How to protect your Emerald Club free days while you are alive
There is no way to name a beneficiary or successor on an Emerald Club account. While the account holder is alive, National Car Rental allows transfers to another member.
Because National Car Rental's terms forfeit Emerald Club free days at death, anything preserved is moved or used while the account holder is alive. There is no way to name a beneficiary or successor on an Emerald Club account. While the account holder is alive, National Car Rental allows transfers to another member.
How to protect your Emerald Club free days
Naming who acts after a death
- Designation
Emerald Club offers no way to name a beneficiary or successor for the membership or its Free Days.1
What National Car Rental's terms say about sharing and transfers3
- Transfers to another member
Rental credits cannot be transferred. Free Days can be transferred to immediate family members irrespective of their membership, up to three per calendar year; Section B.5.3 gives "a spouse or domestic partner, child who is age 21 or over, and parent" as examples.1
National's FAQ pages describe the allowance as three free days per year to an immediate family member, where immediate family members "include any family member that has your same address." The Terms impose no same-address condition, and Member Services can be expected to apply the FAQ wording.2
Transfers are requested through Member Services. Transferred Free Days cannot be returned to the member's account, the recipient gets an email with a coupon code rather than a paper certificate, and no more than three can be redeemed per rental, against seven for Free Days the earner keeps.1, 2
- Expiry and activity requirements
For US members, Free Days expire and are forfeited on the earlier of December 31 of the year following the year earned or termination of membership for any reason. Different expiry rules apply to members resident in Canada and in several European countries.1
A transferred Free Day is valid for one year from the original month of transfer.1, 2
Should you save your passwords for your family?
Some people store account passwords so a family member can sign in later. The practice has three practical limits:
- Two-factor authentication often blocks it. Most accounts require a second factor — a code sent to a phone, an authenticator app, a passkey, or a physical key. A saved password alone frequently does not grant access, and the recovery codes that would are easy to lose or let go stale.
- It usually conflicts with the platform's terms. Most operators prohibit account sharing and signing in as another person, including after a death. Stored credentials are not the operator's recognized access path, and using them can violate the terms of service.
- Operators provide other paths. Where an operator offers a designation tool — Apple's Legacy Contact, Google's Inactive Account Manager, a beneficiary designation — that mechanism grants access the operator recognizes. A password manager's own emergency-access or legacy feature passes credentials through a controlled process. Digital assets named in a will or trust give a fiduciary authority under each state's Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA).
Sources
Data sourced from National Car Rental primary sources (5 pages reviewed). How we research.
Emerald Club customer support
Emerald Club Member Services
Phone
Customer Service
Hours
Mailing address
Website
Is this your situation?
Get a complete guide for your specific circumstances.
New Baby or Adoption
Your family is growing. Your protection should too. Guardian nominations, trusts for minors, beneficiary updates, and the documents new parents need in place.
Learn more
Marriage
What married couples need in place: one joint trust or two, wills, beneficiary updates, and the spousal rights your state grants you automatically.
Learn more
New Home
How to put your house in a revocable trust: the deed you record, what it does to your mortgage and property taxes, and when a TOD deed is simpler.
Learn more
Retirement
Retirement changes your financial picture. Healthcare directives, beneficiary reviews, long-term care planning, and protecting what you've built.
Learn moreForms for Planning Your Estate
Free forms for planning your estate: a will, living trust, pour-over will, both powers of attorney, living will, and TOD deed.
Revocable Living Trust
Create a revocable living trust to avoid probate, protect privacy, and control asset distribution.
Last Will and Testament
Name your heirs, guardians, and final wishes. Free for every state.
Codicil to a Will
Add, revoke or replace provisions of your will and republish the rest, signed as your state requires for a will.
Tools for Planning Your Estate
Free tools for planning your estate: what a will or trust costs, whether you need a trust or TOD deed, and how documents are signed.
How Much Does a Revocable Living Trust Cost?
Compare revocable living trust costs across providers including online services and attorneys.
How Does SimplyTrust Compare to LegalZoom, Trust & Will, and Other Services?
Compare what it costs to make a trust official across SimplyTrust, LegalZoom, Trust & Will, Rocket Lawyer, and Quicken WillMaker.
Do I Need a Revocable Trust?
Find out if a revocable trust makes sense based on your state, estate value, and family situation.
Trust or Will: Which Costs Less?
Compare the cost of probate vs a trust for your state and estate value.
How Much Is the Federal Gift Tax?
Whether a gift owes federal gift tax, how much of the annual exclusion and lifetime exemption it uses, and whether Form 709 is due.
What Does Estate Planning Actually Cost?
Compare costs across estate planning providers including online services and attorneys.
