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The Budget FastBreak loyalty program is much less well-known than its sister, the Avis Preferred program. However, while it is not as well developed, the program has an interesting twist that can be useful if you want a rapid, no-frills experience without too much complexity to worry about.
Related: A Guide to the Avis Preferred Status Match Program
Page Contents
- What Is Budget FastBreak?
- What Does the Budget FastBreak Program Offer?
- Join Budget FastBreak to earn Budget Bucks on rentals
- Earn Airline Miles with Budget FastBreak
- How To Add Your Budget FastBreak Number to Existing Reservations
- Not All Budget Locations Feature FastBreak
- Our Take
What Is Budget FastBreak?
Budget Fastbreak is a Budget Car Rental loyalty program, and it is unique and dissimilar to most loyalty programs you may be familiar with. There are two key differences:
- The program has no elite status or anything else like that. All members are the same, regardless of their level of activity with Budget.
- You do not collect points to be redeemed for free rental days.
Even though the program lacks the elements you would associate with a traditional loyalty program, it still has much to offer and is worth a closer look.
Related: How To Get Car Rental Elite Status For Free
What Does the Budget FastBreak Program Offer?
With no points to earn and no status to chase, the obvious question is, what does the FastBreak program offer? The answer is straightforward and boils down to making your rental experience with Budget as seamless as possible. Features of the program include:
- Unique rewards and exclusive deals only available to Budget FastBreak members: These are highly variable and range from bonus free days to upgrades.
- Seamless reservation and booking: As a member, you can save all your information and preferences, significantly speeding up your searching and booking process in the future.
- Quicker drop-offs: Budget FastBreak members can skip the queue at the end of their rental and head directly to a designated area. Then, walk away, and the rest will be taken care of — including receipts and such.
- You can skip the main counter and head directly to the FastBreak line, which should greatly speed up your experience (where available).
Related: Beginner’s Guide to Saving on Car Rentals Using AutoSlash.
Join Budget FastBreak to earn Budget Bucks on rentals
On the one hand, Budget does not have points you can redeem for free rentals. On the other hand, you can earn Budget Bucks, which can be redeemed against the cost of your next rental. The only way to earn Budget Bucks is to be a Budget Fastbreak member.
You will earn $25 in Budget Bucks every time you complete two qualifying rentals. Every year, you can earn up to 52 coupons to redeem towards your next Budget rentals.
Joining Budget FastBreak is relatively straightforward. Head over to the enrollment page, fill out all your information, and you will be set up in no time at all.
After joining, ensure you track your FastBreak account with AwardWallet. This way, you can automatically add reservations to your travel schedule, be notified of changes to your account, and follow other important account details.
Earn Airline Miles with Budget FastBreak
An alternative to earning Budget Bucks is to use your Budget car rental to boost your mileage balance in 26 airline partner programs. All you need to do is enter your frequent flyer number at the time of reservation, and you are set. The earning rates differ per program; you can earn miles with the following programs at the following rates:
- Aer Lingus AerClub: Earn 1 Avios per $1 spent on rental.
- AirAsia rewards: Earn 250 AirAsia points per day up to a maximum of 2,500 points per rental.
- Air Canada Aeroplan: Earn 1 point per dollar, while Aeroplan elites earn 2 points per $1 spent.
- Air New Zealand Air Points: Earn 2.50 Airpoints Dollars per day's rental.
- Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan: You earn miles per your elite status as follows:
- MVP Gold 75K or MVP Gold 100K status members earn 1,250 miles per rental.
- MVP or MVP Gold status members earn 1,000 miles per rental.
- Mileage Plan members earn 500 miles per rental.
- American Airlines AAdvantage®: Earning dependson multiple factors
- AAdvantage members: Earn 2 base miles per $1 spent.
- Citi® / AAdvantage® cardmembers and AAdvantage® Aviator® Mastercard® cardmembers without AAdvantage status: Earn 3 base miles per $1 spent.
- AAdvantage Platinum and AAdvantage Gold members: Earn 4 base miles per $1 spent.
- AAdvantage Platinum Pro, AAdvantage Executive Platinum members: Earn 5 base miles per $1 spent.
- ANA Mileage Club: Earn 100 miles per day up to a maximum of 500 miles per rental.
- Avianca LifeMiles: Earn 500 miles per qualifying rental.
- British Airways Executive Club: Earn 1 Avios per $1 spent on rental.
- Cathay Pacific: Earn 500 Asia Miles per qualifying rental.
- Copa Airlines ConnectMiles: Earn 100 points per rental day.
- El Al Matmid: Earn 10 El AL points per qualifying rental.
- Emirates Skywards: Your earning rate depends on the booking channel as follows:
- Earn 6 miles per $1 spent when booking through the Budget–Emirates Skywards website.
- Earn 2 miles per $1 spent when you rent through alternative Budget channels.
- FRONTIER Miles: Earn 50 miles per day or earn 500 miles for rentals of five days or more.
- Hawaiian HawaiianMiles: Your earning rates are determined by your Hawaiian elite status:
- HawaiianMiles Members earn 250 miles per rental.
- Pualani Gold Members earn 500 miles per rental.
- Pualani Platinum Members earn 750 miles per rental.
- Iberia Plus: Earn 1 Avios per $1 spent on rental.
- JAL Mileage Bank: Earn 50 miles per rental day up to a maximum of 250 miles per rental.
- JetBlue TrueBlue: Earn 100 points per rental day up to a maximum of five rental days.
- Malaysia Airlines Enrich: Earn 500 Enrich miles per qualifying rental.
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club: Your earning depends on your status as follows:
- Burgundy: Earn 2 base Avios per $1 spent.
- Silver: Earn 3 base Avios per $1 spent (2 base Avios per plus 1 bonus Avios).
- Gold: Earn 4 base Avios per $1 spent (2 base Avios per plus 2 bonus Avios).
- Platinum: Earn 5 base Avios per $1 spent (2 base Avios per plus 3 bonus Avios).
- Saudi Arabian Alfursan: Earn up to 600 miles per qualifying rental.
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer: Earn 500 KrisFlyer miles per qualifying rental.
- Spirit Airlines Free Spirit: Earn 50 miles on rentals of four days or less or 500 miles on rentals of five days or more.
- Southwest Rapid Rewards: Earn 600 Points per rental.
- Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus: Earn 500 miles per rental.
- United MileagePlus: Your earning rates are determined by your status as follows:
- Members earn up to 500 base miles per rental.
- United Chase card members earn up to 750 base miles per rental.
- Premier Silver and Premier Gold members earn up to 1,000 base miles per rental.
- Premier Platinum and Premier 1K members earn 1,250 base miles per rental.
Related: Current Budget Car Rental Promotions
How To Add Your Budget FastBreak Number to Existing Reservations
The first thing to say is that, by far, the easiest thing to do is add your FastBreak number at the initial stage when you make the reservation. You do so by entering your number and last name, as shown below.
If you have booked through a third party, you may be unable to add your FastBreak number post-fact to a reservation. When adding your FastBreak number to an existing reservation, things are a lot more grey, and there does not seem to be a definitive answer on how to do this.
The vast number of data points online state that you cannot simply modify your booking and add your number manually. By all accounts, it seems that reaching out to Budget will also not work. Your only option is to cancel the booking and rebook, inputting your FastBreak number at the time of booking. Bear in mind this can affect the pricing, and you may end up paying more for your rental. This is likely the process phone agents will use if you call to add your number to an existing reservation not made directly with Budget, so consider whether you're losing money here.
That being said, some data points suggest that you may have some luck — it's hit and miss — by calling Budget customer service.
Related: Best Credit Cards for Car Rental Insurance
Not All Budget Locations Feature FastBreak
One thing to remember is that while many Budget locations offer the FastBreak service, many do not, and you will not be able to receive the expedited service at these locations.
Similarly, according to multiple data points online, you will be ineligible to receive Budget FastBreak benefits if you book through a third party. These only apply to bookings made directly with Budget.
Our Take
The Budget FastBreak program lives up to the company's name and is definitely a budget program. FastBreak offers useful benefits that improve your experience, with minimal requirements in return. Despite its no-frills lack of status, the program is worth a closer look. That's true even if you are not the biggest fan of Budget and only rent with the company infrqeuently.
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