Here’s another offer that I found in the American Way magazine that’s not published at AA.com.  This one is from Budget car rental:

Save up to 30% plus Earn Triple American Airlines AAdvantage Miles.

Budget is a preferred partner of American Airlines, which means you can enjoy great AAdvantage members-only offers on every rental. Save up to 30% when you use your Budget Customer Discount (BCD) #U072415. Must use coupon #MUAZ021 with your AAdvantage number to earn triple AAdvantage miles!

The rental has to begin by July 31, 2012.   Some of the other terms and conditions:

• Triple AAdvantage miles valid on a qualifying rental of one or more consecutive days at participating Budget airport locations in the U.S. and Canada.
• An advance 24-hour reservation is required.
• Triple AAdvantage miles equal 150 AAdvantage miles per rental day.
• AAdvantage bonus miles offer valid on all car groups.
• An advance 24-hour reservation is required.

Go here for the full details.

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Just a reminder, it’s MondAAy over at The Frugal Travel Guy so look for today’s Deal of the Day which is sponsored by AAdvantage.  Share you favorite AAdvantage Mile tip or strategy for chance to win 2,500 AAdvantage Miles.

Photo: Budget @ Hakata Station
Credit: Tzuhsun Hsu on Flickr

I was at the Admirals Club the other day and noticed a countertop advertising stand with a 4X AAdvantage Miles offer from Avis.  You won’t find mention of it on AA’s website or at Avis.com, and it’s marketed as an “Exclusive Offer for Admirals Club Members” but nowhere in the terms and conditions does it mention that a membership is required.  

Here are the details:

• Now through August 31, 2012, American Airlines AAdvantage members can earn quadruple AAdvantage miles on rentals of 1 or more days at participating airport locations in the U.S. and Canada.

• Use coupon # MUAA063 and provide your AAdvantage number at the time of reservation or at the rental counter to earn your AAdvantage bonus miles. Quadruple AAdvantage miles are calculated using your AAdvantage base miles multiplied by four for every day you rent with Avis.

• This offer is in addition to your everyday savings of up to 25% when you use AWD # K817170.

The standard Avis earning rate is 50 AAdvantage Miles per day, so with this promotion you’ll earn 200 miles each rental day.  From the terms and conditions:

• Quadruple American Airlines AAdvantage miles valid on a qualifying rental of one or more consecutive days at participating Avis airport locations in the U.S. and Canada.
• Offer of quadruple AAdvantage miles is valid on daily and weekend rentals.
• Mention coupon MUAA063 to get this offer.
• Quadruple AAdvantage miles equal 200 AAdvantage miles per rental day.
• Offer valid on all car groups.
• An advance reservation is required.
• Offer may not be used with any other coupon, promotion or offer except your AWD discount.
• The savings of up to 25% applies to the time-and-mileage charges only.
• Use AWD K817170 to receive this discount.
• Taxes, concession recovery fees, vehicle license recovery fee, customer facility charges ($10/contract in CA) and fuel charges are extra.
• Optional items such as LDW ($35.99/day or less) and other surcharges may apply and are extra.
• Offer is subject to vehicle availability at the time of rental and may not be available on some rates at some times, including some online rates at Avis.com.
• Car rental return restrictions may apply.
• Offer subject to change without notice.
• Holiday and other blackout periods may apply.
• Renter must meet Avis age, driver and credit requirements. Minimum rental age may vary by location. An additional daily surcharge may apply for renters under 25 years old.
• Rental must begin by August 31, 2012.

There’s another offer from Avis of 1,500 AAdvantage Miles for a 3 day rental, which is a better deal if you’re renting for 3 to 7 days.  Single, 2 day, and 8 day rentals will be better off with the 4X miles.

Go here for complete details.

In case you missed it, a shameless plug from yesterday’s post:

Earlier this month, American launched a new Facebook promotion: share your favorite AAdvantage tip for a chance to win 5,000 miles. If you haven’t entered yet, hurry – the deadline to submit your entry is approaching:

Want the scoop on the best ways to maximize your AAdvantage membership? Read these top tips submitted by AAdvantage members like you! Got a tip to share?  Submit your tip now through 5/1 and you’ll be entered for a chance to win 5,000 AAdvantage miles. On or around 5/23, we’ll select our 10 favorite tips to win.

There’s even a blogger component to the promotion: five bloggers (including me) were asked to offer their favorite AAdvantage tip.

Here are the details: the blogger with the tip that gets the most votes will win 5,000 AAdvantage Miles for themselves and 5,000 AAdvantage miles to give away in a reader contest of some kind (for the record, if I win I’ll donate my 5,000 miles to AA’s Miles for Kids program).

I’m flattered that I was asked to take part in a promotion with The Frugal Travel Guy, The Weekly Flyer from Points, Miles & Martinis, Mommy Points, and Matt Long at Landlopers, so this is pretty exciting to me.

There are lots of good suggestions on the AAdvantage Facebook pages, so go read them, submit your own AAdvantage tip, and vote for your favorite expert advice (look for the “Expert Tips” tab)!

Hertz hasn’t had many bonus AAdvantage promotions this year, but the few that they have offered have been pretty generous. Now they’ve just introduced a new bonus that’s better than anything they offered last year:

Hertz – Earn Quadruple Miles and Save Up To 35 Percent

Award: 4x Miles

Dates: Now through September 30, 2012

Discount/CDP/Club Code: 217692
Promotional Coupon (PC): 169676

Offer: Earn 4x the miles per $1 spent (instead of the usual 1 mile per $1 spent) plus, save up to 35% when you rent any vehicle for one of more days in the US, Puerto Rico, Canada, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, and United Kingdom through September 30, 2012.

Go here for complete details of this promotion.

I’ve always been a big fan of Hertz, they usually have the best rental and return locations, their customer service people are friendly and helpful, and if you have Hertz Gold Plus status, they make it easy and quick to go from being dropped off by the shuttle bus to driving yourself through exit gate.

If you don’t have Hertz Gold Status, here’s your chance to get it for at not cost:

Go Gold for Free — No $60 Membership Fee Through June 30, 2012!

Stop waiting in lines and filling out paperwork and start earning points for free rentals. With our Hertz Gold service and Hertz Gold Plus Rewards, booking a car has never been easier or more rewarding.

Speedier Service: No more waiting at the counter. Just pick up your keys and go!

More Value: Get special offers and more value. Your spouse will no longer pay an additional driver fee and you will enjoy discounts on child seats and more

More rewarding: Earn one Hertz Gold Plus Rewards™ point for every qualifying dollar* spent plus bonuses.

Quicker pickup: See your name in lights! Find your name on the Gold Board and locate your car in a snap

Faster return: Just fill out a slip. Leave the car, and you’re off. It’s that easy.

Mobile Gold Alerts: Know which car you’ll be driving and where it’s parked the minute it’s assigned.

Offer expires June 30. Go here to sign up for Hertz Gold Plus Status or to review the complete terms and conditions.

Photo credit: San Diego Hertz Airport Shuttle – view from the floor

Credit: (Guerrilla Futures | Jason Tester) on Flickr

The other day I wrote about a new bonus miles offer from Alamo, and a reader, Mark, shared this in the comments section:

Not sure why all the bloggers like the 1,000 or 1,500 mile bonus offers on a 3 day rental. Most rental car agencies offer a free day on a 3 day rental. So, unless you are on a VERY cheap rental, the free day is going to be worth more than 1,000 or so miles.

He makes a very good point.

There are several ways to evaluate these offers. And one way is to consider this: if you decided to use some AAdvantage Miles for a car rental, you’d likely need to redeem at least 5,000 miles for a single day. So if you compare a free day rental (pardon the oxymoron) to 1,500 miles, the free day provides a better value.

Of course, some may find the miles more useful than the free day rental, it’s really just a matter of preference, but Mark’s got some very solid advice, so I thought of him when I came across this offer from National Car Rental:

Save up to 25% and earn 500 American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles, plus receive One Free Weekend Day with National!

Rent a compact through full-size car for a minimum of 3 days at any participating National location in the United States. Save up to 25% and earn 500 American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles plus receive One Free Weekend Day with National. Saturday overnight keep required.

One FREE Weekend Day

• Reserve a compact through full-size car in the United States.
• Requires a 3-day minimum (5-day maximum) rental with a Saturday overnight keep.
• Valid through 12/31/2012.
• 24-hour reservation required.

To qualify for this offer, you’ll need to use Contract ID 5026041 and Coupon ID NF3361JDP at the time of your reservation.

Go here for complete details and the terms and conditions.

Also, National Car Rental is celebrating 25 of their Emerald Club loyalty program., and to celebrate they’ve teamed up with The Weekly Flyer to give away two $25 gift cards to Points, Miles & Martinis readers.  All you have to do is share how you traveled 25 years ago.  

Twenty five years ago, AAdvantage Geek was traveling on Spring Break while waering a Spuds MacKenzie t-shirt!   Go here to enter!  

Photo: National Rental Car Counter
Credit: Michael Gray on Flickr

I think this is the first bonus from Alamo that I’ve seen since last year:

Save Up to 30% and Earn 1,000 American Airlines AAdvantage Miles!

Normally, I’d say it’s a pretty good deal, but right now my favorite car rental promotion is the offer from Avis of 1,500 Bonus AAdvantage Miles, and a 25% discount with a 3 day rental.   It was set to expire February 28, but was just extended through June 30, 2012.

Both Alamo and Avis give you 50 AAdvantage Miles per day, so unless Alamo gives you a better price, you’ll come out ahead with the Avis offer.

Anyway, here are the details of the Alamo promotion:

Save up to 30% and earn 1000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles with a three day minimum rental on any size vehicle at participating Alamo locations in the United States and Canada. Offer valid through December 31, 2012.

Book online at alamo.com or call 1-800-462-5266. Please request I.D. Number 7015732. Be sure to provide your American Airlines AAdvantage number at the time of rental.

You can save an extra $15 if you use Coupon Code: AD7428SDR (24 hour advance reservation required).

You’ll find complete terms and conditions here.

 On a related topic

If you’re not already member of the Alamo Insider loyalty program, then you should join.  It’s free,  it can save you money, and it can earn you upgrades.  Go here for full details. 

Photo: “Alamo – I find such beauty in airports at night.”
Credit: Dawn Ashley on Flickr

Here’s a new bonus offer from Avis that will let you earn a discount and some extra miles with a 2 day rental:

Now through July 31, 2012, American Airlines AAdvantage members can earn 500 AAdvantage bonus miles from Avis on rentals of 2 or more consecutive days at participating airport locations in the U.S. and Canada.

Use coupon # MUAA086 and provide your AAdvantage number at the time of reservation or at the rental counter to earn your AAdvantage bonus miles. These AAdvantage bonus miles are in addition to the AAdvantage base miles you earn every time you rent with Avis.

This offer is in addition to your everyday savings of up to 25% when you use AWD # K817100.

Go here for complete details.

Other Avis Options

Avis offers 50 base miles per day, so with this offer a 2 day rental will earn you 600 AAdvantage Miles. Avis has a much better offer of 1,500 bonus miles plus base miles, but it requires a minimum 3 day rental.

Other Rental Options

Dollar and Thrifty both have less generous 150 miles per day promotions that require a 3 day minimum.

Hertz is offering 3 AAdvantage Miles per $1 spend and only a single day minimum, but unless you spend $200 over 2 days, the Avis offer is probably your best chance to earn some extra miles with a short term rental.

Photo: Avis CheckIn
Credit: oliver eiternick

Hertz just introduced a new bonus AAdvantage Miles promotion that will earn you 3 miles per dollar:

Hertz – Save Up To 35 Percent And Earn Triple Miles

Save up to 35% off and earn triple American Airlines AAdvantage miles when you rent any vehicle for one or more days in the US, Puerto Rico, Canada, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, and United Kingdom through April 30, 2012.

Up to 35% off & Triple Miles
Any vehicle, 1 or more days
(Use CDP# 217692 and PC#165896)

Europe
Up to 15% off Triple Miles
Any vehicle, 1 or more days
(Use CDP# 217692 PC# 167904)

The terms and conditions state that this offer:

may not be used with Pre-Pay Rates, Tour Rates or Insurance Replacement Rates and cannot be combined with each other or with any other certificate, voucher, offer or promotion.

Go here for full details.

Hertz Gold Membership

By the way, if you don’t have Hertz Gold status but would like it, Jason over at MilesQuest shares how you can get it for free.  

(Use this direct updated link to get your free Hertz Gold Status through March 31, 2012)

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Off topic, but here’s a video of the moon setting that was taken from the International Space Station.   A hat tip to the Bad Astronomy Blog at Discover Magazine.

If you’re traveling to Mexico and plan to rent a car, you might be interested in this new bonus offer from Hertz:

Get a Free Day & Earn Double Miles in Mexico!

Get a Free Day and earn double AAdvantage miles when you rent an economy through a full size vehicle for one or more days at participating airport locations in Mexico through December 31, 2012.

Award: Double AAdvantage Miles & Free Day

Dates: Now through December 31, 2012

Offer: Get a free day and earn double miles when you rent an economy through full size vehicle for one or more days at participating airport locations in Mexico.

From the terms and conditions:

Advance reservation required. CDP# 217692, PC# 151793 and your membership number must be included in the reservation.

Go here for complete details or to make a reservation.

A note about the photo, it’s from an archive of vintage advertisements collected by photographer James Vaughan and published on Flickr.  Take a look, he’s got some really cool vintage airline ads.

Photo: “1956 … rent a 1957 Chevy!”
Credit: James Vaughan on Flickr

Dollar Thrifty Auto Group just introduced their first AAdvantage Bonus of 2012: rent a car for three or more day from either Thrifty or Dollar and earn Triple AAdvantage Miles.

Both Dollar and Thrifty usually earn 50 base miles per day, so with this promotion you’ll earn 150 miles per day.

It’s not the best offer out there. Avis has a promotion where you’ll earn 1,500 AAdvantage Miles with a rental of three or more day.

And Daraius over at Million Mile Secrets wrote about how you can earn 1 free rental day after every 2 rentals with Avis, which is probably the best deal going. If you were to redeem some AAdvantage Miles for a 1 day rental, it would cost you at least 2,500 miles. So you’re probably better offer earning the free day rather than taking the 1,500 miles.

Anyway, back to the Thrifty and Dollar offers.   Both are pretty much the same:

From Thrifty

Book Smart. Earn Triple AAdvantage Miles.

American Airlines AAdvantage members will earn triple AAdvantage miles on rentals of a Compact car or larger vehicle for three days or longer. Offer valid for pick up January 15 – May 15, 2012 at all worldwide locations.

From the terms and conditions:

24-hour advance reservations required.
Offer is valid from 1/15/12 through 5/15/12.

To receive this offer, reservation must include promo code TPL2.

Go here for more info.

From Dollar:

Score Now With Triple AAdvantage Miles

American Airlines AAdvantage members will earn triple AAdvantage miles (150 miles per day) on rentals of a Compact car or larger vehicle for 3 days or longer at participating locations worldwide. Use promo code TPL2 and enter your AAdvantage number when making your reservations. Valid for pick up January 15 – May 15, 2012.

From the terms and conditions:

24-hour advance reservations required.

Go here for complete details.

Offer extended through June 30, 2012

Looking back at all travel related bonus offers in 2011, the ones that earned me the most AAdvantage miles (aside from flying) were the ones that Avis offered throughout the year.

Their least lucrative offer was 1,500 miles with a 25% discount and their best was a 5,000 mile bonus with a 25% discount.  During much of the year they offered 2,000 bonus miles with a 25% discount, and that’s the one I used the most.  So I was happy to see the first 2012 offer from Avis:

• Now through February 28, 2012, June 30, 2012 American Airlines AAdvantage members can earn 1,500 AAdvantage bonus miles on rentals of 3 or more days at participating airport locations in the U.S., Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.

• Use coupon # MUAA070 and provide your AAdvantage number at the time of reservation or at the rental counter to earn your AAdvantage bonus miles.

Update: Be aware (see the comments below) that there is some question as to whether or not the discount code is working properly. So before you confirm your rental reservation, compare the price with and without the discount code.

• This offer is in addition to your everyday savings of up to 25% when you use      AWD # K817156.

As you might expect, terms and conditions apply.  Such as:

• An advance reservation is required.
• Rental must begin by February 28, 2012. June 30. 2012. 

Go here for full details.

Photo credit:
Bonus: The ubiquitous Icelandic supermarket by Daniel Lobo on Flickr