Caesars Diamond and higher members get free National Car Rental Exeuctive status

[Dan Druff]

the best thing is the availability of the Executive Aisle at many airports. You simply reserve a (cheaper) midsize vehicle, and then go right to the "Executive Aisle" and take whichever car you want -- which often includes cars in the expensive Premium and SUV categories -- at no extra charge.

I am not so sure. I think all you get is a one class upgrade. So if you are paying for midsize, you may pick a full sized car. If you want a premium one, you pay for one class lower, which I believe would be full sized.

I don't rent a lot of cars, so maybe Dan the DanDruff man knows better, but the black and white (more like black and green actually) I'm reading seems to contradict him.

Yes, what I wrote was 100% correct. At major and semi-major airports, they typically have an Emerald Aisle and Executive Aisle. You reserve a midsize, then take whichever cars are in the aisle corresponding to what your status is. If you're Executive or Executive Elite, you can draw from either of those aisles.

The thing they wrote in the terms (that you get a full size, basically a 1 class upgrade) is bullshit. It's whatever is there. Sometimes a full size is the best thing there, but other times there are SUVs, premiums, etc. I've done this so many times on trips. They don't give a shit how many class upgrades it is. If the car is sitting in the Executive aisle and you're Executive status, you can have it.


Anyway, I just looked and noticed I was just Executive, not Elite. That's because I had previously matched it with Amex Platinum, which I am not any longer. So my match will expire early next year, and hopefully this Caesars match still exists. I am not going to bother with it now. As you said, there's not much difference.

[MDawg]

I finally got them to make me Executive Elite (versus just Executive), but it took probably more time than it was worth.



I have used National a couple of times since getting the status, but it was for rentals in locations where they didn't have an Executive Aisle or anything like that. So I have not earned anything free from National this year, other than what we discussed is available via being Ex Elite.

I tend to just use HotWire, especially because our rentals are often quite long, weeks long sometimes, and the HotWire price for a compact or mid SUV for example, still beats the lowest rate at someplace like Hertz or National.