Rapid Travel Chai

Budget seldom has attractive mile-earning rental car offers. Its corporate sibling, Avis, frequently does, though usually has higher rental rates.

There is a new offer, valid through October 15, 2016, for 3-day rentals at participating Avis and Budget locations in U.S., Canada, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Caribbean.

• Earn 2,500 bonus miles for rentals of 3 or more days on a subcompact and above
• Earn 5,000 bonus miles for rentals of 3 or more days on specialty vehicles: Luxury (car group H), Convertible (car group K), Premium SUV (car group L), Standard Elite SUV (car group S), Minivan (car group V) , and Full Size SUV (car group Z)

In addition, you earn bonuses per rental at participating airport locations, based on American Airlines elite status:

• 500 miles – AAdvantage members
• 750 miles – Citi® / AAdvantage® cardholders and AAdvantage® AviatorTM MasterCard® cardholders
• 1,000 miles – Platinum and Gold members
• 1,250 miles – Executive Platinum members

I am American Gold so my offer is:

Book through the Amercan Airlines offer page. You need to use the American AWD code for the booking. I often find their rates competitive, especially in Mexico and Central America.

For short Avis rentals, non-airport, no American elite status, of their many airline partners, 1,000 Virgin Atlantic miles remains a good offer. While not as generous as in the past, Club Carlson is offering 1,500 points per rental at Avis and Budget through the end of 2016.