What happens to Emerald Club free days when someone dies
National Car Rental publishes no process specific to a deceased person's account; a written request goes by mail.
Under National Car Rental's terms, Emerald Club free days are forfeited when the account holder dies.
National Car Rental publishes no process specific to a deceased person's account; a written request goes by mail to National Car Rental, Member Services, 8421 St. John Industrial Way, St. Louis, MO 63144. The request takes 4 documents. Emerald Club Member Services answers at 1-800-962-7070 (Daily 8:00 AM-8:00 PM ET).
What to do
- •Call 1-800-962-7070, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern, seven days a week.
- •Or write to National Car Rental, Member Services, 8421 St. John Industrial Way, St. Louis, MO 63144.
- •Location-specific numbers are listed on the contact page.
- •Death certificate
- •The deceased member's Emerald Club membership number
- •Letters testamentary or letters of administration, when the executor rather than a family member writes
- •The name and Emerald Club membership number, if any, of the family member to be credited
Required Documents
- Death certificate
- The deceased member's Emerald Club membership number
- Letters testamentary or letters of administration: where an executor rather than an immediate family member makes the request
- Name and Emerald Club membership number of the immediate family member to be credited: The membership number where the family member has one.
What National Car Rental's terms say at death
- Section B.5.2 (Free Days)
“Free Days earned by a Member do not constitute property of such Member and cannot be redeemed for cash or other value at any time including upon termination of Membership.”1
What National Car Rental says happens5
- Who owns the asset
Section B.5.1 classifies rental credits the same way as Free Days, as not the member's property.1
Section B.6.3 repeats this for the whole program: rewards and accrued benefits, including rental credits and Free Days, are not a member's property and cannot be redeemed for cash or other value. Free Days received by transfer are likewise not the transferee's property.1
- Closing the account
On termination of membership, all rental credits and Free Days, whether earned or received by transfer, are forfeited and cease to be valid, and the member's Profile is dissolved and no longer accessible.1
Section B.3.2 lets a member terminate membership by notice to Member Services by phone, by mail to the St. Louis address or through the website.1
- Balances, payouts and refunds
Rental credits are non-transferable and convert automatically into a Free Day at the tier threshold: seven credits at Emerald Club, six at Executive and five at Executive Elite.1
- Inactive accounts and expiry
Section B.3.7 lists prolonged Profile inactivity, as determined by National in its sole discretion, among the circumstances in which it may terminate a membership, and termination forfeits both credits and Free Days.1
- How requests are reviewed
Anything a survivor receives is a discretionary courtesy rather than a documented entitlement, and National is under no obligation to agree to a transfer.1
Other companies and product lines involved1
Not in Emerald Club's published guidance6
- A process for a deceased account holder
- How long a request takes
- Whether a certified death certificate is required
- An estates portal, estates email or fax
- An estates department
- An appeal path
A written request to National Car Rental can ask it to transfer the free days to a named family member, preserve the account while the estate is opened and close the account.
The value that can still be kept is what the account holder moved while alive: National Car Rental allows transfers to another member.
Digital Assets Recovery Letter for Emerald Club drafts that request from the estate's details.
Sources
Data sourced from National Car Rental primary sources (5 pages reviewed). How we research.
Emerald Club estate claims
Emerald Club Member Services
Phone
Customer Service
Hours
Mailing address
Website
Estate requests go through general customer service.
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Notice to Creditors
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