Budget Fastbreak is the membership program of Budget, a car hire service. Like its sibling Avis (both companies are owned by the same group), Budget’s program is simple in premise with no in-house points balances or status tiers to worry about. Instead, you’ll enjoy a range of time-saving benefits just by signing up as a member.
On the rewards side, you’re encouraged to earn airline miles or hotel points, with a wide range of partners. You don’t even have to sign-up to Budget Fastbreak to participate, but we’d still suggest you do.
Unfortunately, Budget will part ways with Flybuys from 12 August 2021, so bookings made after that date won’t earn Flybuys points anymore. If you’d still like to earn your 3 points/A$1 with Flybuys, make sure to get all your future bookings in before that date.
How do I join Budget Fastbreak?
It’s free to create a Budget account in just a few clicks and get a RapidRez number. But you also need to enter some more personal details later on to become a fully-fledged Fastbreak member.
- Click through to the Budget Fastbreak enrolment page
- Enter your personal details and create a password
- Confirm your email address via a verification link
- You are given a RapidRez Number
- But to join Fastbreak fully, you’ll need to continue with verifying your credit card details in your profile
- Then, enter your driver’s license details and mobile number
- Finally, choose whether you want to be offered extra insurance or not, then accept the T&Cs
What are the perks of Budget Fastbreak?
If you go through the effort of signing up for Budget Fastbreak, you’ll also be able to enjoy small time-saving benefits when renting a car:
- Fast rentals where you just need to show your license at the counter to get the keys
- Quick reservations as all your details and preferences are recorded
- Fast returns with ‘drop and go’ capability when you arrive
- Electronic receipts available in your account
- Free additional drivers
Fastbreak services are generally available at international airport locations around the world.
How do I earn points with Budget?
There are a few ways to earn points with Budget on car hire. You can nominate a partner program in your profile for easy booking, or choose a loyalty program at check-out. See the full range of partners here.
It’s important to know how many points you can earn per rental – not all partners are made equal! For example, Qantas Frequent Flyers pocket 4 points per A$1 spent in Australia and 700 points overseas. But Cathay Pacific Asia Miles only offers 500 miles per booking, regardless of cost.
1. Set up your preference with Budget Fastbreak
If you are a Budget Fastbreak member, access your ‘Rewards’ profile and find a section called ‘Partner Rewards Program’. You can choose between dozens of airline frequent flyer programs, such as:
| Popular airline partners | Air New Zealand Airpoints, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, Asia Miles, American Airlines AAdvantage, British Airways Executive Club, and Qantas Frequent Flyer |
It’s easy to choose and switch between partner programs as needed, but this option is best for a ‘set and forget’ approach. Whenever you make a new reservation, your details will be automatically pre-filled.
Point Hacks tip: When booking via budget.com.au, enter the code ‘D1154001’ in the BCD field to receive discounts – this code is exclusively for Qantas Frequent Flyer members.
There are also some hotel partners that you can choose from, though we’re not certain that the list is up to date. For example, Budget Australia’s ‘Hotel Partners’ page shows Hilton Honors – not a partner now – and Starwood Preferred Guest, which rolled into Marriott Bonvoy and doesn’t exist anymore!
2. Just make the choice at check-out
You can also earn points without being a member simply by inputting your loyalty number during checkout. This works for direct Budget bookings, and some third-party websites as well. You don’t need to be a Fastbreak member to take advantage of this.
3. Book via the partner portal page
Some programs, including Qantas Frequent Flyer, offer dedicated portals to book Budget cars. As long as you’re logged in to your Qantas account, you’ll automatically earn points on the booking. In some cases, you might actually end up on top with special offers, upgrades and ‘Classic Car Rewards’ available for booking.
When booking Budget cars through Qantas, you have the opportunity to include your Qantas Frequent Flyer number, your Budget Fastbreak number and your ABN for Qantas Business Rewards. This three-in-one combo means you can:
- Earn Qantas Points on the booking as an individual
- Still enjoy Budget Fastbreak perks such as fast returns
- Also earn Qantas Business Reward points for your business
Read more about earning Qantas Points with Budget →
Summing up
Budget Fastbreak offers a small, but practical set of benefits when you sign up. You won’t need to overthink anything, with no status tiers or ‘Budget Points’ to think about. Instead, just choose an airline or other partner of your choice and earn those points instead with each car hire.
As with Avis, we also highly recommend earning Qantas Points on Budget bookings within Australia. The 4 points per A$1 earn rate is very competitive when you’re looking at car rentals of A$125 or more (let’s face it – many rentals will cost more than that even for one day).
Because of this, booking Budget cars via the Qantas Frequent Flyer website is our suggested way to reserve a hire car and take advantage of the benefits in both programs. You can also add on a Qantas Business Rewards ABN when you rent for work as well, so your company enjoys some bonus points.
Also read: Which frequent flyer and car rental partnerships offer the most points?
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