Southwest's Best Car Rental Bonus May Be the Best Price

At any given moment, most of the major car rental companies are offering bonuses in most airline loyalty programs.

So, for instance, members of Southwest's Rapid Rewards program currently have their choice of bonuses for renting from Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Hertz, and Thrifty.

For all the "Double," "Triple," and "2,400 Bonus Point" headlines, the bonuses turn out to be more alike than they are different.

• Alamo - Double Rapid Rewards points for rentals of three or more days through December 31. Plus a 30 percent discount.
• Avis - Double points for three- or four-day rentals; triple points for rentals of five or more days, through December 31. Plus a 30 percent discount.
• Budget - Double points for three- or four-day rentals; triple points for rentals of five or more days, through December 31. Plus a 30 percent discount.
• Dollar - Double points for rentals of three or more days through December 31. Plus a 30 percent discount.
• Hertz - Double points for rentals of three through six days; quadruple points for rentals of seven or more days, through February 29, 2012. Plus a 30 percent discount.
• Thrifty - Double points for rentals of three or more days through December 15. Plus a 30 percent discount.

(The normal Rapid Rewards earning rate for car rentals is 600 points per rental, so double points would be 1,200, triple would be 1,800, and so on.)

The other key variable here is of course the competing rental car companies' rates. Since many of the offers require a rental of three days or more, I test-booked a sample three-day rental of a mid-sized car for the period November 15 through November 18.

The results:

• Alamo - $122.04
• Avis - $244.56
• Budget - $164.71
• Dollar - $135.09
• Hertz - $252.85
• Thrifty - $135.09

So while Hertz and Alamo both offer 1,200 Rapid Rewards points for a three-day rental, you'll pay twice as much to rent from Hertz, at least in our test booking.

If you're a Hertz partisan, or a business traveler whose company mandates renting from Hertz, the higher rates may be a non-issue. But for more price-sensitive travelers, the combination of Alamo's best price and competitive bonus is likely to be a winning one.

That's not to say that Alamo's value proposition will always be the superior one. In other scenarios—different locations, different travel dates, different classes of car—a different car company might have better rates. And if you're willing to look beyond Rapid Rewards, there may be better bonuses offered through other airline loyalty programs.

Bottom line: To find the best deal overall, you'll have to look beyond the marketing headlines.

Reader Reality Check

How much extra are you willing to pay to stay with a preferred provider or to earn frequent flyer points?

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