Many people are familiar with the fact that you can save a bundle on your car rental by being a member of organizations such as AAA, Costco and AARP, but most people are not familiar with the organization USAA.

What exactly is USAA? USAA is an 88-year old organization with 7.7 million members dedicated to providing financial security to the US military community by offering them highly competitive financial products and services. USAA also happens to have relationships with a number of car rental companies to offer their members great discounts and other benefits not usually available to the average renter.

While USAA primarily caters to the military community, it's actually not necessary to be a member of the military (or family of military personnel) in order to qualify for membership. On their Become a Member page, USAA goes in detail about eligibility requirements. If you look at the very bottom of the page, you'll see Other Individuals, which basically covers everyone else not associated with the military. If you support our troops, read on!

Once you're signed up as a member (it's free), you'll be able to access USAA's page of discount page for car rentals and other services like flowers, diamonds and jewelry and other travel services. Some of those other discounts are quite good. I recently used their car buying service to purchase a car below dealer invoice cost.

USAA members can get discounts on vehicles from Hertz, Avis and Budget. These discount rates are some of the best around. In a previous blog article we talked about the benefits of using your Costco membership for car rental discounts. While researching this article, I did a number of sample rentals with Avis, and found that the USAA discount code beat out the Costco code (a great performer) in a number of instances. Hertz and Budget also offer USAA members some of the deepest discounts and best deals around.

Cheap car rental rates are not the only benefit of USAA membership. How about:

  • No additional driver fees for spouses and other USAA members (can be up to $45 per rental)
  • No young driver surcharge (typically $25 per day)
  • Unlimited mileage (on most car classes)
  • Enhanced liability insurance coverage

The deep discounts alone make USAA membership a no-brainer when renting with Hertz, Avis or Budget, but the benefits above can really drive home the value. AutoSlash advises everyone to check out this organization for great car rental rates and other savings opportunities.

Once you're a member, you can apply your USAA discount codes to your AutoSlash rentals. We'll then track the rate, and let you take advantage of any price drops that occur right until your pickup date. At AutoSlash, the price you initially book at is the highest price you'll pay for your rental.