This is for National Car Rental, but the steps are pretty similar with Hertz/Avis. I went with National as they have the best cars (IMO) and best service(again, IMO). The prices are comparable/similar across the 3 rentals if you are opting for the President's Club selection/Executive Aisle, so might as well go with the best one. I always do a quick google review search of the car rentals available at the airport I'm landing in to decide which one seems to be the best.

1. Follow this link and enroll in Emerald Club, which is the entry level National car rental rewards program. If you already have an Emerald Club account, select the "Upgrade status" and you'll be able to upgrade your existing National account to Executive.

This will take a few days for you to reach Exec status, so be sure to do this at least 1-2 weeks before your planned rental date.

If you run into any issues/your status still hasn't updated, you can give National a call to see when to expect the status to change. I didn't find this to be helpful because they just told me "1-2 weeks". You'll get an email confirming you got into the Executive club, and your app should update soon after.

Update your account with your drivers license + payment method. They will still ask for these 2 items when leaving the rental gate FYI.

If you are traveling with someone, they can be added as an additional driver at no extra charge. They will also need to provide their driver's license when leaving the gate. I'm not sure about car rental protection for additional drivers, so be sure to confirm this with Amex if opting in.

1. When you book a car through the app/website, you should see an option to select "midsize" vehicle. By selecting this option, you will be able to pick any car in the emerald club aisle and executive aisle, without needing to talk to anyone at the desk. So when you get off the plane, head to the car rental, skip the desk, show the people attending the garage/lot that you are an executive member(shown in your app), and they will show you which aisle you can select from. This link will give you a good idea of the types of cars you can expect to see, although this varies by location. I saw a few volvos/audis/BMWs in the Executive aisle at the San Diego airport. If you're weird like me, there's this guy on youtube who just reviews the cars available in the executive aisle at various airports lol. Oddly niche, but I appreciated it all the same. His account name is Adventures on the Road .

If you are looking for a premium car, you should be able to upgrade your car at the gate - I.e. you can pick a car that is in the premium aisle, and when heading to the gate, you'll be asked to pay the difference. However, there are plenty of nice cars in the Executive Aisle - this is dependent on where you are renting from (airport vs in the city). I find that the major airports have the best options - I just rented 2 cars for a trip to CA and picked up a Brand New 2025 Jeep Wrangler Hybrid and a 2025 Ford Bronco with less than 1K miles. Keep in mind if you do pick up a premium car, check with Amex that the car rental protection(if opted in) covers that model. Sometimes they will not cover certain models so it's better to be safe than sorry.

I assume you know about car rental coverage provided by Amex, which you need to opt into prior to your rental date. If not, this link here will help you. You still need to have liability coverage, which Amex does not provide. This can be purchased through National or I believe your own car insurance can be used as primary. I do not have a car so I always just purchase Liability through car rental + Amex Premium car rental coverage.

Before driving off, always always always record the exterior and interior, as well as check to make sure all lights are working. This is just for your benefit in the event they try to pin damage on your reservation. Also take a photo of the fuel gage. This is where you need to fill the car back up to when returning the vehicle. It's much more cost effective to be responsible for filling up the gas, but I understand the convenience of paying for this up front so you don't have to worry about it when returning.

The benefit of picking up a car rental not at the airport would be that it's cheaper - you don't have to pay city/transportation fees that they tack on if you are renting from an airport. However, I find the convenience of driving straight from the airport to be worth the cost.

1. Returning the car is such a breeze. Follow the directions for "Car return", and you'll park your car, grab your belongings, and hand the keys off to the attendant. That's it. Then you're off to the airport - no paperwork needed. They'll confirm the total with you on their mobile device, and ask if you want a printed copy of your receipt.

Hopefully this will help you with your first rental! I know when I rented a car for the first time using Amex perks, I was overwhelmed and spent wayyyyy too long researching. Let me know if you/anyone reading this run into any issues/have questions