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Thrifty Car Rental is primarily focused on the budget-conscious traveler. The company — along with sister company Dollar — is part of the Hertz group. In recent years, the company and its Thrifty Blue Chip Rewards loyalty program have been through some tough times. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the spring of 2020 before coming out of bankruptcy at the beginning of 2021.
During this time, the Thrifty Blue Chip program underwent some major changes. It is now unique and straightforward compared to many other car rental loyalty programs. Here's what to know about the Thrifty Blue Chip rewards program.
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Thrifty Car Rental Doesn’t Have a Points System
Historically, Thrifty used to have a points system. However, today, this is not the case. The program no longer operates on a model where you earn and redeem points for free rental days. Thrifty abolished the points aspect of its program in late 2020.
Before that, you earned 1 point per $1 spent, and free rental days started from 500 points. Today, the program is much more straightforward. You join for free and receive a fixed set of benefits. There is no difference in whether you rent 100 or 10 cars from Thrifty annually. The benefits are always the same.
Thrifty Blue Chip Program Benefits
The Thrifty Blue Chip Rewards program is probably one of the simplest and easiest to use. The program is very basic and has few complexities and benefits. The program does not have any elite tiers or various status levels. Instead, every Thrifty Blue Chip Rewards member receives the following benefits.
- Free additional driver.
- 15% discount on the base rate of all rentals.
- Quick reservations.
- E-Returns where you drop your keys and go.
Related: How To Get Rental Car Elite Status for Free
How to Sign Up for Thrifty Blue Chip
Joining the Thrifty Blue Chip Rewards program is simple and straightforward. All you need to do is go to the Thrifty site and click “Join.”
You will now have to enter a slew of information — starting with your personal details — in a form that looks straight out of the '90s:
Thrifty needs to store your driver's license and credit card details, which allows for fast checkout and vehicle returns.
Earn airline miles or hotel points from Thrifty rentals
Next, you can enter your credentials for up to six loyalty programs. This allows you to credit your Thrifty rentals directly to these programs seamlessly. Presently, you can credit rewards to:
- Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan: 50 miles per qualifying rental day at participating locations, limited to 30 days.
- American Airlines AAdvantage®: 50 miles per qualifying rental day at participating locations, limited to 28 days.
- Avianca LifeMiles: 50 miles per rental day on all qualifying rentals.
- COPA: 200 miles per qualifying rental day at participating locations.
- Delta SkyMiles: 500 miles per qualifying rental at participating locations.
- Emirates Skywards: 500 Miles per qualifying rental at worldwide locations other than in the UAE.
- Frontier Miles: 50 miles per day on rentals of 1 to 4 days and 500 miles per transaction for rentals of 5 days or more.
- Gulf Airlines Falcon Miles: 200 miles per qualifying rental day at participating locations.
- IHG One Rewards: 125 points per rental day for qualifying rentals worldwide.
- Kuwait Oasis Club: 500 miles per rental day for qualifying rentals worldwide.
- Marriott Bonvoy: 250 points per rental day for qualifying rentals worldwide.
- Spirit Airlines: 50 points per day on rentals of 1 to 4 days and 500 points per transaction for rentals of 5 days or more.
- Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards: 600 points per qualifying rental transaction at participating locations.
Note that industry discount rates, tour rates, and complimentary rentals do not qualify for points earning.
Finally, you need to enter and confirm your desired password, hit join, and you are set. You will then verify your membership via an email that you will receive shortly. You are then officially a brand-new Thrifty Blue Chip Rewards program member.
Track Your Thrifty Blue Chip Rewards Through AwardWallet
Although Thrifty doesn't issue rewards points, you can still add your Thrifty Blue Chip rewards account to your AwardWallet account. By storing your login credentials, you can log into your Thrifty account with just one click from your account dashboard.
Thrifty Blue Chip Rewards FAQ
Do Thrifty Blue Chip Rewards Expire?
Points expiration is not an issue with the Thrifty Blue Chip program since there are no points. That said, looking online, you may find some old Thrifty resources referencing an expiration policy. This is old news and relates to pre-2020 when Thrifty abolished its points.
Who Owns Thrifty Car Rental?
Thrifty car rental is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hertz Global Holdings. That's why you're likely to see Thrifty car rental rental desks located near Hertz desks in airport car rental centers. Hertz acquired the Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. — the parent company of both Dollar and Thrifty at the time — in November 2012 and has continued to run the two brands separately since the purchase.
Cover Your Thrifty Rental With the Right Credit Card for Insurance Purposes
If you are not careful, you are often stung by the additional insurance costs when renting a car. These can substantially increase the cost of your rental since they vary from $10 to $50 per day. Thankfully, one of the best ways to avoid these additional fees is to use a credit card with car rental insurance as one of the perks to book your rental.
This way, your credit card will provide you with the primary auto rental insurance. One thing to remember when using your credit card for car rental insurance is that often, the coverage does not include liability insurance. So, if the car is stolen or damaged by fire, it is covered. However, if you have an accident and are at fault, damage to other people and their property is not covered. You will need to provide your own liability coverage in these cases.
Some of the personal credit cards that provide primary car rental insurance include:
- 10X miles per $1 on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles per $1 on purchases through Capital One Entertainment (through 12/31/2025)
- 5X miles per $1 on flights when booking via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles per $1 on vacation rentals booked via Capital One Travel
- 2X miles per $1 on all other eligible purchases
In addition, various business cards also provide primary car rental insurance when you rent for business purposes, including:
- The New United℠ Business Card
- Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
- Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
- Earn 90k bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 cash back or $1,125 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Travel℠
- Earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories each account anniversary year. Earn 1 point per $1 on all other purchases
- Round-the-clock monitoring for unusual credit card purchases
- With Zero Liability you won't be held responsible for unauthorized charges made with your card or account information.
- Redeem points for cash back, gift cards, travel and more - your points don't expire as long as your account is open
- Points are worth 25% more when you redeem for travel through Chase Travel℠
- Purchase Protection covers your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account.
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- 3X points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year
- 1X point per $1 on all other purchases
One thing to note is that American Express does not provide primary care rental insurance as a benefit on any of its cards. Although, you have the option of purchasing primary car rental coverage from American Express for a flat fee. These fees vary from rental to rental but are substantially less than the cost of buying insurance directly from the car rental company.
Related: Best Credit Cards for Car Rental Insurance
Our Take
The Thrifty Blue Chip rewards program is worth a closer look if you're looking for a simple discount program that is clear-cut and easy to use without the hassle of dealing with status levels, points, free days, and such. The program's biggest selling points are its ease of use and the ability to credit rentals to a wide range of partners.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
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