With so many car hire companies leasing similar types of vehicles, it pays to see what else your rental can crank out. You could be due for a hefty serve of frequent flyer points – if you hire from the right company.
Different car rental companies have different airline partners. This means there isn’t one ‘gold standard’ to book with. The best choice instead depends on where your airline allegiance lies. Your airline frequent flyer status may also be key to unlocking bonus points every time you hire.
Here at Point Hacks, we’ve done the hard yards for you. We’ve put the microscope on airline earning rates at Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, Sixt and Thrifty. Here’s what we found – and how you can benefit.
What’s in this guide?
This guide summarises the number of points you could earn from six of the world’s leading car rental companies. It covers frequent flyer programs that are most relevant to Australian consumers and provides an example for both domestic and overseas car rental bookings.
We’ve updated this guide for 2022 with new point valuations and currency exchange rates.
The frequent flyer programs covered are those that travellers in Australia are most familiar with. Of course, that starts with Qantas Frequent Flyer and Velocity Frequent Flyer. We’ve also included Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer and Etihad Guest.
Meanwhile, the car rental companies we’re comparing include Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, Sixt and Thrifty.
Note that our guide solely focuses on the value of the points you could earn in a booking. You should consider other factors too when deciding which company to use.
This includes the price and availability of your preferred vehicle class, as well as any limits on distance travelled. The cost of extras – such as insurance – and whether you have elite status with that rental company should also be factored in.
How do I earn frequent flyer points with car rentals?
In Australia, most car rental companies in this guide partner with either Qantas or Velocity. The exception is Sixt, which offers miles in a number of overseas-based programs instead.
Domestic car rentals are generally awarded on a points-per-dollar basis, with a few exceptions. Overseas rentals are instead generally usually a fixed number of points per booking.
The relevant earn rates for domestic and overseas bookings are shown in the following table, checked as of January 2022:
| Car Rental | Frequent Flyer Program | Domestic Earn Rates | International Earn Rates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avis | Qantas Frequent Flyer | 4 points per A$1 | 700 points per rental |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 250 miles on contracted rates 500 miles all other rates | 250 miles on contracted rates 500 miles all other rates |
|
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 250 miles on contracted rates 500 miles all other rates | 250 miles on contracted rates 500 miles all other rates |
|
| Etihad Guest | Bronze: 3 miles per US$1 Silver: 3 miles per US$1 Gold: 4 miles per US$1 Platinum: 5 miles per US$1 | Bronze: 3 miles per US$1 Silver: 3 miles per US$1 Gold: 4 miles per US$1 Platinum: 5 miles per US$1 |
|
| Budget | Qantas Frequent Flyer | 4 points per A$1 | 700 points per rental |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 500 miles per rental | 500 miles per rental (excludes Alaska) | |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 500 miles per rental | 500 miles per rental | |
| Etihad Guest | Bronze: 3 miles per US$1 Silver: 3 miles per US$1 Gold: 4 miles per US$1 Platinum: 5 miles per US$1 | Bronze: 3 miles per US$1 Silver: 3 miles per US$1 Gold: 4 miles per US$1 Platinum: 5 miles per US$1 |
|
| Europcar | Velocity Frequent Flyer | Red: 3 points per A$1 Silver: 4.5 points per A$1 Gold: 5.25 points per A$1 Platinum: 6 points per A$1 | New Zealand only Red: 3 points per A$1 Silver: 4.5 points per A$1 Gold: 5.25 points per A$1 Platinum: 6 points per A$1 All other overseas rentals Red: 800 points per rental Silver: 1,200 points per rental Gold: 1,400 points per rental Platinum: 1,600 points per rental |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 500 miles per rental | 500 miles per rental | |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 300 miles on contracted rates 500 miles on all other rates | 300 miles on contracted rates 500 miles on all other rates |
|
| Hertz | Velocity Frequent Flyer | Red: 4 points per A$1 Silver: 4.5 points per A$1 Gold: 5.25 points per A$1 Platinum: 6 points per A$1 | New Zealand only Red: 4 points per A$1 Silver: 4.5 points per A$1 Gold: 5.25 points per A$1 Platinum: 6 points per A$1 All other overseas rentals Red: 800 points per rental Silver: 1,200 points per rental Gold: 1,400 points per rental Platinum: 1,600 points per rental |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 250 miles on contracted rates 500 miles all other rates | 250 miles on contracted rates 250 miles on rentals within Asia 500 miles on rentals outside Asia |
|
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 250 miles on contracted rates 500 miles all other rates | 250 miles on contracted rates 250 miles on rentals within Asia 500 miles on rentals outside Asia |
|
| Etihad Guest | Standard Collection rentals Bronze: 550 miles Silver: 675 miles Gold: 800 miles Platinum: 825 miles Prestige Collection rentals Bronze: 1,100 miles Silver: 1,200 miles Gold: 1,300 miles Platinum: 1,400 miles | Standard Collection rentals Bronze: 550 miles Silver: 675 miles Gold: 800 miles Platinum: 825 miles Prestige Collection rentals Bronze: 1,100 miles Silver: 1,200 miles Gold: 1,300 miles Platinum: 1,400 miles |
|
| Sixt | Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 500 miles per rental | 500 miles per rental |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 500 miles per rental | 500 miles per rental | |
| Etihad Guest | 500 miles per rental | 500 miles per rental | |
| Thrifty | Velocity Frequent Flyer | Red: 3 points per A$1 Silver: 4.5 points per A$1 Gold: 5.25 points per A$1 Platinum: 6 points per A$1 | New Zealand only Red: 3 points per A$1 Silver: 4.5 points per A$1 Gold: 5.25 points per A$1 Platinum: 6 points per A$1 All other overseas rentals Red: 800 points per rental Silver: 1,200 points per rental Gold: 1,400 points per rental Platinum: 1,600 points per rental |
Don’t forget that if you hold an ABN, you can earn additional Qantas points if you book an Avis or Budget car rental directly from the Qantas Business Rewards site. This isn’t included in our comparisons below.
With that in mind, below are some hypothetical case studies of a domestic and overseas car rental booking. These illustrate how much value you could be receiving from bonus points. You can read more about how we value points, as those proprietary figures play a part below.
Case Study: Where do I get the most points for domestic car hire?
In this case study, we’re using a booking of a standard car (i.e. not a prestige vehicle), with a total spend of A$360. Where currency conversions are required, we’ve used a rate of 1 AUD = 0.73 USD, based on the live rates on 13 January 2022.
The results for each car company are shown below. These reflect each company’s differing earn rates based on frequent flyer status. The cells highlighted in green show the best-value car rental and frequent flyer program combo.
Case study: Where do I get the most points for overseas car hire?
For this international example, we’re basing it on a booking for a standard car with a total cost of A$760, along with the same 1 AUD = 0.73 USD exchange rate as above where necessary.
Summing up: which programs are most rewarding?
Based on the tables above, here are our best picks for earning frequent flyer points with car hire in Australia and abroad:
| Car Rental Company | Most rewarding program for domestic car rental | Most rewarding program for overseas car rental |
|---|---|---|
| Avis | Qantas Frequent Flyer | Etihad Guest (all status levels) |
| Budget | Qantas Frequent Flyer | Etihad Guest (all status levels) |
| Europcar | Velocity Frequent Flyer (all status levels) | Velocity Frequent Flyer (all status levels) |
| Hertz | Velocity Frequent Flyer (all status levels) | Velocity Frequent Flyer (all status levels) |
| Sixt | Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer |
| Thrifty | Velocity Frequent Flyer (all status levels) | Velocity Frequent Flyer (all status levels) |
It’s not surprising that Qantas and Velocity Frequent Flyer are among the two most rewarding programs for Australians looking to rent a car. That’s because points are awarded per dollar spent in Australia – and sometimes New Zealand, too. Overseas, the flat earning rates are relatively high as well.
Velocity Frequent Flyer and Etihad Guest also stand out for elite frequent flyers. Tiered members earn more points on most rentals, versus those without frequent flyer status.
Don’t forget that frequent flyer points are only one element that should be considered in a car rental decision. However, this can serve as a valuable tie-breaker when the offers provided by the rental companies are similar.
Finally, it’s okay to go against our comparisons and pick a different program, if that suits you better! For example, Etihad Guest is the most rewarding program for overseas Avis bookings. But you might still be better off choosing Qantas Points if you don’t otherwise collect miles with Etihad.
This article was originally written by Daniel Sciberras, with additional reporting by Brandon Loo.
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I like accumulating points as much as anyone, BUT, sometimes the number of points earned are the LEAST of the factors to determine card choices.
We have an Amex and a Mastercard each both linked to our QFF accounts, originally with Westpac but got shunted to a AMEX direct product a year or so ago.
Background; wife gets new car, I reccommend that she gets Paint Protection Film (PPF) as we were considering doing a big road trip in 2022.
Turns out a proper PPF job takes 5-7 days so as we had a new grand baby I suggested she get a hire car that could accommodate prams, baby capsule, new mum, baby and all the associated gear that goes with it. She had previously hired a minibus from a local firm and as she got a reasonable deal on an Audi Q7 from them she went with that.
Fast Forward : She had a minor bingle whilst distracted by baby/new mum/reversing in unfamiliar car/surroundings.
Result: $5,000 Damage Waiver excess had been disclosed and checked to be within AMEX limit. So we were sweet… or so we thought.
Fast forward again: Claiming via Amex/Chubb website is a nightmare, phone/email support is next to useless. Finally got on to the correct product claim form by accident onlyvto be hit with the 1st qualifying question: “Did this accident occur more than 150kms from your usual place of residence” …. WTF….??? Hang on, time to read the fine print again, yep AMEX DWI cover specifically excludes any incident in this circumference from your home.
FAST FWD to claim denial letter.
After being coaxed into submitting claim by a Team Leader at Chubb on the assurance that all claims will be “treated on their individual circumstances” the final letter DENIED the claim based on “no coverage for rental vehicles of more than $100,000 (AUD). FFS… any points we gained were wiped out. I now thank my lucky stars for all the times I’ve hired C Class Mercs on holidays….
Caveat Emptor as they say, but you guys that promote CC Points (and the card issuers) need to make these LIMITATIONS more obvious to the regular punter.
Thanks for the feedback. For brevity, I didn’t include US frequent flyer programs, however, for those collecting AA miles, this can be a solid option as you pointed out. Previously, only 50 AA miles were awarded per booking, but this has substantially improved.
Just note that most car rental companies will impose a small charge for earning into US frequent flyer programs, so make sure to factor that in.
Thanks for your question. Hertz recommends to wait a minimum of 7 days after the rental vehicle is returned to chase up any missing credit.
Hertz do provide a convenient method to chase up missing credit however. Simply go to https://www.hertz.com.au/rentacar/partner/index.jsp?targetPage=ftRetroFormView.jsp and fill in the Frequent Traveler Credit form. Hertz will then process this form and credit any point owing.
I have had great success by completing this form on the few occasions that my points were not credited automatically.
Thanks for your comment. This calculation will differ for each person and for each different rental booking. But as you suggest, if the value of the discount on the price of the rental outweights the value you obtain from earning frequent flyer points, then going through consolidators makes sense.
This is a good question. Again it comes down to how much value you can get from your points, which is based on what you redeem them for. As a rule of thumb, most frequent guest loyalty points generate a redemption value of around 0.5 to 1 cent, whereas the redemption value for Qantas points can range anywhere from 0.5 cents to a value as in excess of 10 cents.
So the value you get from your Qantas redemptions will determine whether you’ll be better off with hotel loyalty points or Qantas points from your car rental bookings.
Thanks for your comment. Similar to the previous poster, the low points earn can be attributed to the ‘base rental charges’ clause found within many car rental T&Cs.
If points post automatically, it can still be a handy points earner for you with very little effort, especially for longer domestic car rental bookings earned on a per dollar spend basis. I have found that points post relatively quickly with both Avis and Hertz, without the need for manual intervention. Not sure about the other car agencies, as it’s been a while since I rented from those.
However, when points don’t automatically post, it’s likely to be a case by case basis on whether it is worth the trouble to chase the points down.
I hired through EuropCar last week through the velocity site. I am a VFF Red member. I hired the car for 4 days and spent a total of $289. Naturally I was expecting 3 point per dollar (total $967). To my utter disbelief, I was only awarded 317 points.
When I called Velocity, they redirected me to the website and further on to T&C’s which say that points are awarded on base rental only. So even though I paid $289, the base rental was only $105.50, which gave me 317 points in total. The total amount is broken down into several components like, vehicle registration recovery fee, premium location charge, admin fee etc, but the points are only awarded on the basic rental.
I am not happy about it, but since that’s what it says under (nicely hidden) T&C’s, there is no ground for any claims unfortunately.
One can argue that the 1 point per dollar they loudly state in bold all over the website is misleading, but who has the time and patience to pursue the matter.
Just my experience with Europcar.
Thank you for your response and bringing up this important point.
Generally, points are earned only on ‘base rental charges’, which are defined differently for each car company. In fact, this topic warrants a separate article in itself! It is unfortunately not restricted solely to Europcar.
Of course it remains the case though that earning some points is better than nothing, given the rental charge doesn’t change based on whether points are earned or not, but would be nice if points were earned consistently on all charges.