The Best Rental-Car Promotion: National's 'One Two Free'

After 20 years working in the travel industry, and 15 years writing about it, Tim Winship knows a thing or two about travel. Follow him on Twitter @twinship.

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As recurring travel promotions go, National Car Rental’s “One Two Free” has been a perennial winner. For this year, National has wisely retained everything that has made the promotion a favorite, and added a couple of new positive twists as well.

Offer Details

Through January 31, 2017, Emerald Club members can earn one free rental day for every two rentals of a mid-sized or larger car for two or more days. Free rental day coupons expire at 11:59 p.m. on June 15, 2017.

But that’s just the beginning; there are many additional bonuses on offer during the promotion period. Among them:

A 300-point bonus for preregistering for the promotion
A one-time bonus of 300 points for rentals in Latin America and the Caribbean
A one-time bonus of 300 points for rentals in Europe
A one-time bonus of 300 points for adding Sirius XM Satellite Radio to a rental
Up to 10 300-point bonuses for referring friends who subsequently rent
A 75-point bonus for using the National mobile app to rent
A one-time 25-point bonus for using the Emerald Reserve service

In Emerald Club, a free rental day is earned after as few as 600 points.

Registration is required.

Deal or No Deal

In a best-case scenario based on rentals, this promotion delivers one free day after four paid days. Assuming they’re all for the same class of car, that amounts to getting five rental days for the price of four, a 20 percent discount. That’s good value. And it could be even better if some of the points are earned cost-free—for referring a friend, for instance.

This is a promotion that does everything right:

The qualification hurdle—two rentals of two or more days—is reasonable and achievable. And the addition of alternative points-earning options makes it more achievable still.
In additional to the central offer, there are many other ways to earn more bonus points.
The promotion is in effect for more than five months, giving program members plenty of time to qualify.
There’s more than adequate time to use any free rental days earned.

If you’re looking for a way to make your rental-car dollar go further, this promotion may be just the ticket.

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After 20 years working in the travel industry, and 15 years writing about it, Tim Winship knows a thing or two about travel. Follow him on Twitter @twinship.

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