National Car Rental’s Emerald Club is a genuinely different kind of loyalty program than anything else in this series — it earns “credits” instead of points, has no co-branded credit card of its own, and the fastest way to reach top status for most travelers is simply already owning the right premium travel card. This guide covers exactly how the credit system and elite tiers work, and the fastest realistic paths to status.
In This Guide
- What Is the Emerald Club?
- How to Sign Up for Emerald Club
- How to Earn Rental Credits
- Elite Status: The Three Tiers
- The Fastest Ways to Elite Status
- Getting the Most From Your Free Rental Days
- Which Credit Cards Give You Status
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Emerald Club?
Emerald Club is National Car Rental’s loyalty program. Instead of points, members earn “rental credits” toward free rental days. From the moment you join — with no status required at all — you get access to the Emerald Aisle, where you can walk out and pick literally any car in the aisle at the midsize rate, skipping the counter entirely. That single perk is arguably the best “free” benefit of any loyalty program covered in this guide series.
How to Sign Up for Emerald Club
Joining is free and takes about two minutes:
- Go to nationalcar.com and select “Join Emerald Club.”
- Enter your name, address, and driver’s license information.
- Your Emerald Club number is issued immediately — enter it on every future booking.
There’s no cost and no credit check.
How to Earn Rental Credits
- Renting from National — you earn one rental credit per qualifying rental, regardless of rental length.
- Renting from Enterprise — since National and Enterprise share a parent company, Enterprise rentals count toward Emerald Club credits too when you enter your member number.
- Choosing airline or hotel points instead of credits — Emerald Club lets you earn miles or points with partner airlines and hotels instead of rental credits on any given booking, though this typically comes with a surcharge that can outweigh the value of the miles earned, depending on the partner.
Most people who hold Emerald Club Executive status never actually earned it through rentals — they got it automatically from a premium credit card they already carry. That makes this the rare loyalty program in this series where status is often already sitting in your wallet, unused.
Elite Status: The Three Tiers
Emerald Club has three tiers, and the requirements haven’t changed recently:
| Tier | Requirement | Free Day Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Emerald Club | Just sign up | 7 credits (midsize only) |
| Executive | 12 rentals or 40 rental days/year | 6 credits (mid/full-size) |
| Executive Elite | 25 rentals or 85 rental days/year | 5 credits (any class, no blackout dates) |
Executive Elite is where the program genuinely opens up — free days apply to any car class except trucks and exotics, with no blackout dates, and you also get a guaranteed car (up to full-size) when booking a midsize rate at least 24 hours ahead.
The Fastest Ways to Elite Status
Almost nobody earns Executive Elite through 25 actual rentals in a year. There are two much faster, more realistic paths:
- A premium travel credit card you may already carry. Cards like the Amex Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve, and Capital One Venture X all include complimentary National Emerald Club Executive status as one of their standard benefits — no rentals required.
- A status match from another program. National will match elite status from more than 40 other car rental, airline, and hotel loyalty programs, including Hilton Honors, IHG, and most major airline programs. Submitting a screenshot of qualifying status through National’s online status match tool typically gets a response within a few hours to a couple of days, and the matched status is valid through February 28 of the second calendar year after approval.
Worth noting: most of these paths grant Executive, not the top Executive Elite tier — reaching Elite specifically usually still requires either the full 25-rental threshold or a status match from an already-Elite-equivalent program.
Getting the Most From Your Free Rental Days
- Redeem in expensive rental markets. Free days only cover the base rate, not taxes and fees, so a free day is worth more in a city with high base rates than a cheap one.
- Free days don’t cover the whole bill. Taxes, fees, and any add-ons (insurance, additional drivers) still apply on top of a “free” rental day.
- Compare airline miles versus rental credits honestly. Earning airline miles instead of credits often comes with a surcharge — do the math on whether the miles you’d earn are actually worth more than the surcharge plus the rental credit you’re giving up.
Which Credit Cards Give You Status
Unlike every other program in this guide series, National doesn’t have its own co-branded credit card. Instead, several premium travel cards from different issuers include National Emerald Club Executive status as one benefit within a broader rewards package:
- The Platinum Card® from American Express and its business counterpart include complimentary Executive status upon enrollment.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve® and its business counterpart include the same Executive status benefit.
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card also includes complimentary Executive status.
- Select Visa Infinite and World Elite Mastercard products may include this benefit as well — worth checking your specific card’s benefits guide if you’re unsure.
If you already hold one of these cards for its other benefits (airport lounge access, travel credits, etc.), registering it for this perk costs nothing extra and is worth doing regardless of how often you actually rent cars.
- Emerald Club has three tiers — base membership, Executive, and Executive Elite — earned through rental credits rather than points.
- Every member, even without status, gets Emerald Aisle access: pick any car in the aisle at the midsize rate, no counter visit required.
- National doesn’t have its own credit card — several premium travel cards (Amex Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Capital One Venture X) grant complimentary Executive status as one of their benefits.
- National status-matches from more than 40 other loyalty programs, making it one of the easier elite statuses to obtain without ever renting from National before.
- Free rental days cover the base rate only — taxes, fees, and add-ons still apply on top.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it free to join Emerald Club?
Yes, completely free, with no credit check.
Do Emerald Club rental credits expire?
National’s terms govern credit expiration, and it’s worth checking your account directly for current details, since this can change — the safest approach is to redeem credits for free days reasonably promptly rather than banking them indefinitely.
What’s the fastest way to get Executive Elite specifically?
A status match from another program where you already hold an equivalent top-tier status (like Hilton Diamond) is typically the fastest route, since most premium credit cards only grant the mid-tier Executive status, not Executive Elite.
Can I earn airline miles instead of rental credits?
Yes, National partners with numerous airlines (including Delta, American, and Alaska/Atmos) and a couple of hotel programs, letting you choose miles or points instead of credits on a given rental. This typically comes with a surcharge, so it’s worth comparing the value of the miles against the surcharge and the rental credit you’d otherwise earn.
Does Emerald Club Executive status transfer to Enterprise or Alamo?
National, Enterprise, and Alamo share the same parent company, and Enterprise rentals count toward Emerald Club credits when you use your member number — but confirm current cross-brand policies directly, since specifics can vary.