Car Rentals and Frquent Flyer Miles

I'm planning a trip to Yosemite this summer and have been online rate shopping various car rental options. The airline we'll be flying has deals with various rental agenices on the frequent flyer seciton of their site. One is offering 5,000 bonus miles for a weekly rental; the closest any competior is offerring is 1,000. However when I run the numbers, the overall rate is about $15.00 to $20.00 higher than other rental companies on the site.

Generally I would not spend money "for the sake of spending money" just to get some type of points or rebates. But for an easy 5,000 miles, I'm kind of thinking $15-$20 may be an acceptable premium. But I know there's a lot of criticism of frequent flyer points not being worth much, so I'm not sure. I don't fly all that often, so opportunities to score a large number of points do have some appeal.

Any thoughts on this from you more experienced travelers and road warriors out there?

I just get the cheapest that offers unlimited miles. I'm a total road warrior. The road trips where I need a rental car are never less than 2000 miles. I'll rack up hundreds of miles even on a local rental, because when I'm in a new city, I like to look around. So for me, unlimited miles is mandatory! And like I said, after that, it's just about the cheapest rate for the category of car I want.

I personally wouldn't pay more just to get miles -- but then again, I fly rarely. Which is why I need those unlimited miles when I drive!!!

If you are flying Delta is basically takes 50,000 miles to get a free trip. You can never get a seat on the ones the list for 35,000 miles. If you were paying $20 for 5,000 miles at that rate you would be paying $200 for a free trip. That is an “ok” deal but not a great deal. I’d go with the cheapest and get your savings now as opposed to building for a free trip.

There are no 5 seat convertibles made anymore. There's the Wrangler Unlimited, which has 4 (maybe 5) seats, but that's it...and it's not exactly spacious. Still, you might be able to rent something with a huge sunroof, which would be closer to what you want.



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