[Sent to The Buzz due to the multiple programs covered]

Since the best rental car reward out there is ending this month (Southwest's 1 free flight for 16 rentals with Alamo/Hertz/Budget increases to 32), I need to find another good reward system for renting. I'm mostly interested in getting free travel (cars/hotel stays).

I rent about 40-50 times a year and spend $5-8,000 annually on rentals, in a variety of 1-5 day trips.

Two programs in the past, the Alamo True Blue and Budget's 4 rentals=1 free day were pretty good, but I'm worried that I'll end up "stranding" a number of points when they abruptly cancel them like they did in 1997.

What are any opinions on the programs out there? I know only of the Hertz plan and the "new" Budget program (which will probably be renamed after I log a few thousand points).

Alamo's True Blue program has been discontinued (I still have some points in that program which I must use up by Dec 99). Hertz and Budget have their own programs. Hertz program gives 1 or 2 points per dollar (corporate vs leisure rates). You can find information on these programs on their web sites. I was left stranded in the "old Budget program", and like you I am also wary about programs being discontinued mid stream. Budget would not even give me points for the programs in the new program corresponding to my rentals in the old program - rather they mailed me a useless upgrade certificate (which are dime a dozen). I think that Hertz is a much more classy organization to do that, so you are probably better off with the Hertz program.

Recently there was a discussion on which programs still offer 500 miles per rental. You may want to read that. My own list (this is not a comprehensive list, just the ones of interest to me):
Avis 500 BA (no flight required)
Dollar 500 NW (no flight required)
Budget 500 Alaska (no flight required)
Hertz 1000 Marriott (no flight required)

These are better for shorter rentals. But if you have longer or more expensive rentals, you may want to look into programs where the number of miles/points depends on the number of days rented or the dollar amount.

Some programs also will pass on the tax for the FF miles so you may also want to consider the tradeoff between miles and car rental points.

[This message has been edited by pgupta011 (edited 06-17-1999).]

Lufthansa miles & more: (Handbook 99)
* AVIS, Budget, Hertz, Sixt: all with 500 miles/rental, and all with no flights needed.

Qualiflyer: (Handbook 98/99)
* AVIS, Decar (Turky), Europcar/Dollar rent-a-car, Sixt: all with 500 miles/rental, and all with no flights needed.
* Hertz: 500 miles/rental, 48 hours before/after a flight with a Qualiflyer-airline