Using AirMiles for rental cars

[MikeJ]

DW and I have a short trip to Vero Beach planned for June that we're trying to do on the cheap, er, thrifty. We're using DVC points for the stay and have flights booked on Spirit ($240 round trip for 2, DTW to MCO) so I called AirMiles yesterday to look at booking a rental car. After being in the AirMiles program for close to 15 years, I found out some interesting info.

We are looking at renting a convertible for four days. (Our teenagers, who have always wanted to rent a convertible, are annoyed that we're now doing it when they aren't going on the trip. That's another story.) To use AirMiles for the rental was going to cost about 2100 AM plus we'd still be on the hook for taxes to the tune of about $45. The AM agent then asked me what the cash cost would be if we rented directly from Alamo. I happened to be in front of my computer (and on the Alamo website) at the time, so I punched in our dates. Cash cost was about $210. She then said I could get a $100 coupon for 650AM and that I could use up to 2 for any given car rental. So going the route she suggested, we can get the same car for 1300AM and about $10 cash. Can you say, "No brainer"? I knew you could.

Now, we can't actually rent the car until the coupon comes in the mail because I need to enter the coupon number when I make the reservation. We've never tried this route before, but if it works it would be a much more thrifty alternative to booking the reservation directly with AM. I'll let everyone know how this turns out.

- Mike

 

[tribus121]

although we have not done this with a car rental we have with hotel rooms we bought best western cards with our Airmiles and used them to pay for our hotel at DL it cost us way less airmiles than if we had booked the rooms directly through Airmiles

 

[mollygirl]

I rented a car using my airmiles a few years ago in miami. I cashed in a pile of AM and it still cost me $95 (fees, taxes, etc). I asked how much a rental would be if I paid cash (didn't use AM) and it was $80!!! So I lost a bunch of AM and paid more money.

I complained to AM and was told that as a consumer it was up to me to do my research prior to cashing in AM rewards.

Very frustrating.

Now the only thing I use my AM for is free grocery store gift certificates. Just like cash in my pocket.

 

[michelle1]

although we have not done this with a car rental we have with hotel rooms we bought best western cards with our Airmiles and used them to pay for our hotel at DL it cost us way less airmiles than if we had booked the rooms directly through Airmiles

We did the same thing thanks to the AirMiles rep I spoke with on the phone. She told me to buy gift cards with the AirMiles because you can book your own hotel and get a lower price if you have CAA, corporate rate etc whereas AirMiles uses the rack rate so you end up using less AirMiles. The same applies to the car rentals but I think they only have gift cards for Alamo and National.

 

[Eveningsong]

I have used my airmiles for rooms, and I have also ordered the Best Western gift cards using my air miles.

I have used my airmiles for rooms when I didn't have time for the Best Western gift cards to arrive in the mail. Last minute hotel bookings.

I have ordered and used the Best Western Gift Cards when I was planning my trip well in advance.

Gift cards can take two weeks to arrive at your house, sometimes even longer.

 

[bunnyfoo]

DW and I have a short trip to Vero Beach planned for June that we're trying to do on the cheap, er, thrifty. We're using DVC points for the stay and have flights booked on Spirit ($240 round trip for 2, DTW to MCO) so I called AirMiles yesterday to look at booking a rental car. After being in the AirMiles program for close to 15 years, I found out some interesting info.

We are looking at renting a convertible for four days. (Our teenagers, who have always wanted to rent a convertible, are annoyed that we're now doing it when they aren't going on the trip. That's another story.) To use AirMiles for the rental was going to cost about 2100 AM plus we'd still be on the hook for taxes to the tune of about $45. The AM agent then asked me what the cash cost would be if we rented directly from Alamo. I happened to be in front of my computer (and on the Alamo website) at the time, so I punched in our dates. Cash cost was about $210. She then said I could get a $100 coupon for 650AM and that I could use up to 2 for any given car rental. So going the route she suggested, we can get the same car for 1300AM and about $10 cash. Can you say, "No brainer"? I knew you could.

Now, we can't actually rent the car until the coupon comes in the mail because I need to enter the coupon number when I make the reservation. We've never tried this route before, but if it works it would be a much more thrifty alternative to booking the reservation directly with AM. I'll let everyone know how this turns out.

- Mike

Thanks for posting! I didn't know about the coupon option - I always thought you had to book directly through AM. Please let us know more when you get the coupon code ... I thought it would have been a gift card or something like that. I wonder if it will prevent us from using other coupon codes (ie. $20 off a weekly rental) since there seems to only be one coupon box.

 

[mackeyapp]

We too are going to Vero and AKL in June for a week and am interested in this new found information. I had no idea you could buy vouchers-I would have not gotten the best value for the AM. Thanks for the tip!

 

[MaryannF]

Thanks for posting this tip. I went to the AM site to look at what other certificates were available and found something else that was interesting to me. I order a lot of books from chapters.ca. If I log into the AM site and choose the Chapters link there, I will get airmiles for my book purchases.

 

[mickeywho?]

I've used miles for gc's for Marlin Travel and then purchased tickets to Ireland for this summer. 2750 miles added up to $300. We didn't have enough airmiles for tickets and this way we were able to just apply it towards any fare - not just the flights Airmiles had available.

 

[MikeJ]

I originally called Air Miles on March 12 and we received the two certificates in the mail on the 18th. Since you can only use one certificate per rental on the Alamo website, I had to phone this morning to book the vehicle.

The one thing I wasn't initially aware of with the Air Miles certificates is that they can only be used for the base rate of the vehicle - not any of the additional taxes or fees. So although the certificates were good for $200, we were only able to make use of the $171.60 for the base rate. Our out of pocket expenses will be $21.92.

Still, even though we're "wasting" $28.40 of the certificates, we only used 1350 AM rather than 2100+ if we had booked the car directly through AirMiles. And we'd have had to pay the taxes and fees anyway.

Our expenses so far:

Flight (Spirit) - $240 roundtrip for 2
Rental Car - $22
Ocean View Inn Room @ Vero Beach - $0 - (70 DVC points)


I'd better not let my travelling companion see this or she'll be wanting to hit the outlet malls while we're down there. Me? I'd rather just spend our savings at the pool bar at the resort...

 

[mousy_in_canada]

Do these Gift Cert have an expiry date? I was thinking of getting $150 my rental for December for National.
Thanks for the good idea!

 

[MikeJ]

Do these Gift Cert have an expiry date?

On the back of the certificates it states "No expiry date exists where prohibited by law". However, on the confirmation notice which accompanied the certificates it says "Expires October 20, 2008 except where prohibited by local law." That may refer to the jurisdiction where you are trying to use the certificate, but I don't know. As we're using them in June I'm not worried.

If you're looking to rent in December I might call Air Miles and let them know what your plans are. If they suggest you wait because of the potential for expiry, you will have to delay booking as you'll need to have the certificate in hand when you make the reservation. (They'll ask for the coupon code if you do it over the phone, or else you'll have to enter it on the web site.)

- Mike

 

[jwcollin]

I have a car booked with Alamo for 4 days in August, with a great Costco discount. Would I be able to use those Airmiles Alamo gift cards to pay for this? Or does it erase the original coupon code?

 

[minnie56]

These schemes always seem to be more trouble than they are worth don't they. We have 22,000+ AM..I keep telling Dh to just get rid of them somehow.

 

[amw]

These schemes always seem to be more trouble than they are worth don't they. We have 22,000+ AM..I keep telling Dh to just get rid of them somehow.

Ooooohhhh ... that's enough for 12 free nights at the Swan/Dolphin

 

[minnie56]

NOOOOOO?? Really??

Hmmmm....

 

[mickeywho?]

or $2900 in gift cards for marlin travel...

 

[minnie56]

WOW..who knew. And here I paid no attention to it.

 

[vickiea]

Hey Mike,

what you have planned is exactly what my husband and I did for our WDW trip last October. Thinking the same, pays for the rental and uses less miles, and AM tells you directly that you can use 2 coupons for any rental. Ahh there's the rub!!!

When you book online with Alamo you can only enter one coupon code (unless they have changed that but I doubt it). I could enter in a promo code - like one for using American Express and save 15% off the rental cost and the coupon code, but not 2 codes. So I made my booking with the best discounts I could get and entered one coupon and then turned to the phone. Now I phoned Alamo, and had several phone conversations with many different people and most people didn't know anything about the airmiles cash/coupons. I finally talked to a very helpful lady - after about 3 days of getting the run around and she made a note on my rental file online and recorded the second coupon code and confirmed the extra $40 or so I would have to pay - after the certificates/coupons. She also told me that if I had any problem at the airport rental counter tell them to look in the notes section of the rental and they would see her entry and the note. And she finally warned me that if they give you a lot of problems and you have talked to a manager, just pay the extra and then submit a claim through Alamo customer service after the trip and they would reimburse the $100 for the second coupon. Phew!

As it happened the staff member at the airport counter was great, he looked through our record, spoke to his manager and put it all through with no problems, minus him just having to figure out how to have the system let him do it. So we were able to use two $100 certificates/coupons, but it was a lot of hassle getting it sorted out ahead of time. We are going again in Feb 09 and I don't know if I will do it again.

BTW the number I called to get to talk to someone that was able to help me was the internet troubleshooting line - go figure - don't know the number, but it would be on Alamo's site, when you click on help I think.

I hope this helps, I just wanted to forewarn you that yes the certificates are great, but can be hard to use. Hopefully I can save you some of the hassle that I had.

Vickie

 

[vickiea]

Sorry should have read the other posts, I see you have done your booking.

As for the question of using the coupons with other codes yes you can. I was able to put in a promo code for booking with American Express annd get 15% off, there are other codes for being a costco customer or walmart customer etc. and these codes are entered in a different part of the booking form than the gift certificate code. Like Mike said the only thing the gift certificates are no good for is taxes. Mousesavers has a list of car rental codes.

HTH

Vickie