Start here: National Emerald Club — enrol, earn rental credits, use Free Days and reach Executive levels

Step 1: What Emerald Club is and who it suits

You will learn: what the programme is, who the member contracts with, and which conduct the rules treat as abusive.

Emerald Club is the Emerald Club Program of National Car Rental. A member’s contract is with Enterprise Rent-A-Car UK Limited for residents of participating countries in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, and with EAN Services, LLC for residents of participating countries elsewhere [1]. Being or continuing as a member — including redeeming benefits, making a reservation, renting with your Profile, or simply not terminating it — means accepting the rules as amended from time to time, and the Administrator may monitor and audit a Profile for compliance [1].

Membership does not guarantee the ability to rent: all rentals remain subject to availability and to applicable qualifications and rental conditions, and reservation requests are non-binding for both the member and the renting affiliate or licensee [1]. The programme is intended to benefit individuals rather than companies. Using a single Profile to accumulate rental credits for company use is treated as fraudulent and abusive, and sharing a Membership Number for the purpose of earning or redeeming is a violation of the contract [1]. As the programme describes itself, membership makes business travel easy and efficient and gives a reason to concentrate rentals with National, and it says that just a few rentals a year will be very rewarding as it introduces the Executive and Executive Elite levels [2].

Go deeper: Start here: hotel points for how a stay-based loyalty currency compares with a rental-based one.

Step 2: How to enrol

You will learn: how to apply, what the Membership Number is for, and how membership ends.

You apply through nationalcar.com, the National App, or a branch agent at a Participating Rental Location, and you must give your full name — identical to the name on your driver’s licence — plus address, date of birth, driver’s licence information and a unique email address [1]. Acceptance is confirmed by email, which also carries your Membership Number; that number is personal, may not be used by anyone else, and must be applied to all rental activity for the rental to be tracked [1]. To enrol you must be at least 21, you must be an individual rather than a business, corporation or other entity, and you may hold only one Profile; a duplicate Profile may be dissolved and the related membership terminated [1].

No payment or other monetary consideration is required for membership [1]. You may terminate at any time, for any reason or none, by phone, by mail or through the website, and your termination is effective immediately on receipt [1]. The Administrator may terminate a membership at any time on written notice; for members residing in France and Germany termination takes effect two weeks after receipt of that notice, and for members residing in Canada it may be given on 60 days’ notice [1]. On what happens to credits and Free Days at termination, B.3.5 forfeits all rental credits and Free Days for members residing in any country other than Austria, Denmark, France or Germany, while B.3.6 keeps rental credits and Free Days valid for the period set out in the validity provisions for members residing in Austria, Denmark, France, Germany or Spain. Spain falls under both provisions; they are reported here as printed and not reconciled [1].

Go deeper: National Emerald Club programme hub for every Flyerfolio page on the programme, grouped by task.

Step 3: How earning works

You will learn: which rentals count, how many credits each one earns, and what choosing partner rewards instead means.

An Eligible Vehicle Rental is any type of passenger vehicle rental from a Participating Rental Location, with twelve listed exceptions: rentals on company-account rate plans that do not allow employees to participate in award programmes; insurance replacement rentals; dealer, body shop or fleet replacement rentals; rentals booked under an employee discount rate by employees of Enterprise Holdings, its affiliates or subsidiaries, by family members of such employees, or by Licensees or Licensees’ employees; rentals where the member chooses partner miles, credits or points; rentals that are part of a tour package or booked through an opaque travel website; rentals through a broker; rentals prepaid via third parties; Enterprise Truck Rental rentals on a commercial or government account number or contracted rates; Enterprise CarShare rentals; Commute with Enterprise rentals; and Subscribe with Enterprise rentals. The first five of those are collectively Special Vehicle Rentals [1].

Members receive one rental credit for each Eligible Vehicle Rental of up to seven consecutive days, plus one additional credit for every four additional consecutive days of the same rental: 1–7 days earns 1 credit, 8–11 earns 2, 12–15 earns 3 and 16–19 earns 4 [1]. No credits are issued if you did not pay for any portion of the rental, but such rentals may still qualify as Eligible Vehicle Rentals if they meet the other conditions of the contract [1].

Instead of rental credits you may choose frequent flyer miles, hotel points or other rewards from a partner rewards programme for an Eligible Vehicle Rental [1]. Frequent Traveler Recovery Fees then apply to Eligible Vehicle Rentals in the United States and Canada when you choose to earn with certain partner programmes, are paid by the member at the time of rental, and are listed at nationalcar.com; the partner programme’s own rules and restrictions also apply [1].

Go deeper: How to earn miles for the general mechanics of crediting rentals and other spend to a loyalty currency.

Step 4: How to use Free Days

You will learn: what a Free Day costs in credits, how to redeem one, what it covers and how transfers work.

Rental credits convert automatically into Free Days according to level: 7 credits at Emerald Club for a vehicle up to mid-size, 6 at Emerald Club Executive for a vehicle up to full-size, and 5 at Emerald Club Executive Elite for any car class except trucks and exotic vehicles [1]. Different thresholds may apply to some members depending on where they reside [1].

Redeem electronically when submitting a reservation request on the National website or the National App, or by calling 1-800-CARRENT (1-800-227-7368); on the telephone you must state your Membership Number and say that you intend to redeem Free Days [1]. Redemptions are limited to seven Free Days per rental transaction, and transferred Free Days to three per rental transaction [1]. Free Days cover the time and mileage (base) rate only; taxes, governmentally imposed surcharges and pass-throughs, licence and airport recoupment and concession fees, service charges, vehicle licence recovery fees, damage waiver, optional insurance, fuel, optional upgrades, underage driver fees, infant seats and other optional items, one-way and drop-off charges, and tolls or parking violations are paid separately [1]. In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland the covered base rate may also include additional products and services, such as GPS or an additional driver, as indicated during the reservation [1].

Rental credits are non-transferable, but Free Days may be transferred to immediate family members — the rules give a spouse or domestic partner, a child aged 21 or over, and a parent as examples — regardless of whether the recipient is a member [1]. Up to three Free Days may be transferred per calendar year, a transferred Free Day cannot be returned to your Profile, the recipient receives an email with a coupon code, and transferred Free Days are valid for one year from the original month of transfer [1].

Go deeper: How to redeem miles for the questions to settle before spending a loyalty balance, and the award vs cash calculator to compare a redemption with paying.

Step 5: Levels and keeping your credits

You will learn: how long credits and Free Days last, what each tier requires, and how changes to the rules reach you.

Rental credits remain valid for as long as you hold a valid membership and, as B.6.1 prints it, are forfeited on termination for any reason; B.3.6, quoted in Step 2, instead keeps rental credits and Free Days valid after termination for members residing in Austria, Denmark, France, Germany or Spain, and both are reported as printed [1]. For members residing in any country other than Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany or Spain, Free Days expire on the earlier of 31 December of the year following the year in which they were earned, or termination of membership [1]. For members residing in Canada, Free Days expire on the earlier of termination or twelve consecutive months of inactivity, meaning no rental credits earned and no Free Days redeemed [1]. For members residing in Austria, Denmark, Germany or Spain, Free Days expire after 36 months starting on 31 December of the year in which they were earned, and immediately if the Administrator terminates for good cause [1].

Tier levels are determined on a calendar-year basis: Emerald Club Executive at 12–24 Eligible Vehicle Rental Transactions and/or 40–84 rental days, and Emerald Club Executive Elite at 25 or more and/or 85 or more [1]. Rentals on which you chose partner rewards still count towards tier level [1]. Executive and Executive Elite members are charged the rate for the next lower car class when renting a full-size through luxury vehicle, excluding specialty vehicles, from Participating Rental Locations [1]. On what the tier is measured by, B.4.1 states that members attain their membership level based upon the number of Eligible Vehicle Rentals, while B.7.1 and the table under B.7.2 base the Membership Tier Level on Eligible Vehicle Rental Transactions or Special Vehicle Rental Transactions and/or rental days; both are reported as printed and not reconciled [1].

The terms and programme benefits may change, and a change becomes effective 30 days after notice is disseminated unless the contract expressly says otherwise; to decline a change you must terminate your membership and forfeit accrued rental credits and Free Days unless the contract or a written arrangement provides otherwise [1].

Go deeper: the status tool for tracking tier progress across programmes, and the expiry calculator for dating a balance against its deadline.

Step 6: Your first concrete action

You will learn: the five things to do, in order, to start a membership cleanly.

1. Enrol with your name exactly as it appears on your driver’s licence, using the 2026 Emerald Club Program Rules and Conditions (PDF) as your reference for the details required [1].
2. Put your Membership Number on every rental, because rental activity is only tracked towards programme benefits and awards when the number is applied [1].
3. Decide before you rent whether you want rental credits or partner miles, points or other rewards, knowing that a frequent traveller recovery fee may apply in the United States and Canada when you choose partner earning [1].
4. Count your credits towards the next Free Day at your level — 7, 6 or 5 depending on tier — and note the date on which your Free Days expire where you live [1].
5. Before you redeem, budget for the taxes, fees, fuel, optional items and one-way charges that Free Days do not cover [1].

Next: open the National Emerald Club programme hub, which groups every Flyerfolio page about the programme by task, and check the version of the rules in force on the Emerald Club Rules page before you book [2].