The Ultimate Guide to Advantage Rent A Car [Expressway Loyalty Program]

Advantage Rent A Car probably isn’t the first name that comes to mind when you’re thinking about car rental companies. While it’s not as big as its competitors, this Orlando-based company has over 33 U.S. locations at major airports (and a few hotels).

In this post, we’ll show you how to use Advantage to rent a car, and we’ll go over its Expressway loyalty program. Finally, we’ll do some price comparisons to see if Advantage can save you money.

How to Rent a Car Through Advantage

Renting a car through Advantage requires only a few simple steps.

1. Enter your rental location and dates in the search box on the Advantage homepage. If you’ve got a promo or corporate discount code, enter it here as well.

2. Next, you’ll see the search results. There isn’t a way to sort or filter them, but the number of results tends to be smaller than other car rental agencies, so it should be easy to quickly find what you’re looking for. You’ll see 2 prices. The Pay Later price will be higher but has a flexible cancellation policy. The Pay Now price will be lower but comes with cancellation fees.

3. Next, you can choose additional options, like a child safety seat or an additional driver. You may notice there isn’t an option to add insurance. This can only be done at the rental counter. More information is below.

4. Finally, you’ll be able to confirm your reservation details, enter payment information, and complete your reservation.

Do You Need to Add Extra Insurance?

Unlike other car rental agencies, Advantage does not offer additional insurance coverage at the time of booking. These options are only available at the rental counter.

But, if you have the right credit card in your wallet, you may not need to purchase an additional policy from Advantage. Many credit cards come with a CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) and some even include primary coverage. Having primary coverage means you don’t have to make a claim with your own insurance first.

One of our favorite credit cards that comes with primary car rental insurance is the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card. In addition to great car rental coverage, this card comes with lots of benefits and it earns valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards.

Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card

U.P. Rating

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the in's and out's of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

A fantastic travel card with a huge welcome offer, good benefits, and perks for a moderate annual fee.

Learn More(at Chase's secure site)

Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card

A fantastic travel card with a huge welcome offer, good benefits, and perks for a moderate annual fee.

Welcome Offer

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards^®.

60,000 points

UP's Bonus Valuation*:

$1,200

Annual Fee

$95

Credit Recommended

Credit ranges are only a recommendation and a variation of FICO© Score. Issuers may use many types of credit scores when considering an application.

Good to Excellent (670-850)

Why We Like This Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred^® card is one of the best travel rewards cards on the market. Its bonus categories include travel, dining, online grocery purchases, and streaming services, which gives you the opportunity to earn lots of bonus points on these purchases.

Additionally, it offers flexible point redemption options, no foreign transaction fees, and excellent travel insurance coverage including primary car rental insurance. With benefits like these, it’s easy to see why this card is an excellent choice for any traveler.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 5x points on all travel booked via the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal
• 5x points on select Peloton purchases over $250 (through March 31, 2025)
• 5x points on Lyft purchases (through March 31, 2025)
• 3x points on dining purchases, online grocery purchases, and select streaming services
• 2x points on all other travel worldwide
• $50 annual credit on hotel stays booked through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal
• 6 months of complimentary Instacart+ (activate by July 31, 2024), plus up to $15 in statement credits each quarter through July 2024
• Excellent travel and car rental insurance
• 10% annual bonus points
• No foreign transaction fees
• 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs like United MileagePlus and World of Hyatt
• Complimentary Spot Club Platinum status with The Parking Spot for 2 years, 20% off of your first reservation, and points for 1 free day of parking (enroll by October 26, 2023)

Cons

• $95 annual fee
• No elite benefits like airport lounge access or hotel elite status

Card Highlights

• Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards^®.
• Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards^®, 3x on dining, and 2x on all other travel purchases, and $50 annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit, plus more.
• Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards^®. For example, 60,000 points are worth $750 toward travel.
• Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
• Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024.
• Member FDIC

Financial Snapshot

• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

Card Categories

• Credit Card Reviews
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• Travel Rewards Credit Cards
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Hot Tip: If the Chase Sapphire Preferred card isn’t for you, there are plenty of other great credit cards with car rental insurance benefits. 

Manager’s Special

The Manager’s Special is Advantage’s version of an opaque booking. An opaque booking is one in which you don’t know the exact car you’re renting until after your booking is complete.

When you rent a Manager’s Special car, you’ll receive a compact car or higher, but you won’t know specifically until you get to the rental lot.

Be careful with these because the price is sometimes higher than the price of a compact car. So, if you’re just looking for the cheapest option, the Manager’s Special might not be it. However, it could be a good option if you want to take a chance at an upgrade.

Pay Now vs. Pay Later

When you book a Pay Now price, you’ll save some money, but you’ll also be subject to cancellation fees. If you cancel a Pay Now reservation more than 24 hours before the pick-up time, you’ll be charged a $50 fee. If you cancel a Pay Now fare within 24 hours of the scheduled pick-up time, you’ll forfeit the whole payment.

Advantage Expressway

Advantage’s Expressway loyalty program is a little different than other car rental agencies’ programs. With Expressway, you don’t earn points. What you will earn is perks based on the number of rentals you’ve completed, plus a bonus reward each time you rent a car.

As an Expressway member, you’ll earn a reward with every rental regardless of your elite level. Plus, you’ll have access to the Expressway Lane at rental locations.

Base: 1-2 Rentals

You’ll be a Base level member with 1-2 car rentals. Upon enrollment, you’ll earn a bonus reward of either a Basic Upgrade or a Free Day.

Silver: 3-4 Rentals

As a Silver member, you’ll earn 1 Pit Stop Reward. A Pit Stop Reward allows you to bring the vehicle back to the rental agency without filling up the tank. They’ll fill it up for you and a charge of $2.50 per gallon will be added to your bill.

Gold: 5-6 Rentals

As a Gold member, you’ll receive 1 Pit Stop Reward and your choice of an additional perk — either GPS, a toll pass, or a car seat.

Platinum: 7+ Rentals

Once you earn Platinum status, you’ll get a Pit Stop Reward plus your choice of an additional perk (GPS, toll pass, or car seat) on every rental.

Hot Tip: You’ll earn a higher status level in the Expressway program based on the number of times you have rented a car through Advantage. Regardless of status level, you’ll earn 1 reward after each car rental.

Random Earned Rewards

What makes the Expressway program unique is that you’ll earn a random reward after every rental.

Your reward may be one of the following:

• Basic Upgrade: upgrade to a full-size car from an economy, compact, intermediate, or standard car
• Free Day: this reward removes 1 day’s rate on a rental of at least 2 days.
• Free Weekend: this reward removes the cost of 2 days’ worth of rentals when the rental period is at least 3 days long and includes Saturday and Sunday
• Advantage Expressway: a speedy checkout line is available at these airport locations:
  • Orlando International (MCO)
  • Harry Reid International-Las Vegas (LAS)
  • Daniel K. Inouye International-Honolulu (HNL)
  • Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX)
  • Los Angeles International (LAX)
  • San Francisco International (SFO)

This reward is only available to Silver, Gold, and Platinum members:

• Pit Stop Reward: return the car without filling up and you’ll only be charged $2.50 per gallon for the gas you used

These rewards are only available to Gold and Platinum members:

• Free Toll Pass: Advantage’s toll package will be applied to your rental, allowing you to go through unlimited tolls for free
• Free Child’s Car Seat: you’ll get 1 free car seat for your rental
• Free GPS Navigation: you’ll get 1 free GPS unit for your rental

This reward is only available to Platinum members:

• Platinum Upgrade Reward: upgrade can be applied to full-size cars, premium cars, intermediate SUVs, and standard minivans; you’ll be upgraded to a premium car, intermediate SUV, standard SUV, standard minivan, or premium minivan

Bottom Line: The Expressway loyalty program rewards you each time you rent a car. These rewards can’t be transferred or redeemed for cash and are valid for 12 months from the date of issue.

Advantage Mobile App

The Advantage Rent A Car mobile app offers lots of benefits and perks right at your fingertips.

With the mobile app, you’ll be able to do all of the following:

• Rent a car
• Get real-time estimates of when your car will be ready
• Use promo codes
• Access customer support any time of day

Price Comparisons

To see if you’ll save money with Advantage Rent A Car, we priced out a few options and compared the results to prices from other popular car rental agencies including Alamo, Enterprise, Hertz, and National.

All prices are for a week-long rental and include taxes and fees.

Advantage came out in the middle of the pack on both price comparisons. It’s important to keep in mind that car rental prices can vary widely across companies, so it’s always smart to compare prices across a few websites before making a booking.

Final Thoughts

Advantage Rent A Car has a smaller footprint than a lot of the other popular car rental companies, but they do have locations in many major U.S. airports.

If you rent with Advantage, be sure to sign up for the Expressway loyalty program. When you join, you’ll receive either a basic upgrade or a free day, plus you’ll receive an additional reward each time you rent a car.