National Car Rental is a rental car company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. National was founded by 24 independent rental car agents on August 27, 1947. It has grown from 60 locations in the United States in 1947 to over 2000 locations worldwide as of 2005. Since 1987 it has marketed the Emerald Club to its renters, which was the first such program in the car rental industry.
National is owned by Vanguard Car Rental USA Inc., which also owns Alamo Rent A Car.
On August 1, 2007 Enterprise Rent-A-Car assumed control of Vanguard. It was purchased from Cerberus Capital Management, L.P.
Emerald Club
National's Emerald Club is a membership program, allowing members special privileges, so long as the member remains qualified. One of the rules for keeping membership is that one rental must be completed within each calendar year.There are 3 levels of membership in the Emerald Club. To pass to one or the other you must first pass certain yearly milestones which are as follows:
- Emerald Club Must rent 1-11 times or one for this many days: 1-39
- Emerald Club Executive Must rent 12-24 times or one for this many days: 40-84
- Emerald Club Executive Elite Must rent 25+ times or one for this many days: 85+
Benefits of Emerald Club
Emerald Club
- Pickup car from "Emerald Aisle", allowing the member to choose from the vehicles available, bypassing the counter
- Ability to earn Credits from previous rentals to earn free days, 7 Credits are needed to redeem one rental day
Executive
- All the benefits of Emerald plus:
- Renter is always charged the rate of the next lower class of vehicle. For this to apply however, a mid sized car or higher must be rented.
- 6 Credits needed to redeem one rental day
Executive Elite
- All the benefits of Emerald and Executive plus:
- 5 Credits needed to redeem one rental day
- FBO car delivery
- Guaranteed full-size car with 24-hour notice
Executive VIP
- Open only to CEOs of major corporations
By Invitation of at least the vice president of marketing.
Vehicle types in the US
- Economy: Chevrolet Aveo or similar
- Compact: Chevrolet Cobalt or similar
- Mid-size: Pontiac G6 or similar
- Standard size: Chevrolet Monte Carlo or similar
- Full-size: Chevrolet Impala or similar
- Compact SUV: Kia Sportage or similar
- Mid-sized SUV:Chevrolet Equinox or similar
- Standard SUV: Chevrolet TrailBlazer or similar
- Premium: Buick Lucerne or similar
- Luxury: Cadillac DTS or similar
- Convertible: Chrysler PT Cruiser or similar
- Minivan: Chevrolet Uplander or similar
National also offers other car types, such as cross-over and hybrid vehicles, depending on the location.
External links
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Last updated on Saturday March 01, 2008 at 17:23:04 PST (GMT -0800)
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