Yesterday, Points, Miles, and Martinis wrote about about two new Amex Offers he found in his account. Unfortunately, I did not have them on any of my cards, so I assume it is pretty targeted right now. But, if you do have access to one/both of these Amex Offers, it can be a huge help in reducing out-of-pocket rental car costs this spring.
Amex Offer
The Amex Offer is for two rental car providers and at different amounts.
- National – Spend $250, get $25 back and expires 6/14/15
- Enterprise – Spend $200, get $20 back and expires 6/14/15
Both of these offers present a great way to save 10% on your car rental amount, if it is right at the appropriate levels. Combined with any discounts or coupons, it should translate to some great savings. Not only that, but through the months of May and early June, it is not uncommon to see one week deals that can be something like $179 for a mid-size SUV.
Log in to your American Express account and click on any of the cards you have in the account. Scroll down to the Offers portion and you should (hopefully) see the offer waiting for you!
To maximize it, add the offer to separate cards, simply login to your American Express account and then choose to duplicate the tab (if using Google Chrome) as many times as you have cards. Once they are all open, select a different Amex card in each tab and select to save the offer to the card.
$9 One Way Car Rentals
This is the time of year that the car rental companies are trying to clear out the cars from Florida. As a result, they offer some incredible deals to, essentially, have you move the cars for them. Most of them do not care where the cars are dropped off, as long as it is out of Florida.
Here is the complete post on the deals being offered by all the companies, but I will insert the details about National and Enterprise here since that is what is being discussed.
Enterprise
The deal for Enterprise is the same as it is for Alamo.
- Cars (Economy – Full-size) – $9.95 per day
- SUVs – $19.95 per day
- Mini-Van – $24.95 per day
- Valid for one-way rentals reserved by May 31, 2015, for travel from April 1 – May 31, 2015
- Minimum one-day/maximum 21-day rental required
- Offer cannot be combined with any other discounts, coupons or promotional rates
- Offer not available at all airports – see the link for the cities excluded
- Website to reserve this deal
National
Pro Tip: If you have the American Express Platinum card (or other membership deals), you will get a discount that can be applied on top of this deal as well as coupons. Even though the coupons are not supposed to work, mine did. Before you rent your car from National,check out this post to get executive emerald status. Having Executive status allows you to choose any car in their aisles (except those reserved for their highest tier) at the $9.95 price – a steal! This is how I got a minivan (or I could have selected a big SUV).
National also has the same details and terms as Avis and Enterprise. The maximum rental time is 21 days. While this also has the language against coupons and discounts, I have been able to apply a coupon that is publicly available on the National rental car site.
- Cars (Economy – Full-size) – $9.95 per day
- SUVs – $19.95 per day
- Mini-Van – $24.95 per day
- Valid for one-way rentals reserved by May 31, 2015, for travel from April 1 – May 31, 2015
- Minimum one-day/maximum 21-day rental required
- Offer cannot be combined with any other discounts, coupons or promotional rates
- Website to reserve this deal
- To rent for the full three weeks, the cost with taxes is $274 for any size car (except for premium/luxury)
Summary
If you have the offer on your American Express Platinum card, you could make out big time! You will have Executive status (allowing you to choose almost any vehicle when renting at the lower vehicle price) and a discount from the Platinum card, plus, the $25 back from the Amex offer! Considering many of the 3 week rentals I looked at from National came in around the $250 mark, you will be able to get that $25 back easily. $225 for a 3 week rental? Not bad at all!
I’m thinking about doing this deal next month in Miami. We don’t have toll roads and it has been years since I used one. How does one handle them, when I read of pass systems in some states. The toll system near Houston is too costly to secure a pass before hand.