Alamo Insiders Rewards: Program Benefits

Car Rental Rewards
The Alamo Insiders Rewards Program offers discounts and the ability to earn airline miles and hotel rewards points. Get the full list of benefits.
Last Updated 2020-07-17 By R.Flowers III

Alamo Rent a Car is a U.S.-based car rental company that has locations in North America, South America, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. Alamo falls under the Enterprise Holding, Inc. umbrella which owns both Enterprise Rent-A-Car and National Car Rental.

The Alamo Insiders Rewards Program offers the ability to earn points and miles when booking with Alamo as well as discounts and faster rental service. The program is free to sign up for.

Alamo Insiders Program

The Alamo Insiders Rewards Program does not offer rewards specific to Alamo, but it does allows you to earn airline miles, hotel points, and more when renting cars through them. Since signing up for an Alamo Insiders account is free, I recommend doing so even if you're only renting once due to the extra savings you'll earn just for being a member.

Alamo Insiders Benefits

Signing up for the Alamo Insiders program will grant you a few small, but useful benefits. I recommend signing up for an account even if you only plan on renting with Alamo once due to the small savings you'll be eligible for.

  • Alamo Extra Savings
    • Earn 5% off car rental rates when booking with Alamo.
    • Applies to rates in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean and Latin America.
  • Faster Service
alamo save money and time

Earning Rewards

Alamo Insiders Rewards offers you the ability to earn airline miles, hotel rewards points, and more through the Alamo Partner Rewards Program. You can do this by heading to alamo.com, signing into your Alamo Insiders account, and clicking on 'My Profile'. This is where you'll find the Frequent Traveler Partner Preference option to add/modify your partner preferences. Once that's done, you'll be able to start earning rewards every time you rent with Alamo.

Alamo Frequent Traveler Partner Preference Setup

Once you select your preferred rewards program, you'll start to earn rewards with that program on every rental. This is an easy way to earn extra points and miles with your favorite programs.

You can earn rewards directly though Alamo Insiders with the following programs:

Alamo Frequent Traveler Recover Fee

Before you sign up to earn rewards, do note that Alamo charges a Frequent Traveler Recover Fee for earning miles/points with certain programs. Generally, this fee is up to $0.75 per day with the exception of Southwest Airlines which is up to $1.50 per day.

This is something that you will want to note when opting to earn rewards as you'll want to make sure the rewards you're earning are worth more than the fee.

The following Alamo Partner Rewards Programs are subject to a Frequent Traveler Recovery Fee:

  • Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
  • American Airlines AAdvantage
  • Delta Air Lines Skymiles
  • Frontier Airlines MyFrontier Rewards
  • Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
  • Radisson Hotels Radisson Rewards
  • Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
  • Sun Country Ufly Rewards

Earning With Other Partners

You can earn discounts or rewards with other programs not listed under the Alamo Insiders Program. These partners will require you to either book through a special link or through another portal.

Booking Alamo Using Partners
Partner Book/Rent
Red Lion Hello Rewards Book via Red Lion partner link to save off the base rate

Alamo Car Insurance

Finding a credit card that earns a great return on car rentals or a great return on general travel purchases is one approach, but the better option will usually be finding a credit card that offers rental insurance coverage.

alamo rental insurance cost
Alamo's Car Rental Insurance can be quite pricey!

When you pay for a car rental using a rewards credit card that offers Primary Rental Insurance, you can avoid the high per-day rate that car rental agencies charge for their protection by declining it. Depending on how often you rent cars, this can save you hundreds per year.

Overall, Chase offers the best credit cards when it comes to Primary car rental insurance. AMEX's primary car rental insurance will cost you $12 and $25 each time depending on the coverage you select and the state you live in, but this is still significantly cheaper than paying what the car rental agency charges.

Here a few of the best credit cards for car rental insurance:

  • Best For High Value & Travel Benefits
    Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
  • Best For Flexible Travel Rewards
    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®.
  • Best For Flat-Rate Cash Back
    Earn a $200 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
  • Best For Flexible Business Travel Rewards
    Earn 100k bonus points after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $1,000 cash back or $1,250 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
  • Best For Lounge Access & Luxury Travel
    Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $6,000 on purchases on the Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
  • Best For Restaurants & U.S. Supermarkets
    Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $4,000 on eligible purchases with your new Card within the first 6 months.

Alamo + Rewards Portals

An easy way to maximize your spending with Alamo is by using a cash back portal. Cash back portals allow you to earn cash back in addition to the miles, points, and other rewards you would normally earn booking your rental with the Alamo Insiders program. This is how portals work:

  1. Find Alamo on the online portal of your choosing and click Shop Now
  2. You'll land on alamo.com to make your car reservation as normal
  3. Once you book and complete your reservation, the online portal will be notified
  4. You'll earn cash back (or other rewards) with that online portal
Earn cash back booking travel through portals.

The great thing about booking through portals is that it's not considered to be third party since you'll be dropped off on Alamo's website to do your booking as normal. I recommend booking all travel through online portals as well as using cash back and shopping portals when making purchases online.

rakuten rewards
I've earned lots of cash back using the Rakuten Rewards portal alone.

There's a handful of great cash back portals available and no portal is generally better than another portal as the cash back values change on a consistent basis. You can choose a favorite or sign up for all of them if you want the ability to book with whichever portal has the best deals at the time of your Alamo booking.

Cash back portals are free to sign up for and there's no cost associated with them.

If you don't have an account with any of the leading cash back portals, you can sign up for any of them through The Point Calculator and earn extra cash back when you rent cars and make other purchases online.

FAQ

Is the Alamo Insiders Rewards program free?

Yes, the Alamo Insiders Rewards program is free to sign up for. I recommend signing up to earn rewards.

What benefits come with an Alamo Insiders Rewards account?

As a member you will receive 5% off rates, faster service, and the ability to earn points and miles with various frequent flyer and hotel loyalty programs.

Can you earn airline miles booking with Alamo?

Yes, you can earn airline miles with more than 15 airlines including Delta, Southwest, and American.

Can you earn hotel points booking with Alamo?

Yes, you can earn hotel rewards points with several programs including Hilton and Radisson.

Can you book rentals with Alamo and earn cash back?

You can earn cash back and points/miles with Alamo Insiders Rewards by using a cash back portal. This is on top of the 5% discount you'll receive booking rentals.

What's the best credit card to use for spending at Alamo?

Several cards offer great rewards on rental spend, but you'll want to get a credit card that offers Primary Rental Insurance Coverage. Chase credit cards typically offer this benefit.

How do you earn airline miles and hotel rewards with Alamo?

You can set your preferred program by going to your Frequent Traveler Partner Preferences under 'My Account' when logged into your Alamo Rewards account.

Is there any hidden fees for earning rewards through the Alamo Insiders program?

You will be charged a Frequent Traveler Recover Fee with all 8 U.S. Airlines when you select them as your preferred loyalty program. This fee is typically a few cents per day.

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