Earning Stories: 5,200 Aeroplan Miles & 250 Gold Plus Rewards Points on a 4 day Hertz Car Rental

Today we start a new feature on Rewards Canada called Earning Stories. Similar to our Redemption Stories which we have run for a few years these Earning Stories will look at select mileage/points earning actions that we ourselves and also our readers have accomplished that are worth sharing. There are so many ways to earn miles and points that if we covered them all there would hundreds of posts each day so these Earning Stories will look at those significant ones that usually involve a bonus offer promotion or perhaps a free miles/points offer that we weren't sure would post but did end up receiving. If you are a miles/points rookie be sure to keep an eye on these stories as they are another great way to learn on how to maximize your miles and points and to help fulfill our mission of being Canada's Gateway to more Miles more Points and more Rewards.

There have already been a few posts surrounding our recent trip to Palm Springs and this one is for our car rental. We rented a standard SUV for 4 days with a final cost around US$280.  I booked it using this promotion we had listed on Rewards Canada's Aeroplan Bonus Miles page:

There is another similar offer on our page that offered 1,000 miles per day but that would have only been a 4,000 mile bonus versus the 5,000 that this offer provided on rentals of 3 or more days. The rate was as good or better than the no bonus mile rates and I was also surprised to see that Hertz was cheaper than most other car rental companies for this type of vehicle which made booking this offer a no brainer! The booking was simple via Hertz and I also provided my Hertz Gold Plus Rewards number so that we could the typically shorter line for members at the PSP car rental counter.

At the outset of the rental we ended up earning the 200 base Aeroplan Miles plus the 5,000 bonus miles from the offer and also since I provided my Hertz Gold Plus Rewards number we also earned 250 points in that program for this rental.

Here are screen shots of all the miles and points that posted:

Overall I think this was a great earning action for the rental and for what we paid. We like to rent SUVs but I could see people getting an even better return on a promotion like this by renting a smaller vehicle that does not cost as much!

Tips for Car Rentals
- Watch the rates that include bonus miles - For us it is about 50/50 in terms of earning bonuses on rentals, many times rates are out there that are quite a bit cheaper and provide more value versus paying more and earning more miles. For a complete list of car rental bonus offers see this page on the main Rewards Canada site.
- Read the fine print - When a bonus offer is available be sure that your rental meets the criteria. Those are primarily minimum number of rental days and vehicle type. There are many promotions that don't get awarded on the smallest/cheapest vehicles.
- Join the Car Rental company's program - Hertz Gold Plus Rewards, National Emerald Club and others all provide great benefits such as dedicated check in counters, bypass check in counters and more.