Blue Chip Card

[Illini422]

:confused: My husband and I have been reading about the car rentals on the island. There is a lot of good info out there. We do have one question - What is the Blue Chip Card and how do we get one? We Will be taking our first cruise on POA - June 16 - and really want to rent a car at each port to tour the islands at our leisure. Thanks

[mlprahl]

Blue Chip is the loyalty membership program by Thrifty. It's free, your car is ready upon pick-up (no need to wait at the counter for paperwork), and once you get 16 days of rentals, you get one free. You have to sign up for it online before you go...they won't let you join as a walk-up. We rented all our cars through discounthawaiicarrental.com (who subsequently uses Thrifty), so we got the cheapest rates and we have the Blue Chip to go through the line fast!

[lambs2]

It was well worth the couple minutes it takes to sign up for Thrifty's Blue Chip program online. We also really enjoyed not having to wait in line to get our cars during our Hawaiian cruise. We always look for the least expensive rental car rates, and we also used the Hawaiidiscountcarrental site to book ours, as they have a corporate rate for all their customers that just can't be beat. I also would go back every couple of days to make sure the rate had not gone down. It did once and I just rebooked at the lower rate and then cancelled my earlier reservations.

[HeeBeeGB]

Whats the difference between Blue Chip and other loyalty memership programs you may have with Avis, or Hertz or any other major car rental company?

[cbcloud]

It was well worth the couple minutes it takes to sign up for Thrifty's Blue Chip program online. We also really enjoyed not having to wait in line to get our cars during our Hawaiian cruise. We always look for the least expensive rental car rates, and we also used the Hawaiidiscountcarrental site to book ours, as they have a corporate rate for all their customers that just can't be beat. I also would go back every couple of days to make sure the rate had not gone down. It did once and I just rebooked at the lower rate and then cancelled my earlier reservations.

Affirmative to all the above... Making prior reservations and using Blue Chip saved us a LOT of time at the check-out counter. On our last cruise I reserved vehicles (compact 4-dr) at 4 locations, 2 thru Thrify's web site, and 2 thru the Hawaiidiscountcarrental site. It may have been coincidence but the 2 reservations thru Thrifty were upgraded to a Jeep Laredo when I picked up the vehicles. The reservation thru Hawaiidiscountcarrental in Honolulu was not in the Thrifty computer system, but that only slowed the process slightly. You tell the driver of the shuttle from the ship you are a Blue Chip member, and he radios the agency and your paperwork is all ready when you arrive. You show them your driver's license, your Blue Chip card, and a credit card, initial 2 or 3 places, a signature, and you're on your way.

[mlprahl]

Whats the difference between Blue Chip and other loyalty memership programs you may have with Avis, or Hertz or any other major car rental company?

 

Essentially nothing...Thrifty just happens to be among the cheapest rentals in all my browsing to secure rentals at each port. The membership helps because most (not all) the time the Blue Chip line is quicker than the general reservation or walk-up line. My BIL uses Avis Preferred; similar deal in that his car is waiting and he bypasses the line, but their rentals tend to cost more.

[Illini422]

Thanks For All The Help:)

[HeeBeeGB]

Thanks!