Best AARP Car Rental Deals

Here are direct answers to the questions people search for most, including a few corrections to claims that circulate constantly online.

• 1
  Do AARP members actually get a discount on rental cars? Yes — up to 35% off base rates at Avis and Budget · 5% at Payless · No direct discount at any other major brand

  AARP’s genuine, confirmed car rental partnerships are with three companies: Avis, Budget, and Payless. At Avis and Budget, members save up to 35% off base rates when paying at the time of booking, or up to 30% off when paying at the counter at pickup. Payless offers a smaller 5% discount on leisure rates. On top of the percentage savings, Avis and Budget members also get a free one-class vehicle upgrade when available, a waived fee for adding a second driver, and at Budget specifically, a 3% credit toward your next rental. These numbers are confirmed directly on AARP’s own membership benefits pages and are consistent with what both rental companies list on their own sites.
• 2
  Is there an AARP discount code for Enterprise, Hertz, National, or Alamo? No — AARP has no direct partnership with any of these four companies · You can still book them through the AARP Travel Center portal, but the discount is smaller and less consistent than at Avis or Budget

  This is one of the most search-common myths about AARP’s benefits, and the honest answer is straightforward: there is no dedicated AARP discount code for Enterprise, Hertz, National, Alamo, Dollar, or Thrifty. Any website or forum post claiming otherwise is either outdated or simply incorrect. What does exist is the AARP Travel Center Powered by Expedia, a separate booking platform where AARP members can search and compare all major rental brands, including these four, in one place. Occasionally you’ll find an “AARP Member Exclusive” badge on a listing through that portal, indicating a modest discount, but it’s not guaranteed on every search and tends to be smaller than the 30–35% available at Avis or Budget directly. If a specific brand matters more to you than the discount size, that company’s own loyalty or age-based program is usually the better path — covered further down in this guide.
• 3
  What’s the difference between “Pay Now” and “Pay Later” at Avis and Budget? Pay Now: 35% off, but generally prepaid and non-refundable if plans change · Pay Later: 30% off, pay at the counter, more flexible to cancel

  Both Avis and Budget offer two versions of the AARP discount depending on when you pay. Choosing “Pay Now” at the time of booking locks in the deeper 35% discount, but that amount is typically prepaid and comes with a cancellation fee if your travel plans shift. Choosing “Pay Later,” where you pay when you pick up the car at the counter, gives a slightly smaller 30% discount but with far more flexibility to change or cancel without financial penalty. For travelers with confirmed, unlikely-to-change plans — a booked flight, a fixed itinerary — the extra 5% from Pay Now is close to free money. For anyone whose plans could realistically shift, the flexibility of Pay Later is usually worth more than the extra discount percentage.
• 4
  Is the AARP discount better than booking directly with a company’s own senior rate? Depends on the company · At Hertz specifically, Hertz’s own 50+ program (up to 20% off, no AARP needed) is a separate and sometimes better option since AARP has no direct Hertz partnership

  Because AARP’s discount only exists at Avis, Budget, and Payless, comparing it against a company’s own age-based program only matters where both options exist — and that’s really just Hertz. Hertz runs its own 50-plus discount program offering up to 20% off, available without any AARP membership at all, simply by confirming your age when booking. If Hertz is your preferred brand, this direct program is your best and really only meaningful discount path, since AARP itself can’t get you a comparable rate there. If you’re loyal to a specific rewards program — Hertz Gold Plus, National Emerald Club — it’s worth comparing that program’s member rate against the AARP rate at Avis or Budget for the same dates, since the better deal isn’t always the same company every time.
• 5
  Does the AARP discount apply to taxes and fees, or just the base rate? Base rate only — taxes, airport fees, and surcharges are added separately and are not discounted

  This detail catches a lot of members off guard when the final total looks higher than expected. The 30–35% AARP discount at Avis and Budget applies specifically to the base time-and-mileage charge — the core daily rental rate. It does not apply to the long list of additional fees that typically appear on a rental bill: airport concession fees, vehicle license recovery fees, energy recovery fees, tire management fees, customer facility charges, and state or local taxes. These extras are the same dollar amount for every renter regardless of AARP status. On a short rental, fees and taxes can add up to a meaningful percentage of the total bill, which is worth keeping in mind when comparing the “35% off” headline number against what actually shows up at checkout.
• 6
  Do I need to be a certain age to use the AARP car rental discount? No age requirement to use the discount — you just need an active AARP membership · AARP membership itself is open starting at age 18, though it’s traditionally associated with 50+

  A common misconception is that you need to be 50 or older to access AARP’s car rental benefit specifically. In reality, the discount is tied entirely to having an active AARP membership number, and AARP membership itself is technically open to adults of any age, not just those 50 and older, even though the organization’s core audience skews toward that group. Separately, most major rental companies have their own baseline age requirement — typically 21 — with additional young-driver surcharges commonly applied to renters under 25. Those age-based rental surcharges are a rental company policy, unrelated to AARP membership, and apply regardless of whether you’re using an AARP discount or not.
• 7
  How much can I realistically expect to save with an AARP car rental discount? On a typical multi-day rental: roughly $30 to over $100 in savings, depending on rental length and car class · AARP membership itself costs about $15 for the first year, so even one short rental usually covers the membership cost

  The real dollar savings depend heavily on how long you’re renting and what class of vehicle you choose, since the discount is a percentage rather than a flat amount. A short two- or three-day economy rental might save you $30 to $50. A week-long midsize or SUV rental during a family trip can easily save $100 or more once the 30–35% discount is applied to the base rate. Because AARP’s first-year membership costs roughly $15, even a single modest rental typically pays for the membership several times over — which is worth knowing if you’re weighing whether AARP membership is “worth it” purely for this one benefit, setting aside its many other discounts on hotels, dining, and insurance.
• 8
  Can I combine the AARP discount with other coupons or promotions? Generally no with other discount codes · But it can often combine with certain time-limited promotions, like Budget’s current spend-based discount

  As a general rule, AARP’s discount code cannot be stacked with other standalone coupon codes or third-party promotional rates — rental companies typically apply whichever single discount code is entered at booking, not multiple codes at once. That said, some current time-limited promotions are specifically designed to layer on top of the standing AARP member rate rather than compete with it — for example, Budget has run a promotion offering an additional flat dollar amount off for qualifying multi-day rentals above a certain spending threshold, which does combine with the AARP percentage discount rather than replacing it. Because these stacking rules shift periodically, the most reliable approach is to enter your AARP number first during booking, then check whether any additional promotional code field still shows extra savings before finalizing the reservation.

This table separates AARP’s genuine direct partnerships from the companies where AARP offers no dedicated discount at all, so you know exactly what to expect before you search for a code that doesn’t exist.