals to qualify.



I interpret this as rentals picked up 8/10 and later, not cars reserved 8/10 and later. Maybe I'm just not willing to work a promotion (?!) but I'm not going to change my travel plans for a (half) a free day credit when the earning period is more than six months.

I wasn't referring to changing travel plans...just tweaking rentals booked prior to today, when I registered for the promotion.

"Rentals made" is a confusing term. Is that "rentals reserved" or "rentals completed"? In the airline world, we see promotions all the time with specific ticketing date rules. In the hotel world, the rules are generally about the stay dates with no mention of reservation dates.

I'm hoping that it's "rentals completed" for this one. But if I had a bunch of business rentals already booked for September, I'd probably cancel and immediately rebook them as long as my rate did not change.

Regrettably, the availability of this offer is limited to participating U.S. locations and is subject to change without notice.

I've also noticed that there is no link on nationalcar.ca - is this not valid in Canada??

I believe when you make the res. is irrelevant, you just need to have the car for two days after 8/10, "for a period of two or more consecutive days during the promotion". So I believe an 8/7-8/10 rental wouldn't qualify but an 8/7-8/12 would. But maybe we should confirm this with rentalguy.

I believe when you make the res. is irrelevant, you just need to have the car for two days after 8/10, "for a period of two or more consecutive days during the promotion". So I believe an 8/7-8/10 rental wouldn't qualify but an 8/7-8/12 would. But maybe we should confirm this with rentalguy.

An important detail. I have an 8/5-8/12 rental coming up shortly.

I've also noticed that there is no link on nationalcar.ca - is this not valid in Canada?? It's right there in T&C: valid in 50 states/DC. I hope these certs are good for one-ways like last yrs'^

From experience with similar promotions in the past, I would expect that rentals that overlap the promotion period will not count (even if they have two or more days during the promotion period), and that getting credit for them will take quite a bit of effort. I happened to have rentals that overlapped both the start and end of the prior 1-2-Free promotion, and got credit for neither.

On a whim I decided to sign-up for the promo, and when I put in my EC number I got the following message:

You have been redirected to our Canadian promotion, RENT RENT REWARD.

Furthermore, the relevant portion of the T&Cs now read as follows:

A qualifying rental is the paid rental, via the Emerald Club, of a Midsize or larger vehicle at participating locations in Canada and the 50 United States, including the District of Columbia, for a period of two or more consecutive days during the promotion.

^

On a whim I decided to sign-up for the promo, and when I put in my EC number I got the following message:



Furthermore, the relevant portion of the T&Cs now read as follows:



^

I received an email inviting me to register. On Sunday.

Title: "RENT RENT REWARD is back and better than ever."

Ron.

I believe when you make the res. is irrelevant, you just need to have the car for two days after 8/10, "for a period of two or more consecutive days during the promotion". So I believe an 8/7-8/10 rental wouldn't qualify but an 8/7-8/12 would. But maybe we should confirm this with rentalguy.

The rental needs to commence after August 10th. It doesnt matter when the reservation was made as long as the rental starts after Aug 10th. In your scenario above, neither would qualify.

I wasn't referring to changing travel plans...just tweaking rentals booked prior to today, when I registered for the promotion.

"Rentals made" is a confusing term. Is that "rentals reserved" or "rentals completed"? In the airline world, we see promotions all the time with specific ticketing date rules. In the hotel world, the rules are generally about the stay dates with no mention of reservation dates.

I'm hoping that it's "rentals completed" for this one. But if I had a bunch of business rentals already booked for September, I'd probably cancel and immediately rebook them as long as my rate did not change.

you'll be fine. As long as you register and the rentals COMMENCE after Aug 10th, you'll be ok. It doesnt mattter when it was booked.

you'll be fine. As long as you register and the rentals COMMENCE after Aug 10th, you'll be ok. It doesnt mattter when it was booked.

That's what I figured...my Aug 5-14 rental wouldn't make it. And I checked and it's not worth splitting as I'll either lose a really good weekly rate or run into my beloved consecutive rentals issue. Aah well, plenty of time left to plunder and pillage!

This does mean I can change it back to a Compact and save some dough now ;)

you'll be fine. As long as you register and the rentals COMMENCE after Aug 10th, you'll be ok. It doesnt mattter when it was booked.

I am not 100% certain, but I'm pretty sure in the last 1-2-FREE promo (actually, I think it was the book 3 trips get 1 2-day weekend free), I had issues because my first reservation was reserved before I registered for the promo (i.e., reserved, even though the actual rental was during the relevant promo time period). Eventually, it was a moot point bc i ended up having 4 rentals during the period, so I got my free weekend, but it might be worth triple-checking on this point.

August 10th is a Monday -- kinda annoying since a lot of business travel (including mine) may start Sunday night. So my reservation next week.. doesn't count. And I'm going far enough away that I can't just return the car and get a new one.

Still a nice promo, thanks National

you'll be fine. As long as you register and the rentals COMMENCE after Aug 10th, you'll be ok. It doesnt mattter when it was booked.
Coolio, I just made it then because I have had a week rental starting 8/11 out of EWR booked for months! ^

My T&Cs also state compact+ - (no midsize minimum requirement). Super stoked as this starts about the time I'll hit 40 rentals on Hertz to maintain Pres Circle. now I can load up on spare nights on national :)

"To receive a Free Rental Day, rent a Compact through Fullsize car starting after September 17, 2009, and before June 26, 2010."

A referral of mine signed up yesterday, but I've yet to receive a free day. Has anybody else experienced this?

Ok, so i'm new to the EC club... . . .
When I rent a car for this promo do i need to select Emerald Credit or can i select airline miles? In other words, if i choose airline miles instead of car rental credit, will the car rental still count as one of my 2 rentals?

"DOUBLE DIP — credits earned under this promotion are in addition to the rewards and benefits you receive as an Emerald Club member".
what does this mean?

Ok, so i'm new to the EC club... . . .
When I rent a car for this promo do i need to select Emerald Credit or can i select airline miles? In other words, if i choose airline miles instead of car rental credit, will the car rental still count as one of my 2 rentals?

"DOUBLE DIP — credits earned under this promotion are in addition to the rewards and benefits you receive as an Emerald Club member".
what does this mean?

You do not get rental credits if you choose airline miles which, IMO, is a bad deal.

DOUBLE DIP means you will continue to earn unrestricted free days (or Airline miles if you so choose) per the Emerald Club program rules. For e.g. for a new EC member, you earn a free day for every 7 rentals. So at the end of 8 rentals, you will have 4 free days from this promotion, plus 1 free day from your 7 rentals.

Note that the Emerald Clud free days are shown when you log into your account o nthe left side. The free days from this promotion are via coupon codes which you can see at the redemption website. you have to enter the coupon code (up to 3, i think) for a reservation to redeem this promotion free days. While the unrestricted free days earned from your EC program are via a drop down menu where you choose the number of free days to be applied to an account.

Tip: Make sure to use your promotion free days before you do the others, as the EC free days do not expire.

Edit: I stand corrected, the EC Free Days do expire as per the rules below. However, you can use them to Luxury rentals and they are valid for longer than the ones from the promotion.

Tip: Make sure to use your promotion free days before you do the others, as the EC free days do not expire.

Good tip but the EC free days DO expire (at the end of the year following their conversion from rental credits to free days - eg EC free days that show up this year (2009) will expire at the end of next year (2010)). However, I believe that rental credits do not expire unless they've been converted to free days.

I've been told rental credits expire the same way, the following year you earn them- (until turned into a free day and then you get till the end of the following year following that).

Good tip but the EC free days DO expire (at the end of the year following their conversion from rental credits to free days - eg EC free days that show up this year (2009) will expire at the end of next year (2010)). However, I believe that rental credits do not expire unless they've been converted to free days.

Thanks for clarifying. You are correct. I found the details here: https://www.nationalcar.com/progRules.do

6. ... Each Member's credits will remain valid so long as such Member is a member of the Program. Free days will expire on December 31 of the year following the year in which they were earned.

I've been told rental credits expire the same way, the following year you earn them- (until turned into a free day and then you get till the end of the following year following that).

Per the above rules, it seems like the rental credits do not expire.


Now, the question is how do I know how many free days are set to expire at the end of this year? I am guessing by a call to National?

Now, the question is how do I know how many free days are set to expire at the end of this year? I am guessing by a call to National?

Yes, no other easy way to do it.

I have a couple questions, hope someone can help

1) I have rented twice so far since the promo started... but haven't heard anything from national about accumulating a free day via the one-two-free promo. Is there any where I can check on it? I know I am signed up, as I have the enrollment confirmation e-mail

2) You don't have to make the reservations through the link in the e-mail, do you? I thought I read somewhere you can just make the reservations through your normal EC login. I haven't made any reservations through the link.

Thanks

I have a couple questions, hope someone can help

1) I have rented twice so far since the promo started... but haven't heard anything from national about accumulating a free day via the one-two-free promo. Is there any where I can check on it? I know I am signed up, as I have the enrollment confirmation e-mail

2) You don't have to make the reservations through the link in the e-mail, do you? I thought I read somewhere you can just make the reservations through your normal EC login. I haven't made any reservations through the link.

Thanks

I read this in the terms:
"Earned Free Day fulfillment will begin after September 17, 2009, (solely by email to the email address provided at the time of registration) and thereafter will occur within 1–2 weeks after the second qualifying rental."

Ron.

Bump - is everybody's free days posting when you refer a friend?

A referral of mine signed up yesterday, but I've yet to receive a free day. Has anybody else experienced this?

My T&Cs also state compact+ - (no midsize minimum requirement). Super stoked as this starts about the time I'll hit 40 rentals on Hertz to maintain Pres Circle. now I can load up on spare nights on national :)

"To receive a Free Rental Day, rent a Compact through Fullsize car starting after September 17, 2009, and before June 26, 2010."

I dont believe this is correct. What you quoted is that YOUR FREE rental can be compact and up.
Read the T&C posted on this page, it says:
"A qualifying rental is the paid rental, via the Emerald Club, of a Midsize or larger vehicle at participating locations in the 50 United States,"

Am I correct?
Because my company states we can ONLY rent compacts...so I don't think I can take advantage of this promotion.

I dont believe this is correct. What you quoted is that YOUR FREE rental can be compact and up.
Read the T&C posted on this page, it says:
"A qualifying rental is the paid rental, via the Emerald Club, of a Midsize or larger vehicle at participating locations in the 50 United States,"

Am I correct?
Because my company states we can ONLY rent compacts...so I don't think I can take advantage of this promotion.

You have to rent Midsize + to earn the free days.. You can redeem the free days for Compact +.

That's how I read it.

Ron.

You have to rent Midsize + to earn the free days.. You can redeem the free days for Compact +.

That's how I read it.

Ron.

Could he book a compact, but use a 2-car class upgrade to get a standard sized car (standard = midsize + 1) for the same price?

I have a feeling that might not work though, as they probably want you to actually pay the mid-size rate.

First, crap - didn't see this promo til just now. Signed up but lost two rentals to count. Bummer, serves me right, I should surf FT more often.

Thanks for clarifying. You are correct. I found the details here: https://www.nationalcar.com/progRules.do

6. ... Each Member's credits will remain valid so long as such Member is a member of the Program. Free days will expire on December 31 of the year following the year in which they were earned.


Ok, so can someone clarify what is the difference between rental credits and free days? I login to my account and it says Reward is "rental credits", but when I click on rental credits it says Free days:X. Or X free days available.

Is that rental credits or free days???

Ok, so can someone clarify what is the difference between rental credits and free days? I login to my account and it says Reward is "rental credits", but when I click on rental credits it says Free days:X. Or X free days available.

Is that rental credits or free days???

You're referring to your choice of reward - rental credit / free day rather than airline miles. Rental Credit convert to "banked" free days once you reach the appropriate rental credits (6 for Executive level members).

This 1-2-Free is totally separate and in addition to the rental credits.

You're referring to your choice of reward - rental credit / free day rather than airline miles. Rental Credit convert to "banked" free days once you reach the appropriate rental credits (6 for Executive level members).

This 1-2-Free is totally separate and in addition to the rental credits.

Hmmm, so does that mean since I haven't used any of my free days in the past 2 years (due to using all of my promo days) that they are expiring? Or that those I earned in 2007 expired Dec 31 2008?

Hmmm, so does that mean since I haven't used any of my free days in the past 2 years (due to using all of my promo days) that they are expiring? Or that those I earned in 2007 expired Dec 31 2008?

If you haven't used any - I'm sure you have "some" expiring 12/31/09 - Rental Credits (as such) don't expire - but once they're converted to Free Days, they expire on 12/31 of the year following their conversion (eg. those that converted in 2008 will expire on 12/31/09). It's really confusing and unless you go and count out carefully, you can't tell when they expire except with a quick call to Customer Service.

Has anyone received an email yet with codes? Sep 17 was the first day to start using them.

Ron.

I was wondering the same thing. Haven't received any emails yet even though I have qualified for at least 2 reward days.

On a different note, how do you find out if a National facility is a participating facility? I was planning on making another reservation in Ithaca, NY...
But they are not an airport location and being concerned, I called to verify. They didn't have a slightest clue as to what I was talking about....:(

I noticed that "To be eligible for the complimentary credit toward a Free Day, you must electively opt in to receive emails from National." and also that my user profile did not have the boxes for email receipt ticked off. I changed the preferences now, and will see if I receive the email about the earned days soon.

If you haven't used any - I'm sure you have "some" expiring 12/31/09 - Rental Credits (as such) don't expire - but once they're converted to Free Days, they expire on 12/31 of the year following their conversion (eg. those that converted in 2008 will expire on 12/31/09). It's really confusing and unless you go and count out carefully, you can't tell when they expire except with a quick call to Customer Service.

Hmmm, seems like a call to CS is in order. Thanks!

Redeem website is now available to view your 1-2-Free promo codes.

https://www.emeraldclubpromos.com/12free09redeem/

Just got my free days email. "Redeem now" link doesn't work (just takes you to the promo registration page, just click the link in vrbaba's post.

Has anyone received an email yet with codes? Sep 17 was the first day to start using them.

Ron.

The EMAIL is USELESS!!!!!

Click on "redeem here" and get sent back to the sign up page where you are told "you have already signed up" GEE I knew that LOL!

I am going to try the link posted above, but don't wait for the "email"

I am going to try the link posted above, but don't wait for the "email"

Link works ( https://www.emeraldclubpromos.com/12free09redeem/ ) - thanks vrbaba

The EMAIL is USELESS!!!!!

Click on "redeem here" and get sent back to the sign up page where you are told "you have already signed up" GEE I knew that LOL!

I am going to try the link posted above, but don't wait for the "email"

I think they're having some problems with this promotion. We were supposed to be able to start redeeming on 17 SEP... and we get the first email on 29 SEP.

Though the link in my email worked fine.. I had to log in with my member number and email.

Ron.

Well the link above worked. I tried the email one twice... Didn't work either time. Not impressive, but thanks to the poster who posted the "how to redeem link"!

does any know how to find out participating locations..i had a rental at SLC for 5 days and I dont see any free days towards that..thanks

does any know how to find out participating locations..i had a rental at SLC for 5 days and I dont see any free days towards that..thanks

Techoin, the only way that I think will work is if you email customer service.
I was curious about a location in Ithaca, N.Y. and called them. To my dismay, the lady who answered could not tell me if they were a participationg location or not. Eventually, I decided to write/email customer service. It took 2 days but they got back to me with an official clarification. It seems that all corporate owned locations are participating. Hope that helps.

does any know how to find out participating locations..i had a rental at SLC for 5 days and I dont see any free days towards that..thanks

Free days do not show up instantly (or even within a few days). Also, you need two rentals to earn a free day. Just renting it straight for 5 days still counts as one rental. Right now, the link shows my earned free days through Sep 18 only.

Edit: Another posting on Oct 2, they posted my free days through Sep 30.

Edit: Another posting on Oct 2, they posted my free days through Sep 30.

And the link in the e-mail is working now.

So consecutive rentals count as separate credits when determining the free days for this promotion but not for EC Program Free Days?

So consecutive rentals count as separate credits when determining the free days for this promotion but not for EC Program Free Days?

Looks like they do ;)

can anyone tell me if these free days are able to be combined with free days earned through my normal exec elite days?

I am wondering as I have some travel upcoming and already have a reservation for the holidays using free days. don't enough normal free days left for the travel next weekend, but with 1-2-free I have a couple days to burn.

can anyone tell me if these free days are able to be combined with free days earned through my normal exec elite days?

No they're not combinable - these 1-2-Free days are combinable up to 3 per reservation however.

I recently received an email from National, stating that I had earned 3 free days from 1-2-FREE. But they weren't (and still aren't) showing in my account. Do they post all at once? On certain dates?

Last year they ended up in Mr Sophie's account....but I checked there, and nada.

Anyone else experiencing this?

I recently received an email from National, stating that I had earned 3 free days from 1-2-FREE. But they weren't (and still aren't) showing in my account. Do they post all at once? On certain dates?

Last year they ended up in Mr Sophie's account....but I checked there, and nada.

Anyone else experiencing this?

You're logging in here?
https://www.emeraldclubpromos.com/12free09redeem/

Mine have all showed up on time.. they usually post on Fridays.

Ron.

newfbc, thanks for the help.

and no, I wasn't looking in the link you provided, I was looking in my regular account. :o when I looked in the correct place, voila - there are my days.

somewhere along the line I missed that- must be exhausted from trying to keep up with all these end of year promo's!