I am not sure if I have mentioned this before, but my favorite car rental agency is National. Being a traveling nurse practitioner, you can easily obtain executive elite status with them. After just 85 paid rental days with National, you can enjoy all the benefits of their highest elite tier. 85 paid rental days is the equivalent to one assignment of 3 months.
My favorite perk of being an executive elite is you get free upgrades to their cars. Their website states you have to book a midsize car to be eligible for the free upgrades. In my experience, the agency will book me a compact car and I still have the option to upgrade for free.
Usually with National, you can select the car you want from a designated lot, instead of being assigned a specific car like most other car rental companies. I often choose the Nissan Altima because the 2020 ones are very nice on the exterior and drive well. Not to mention it’s good on gas mileage.
During the coronavirus pandemic, I had to change my rental car because it was due for an oil change. At that time, I had the Nissan Rogue SUV. I knew that travel was slow so I asked if they had any luxury cars they could upgrade me to.
I saw the agent double check my elite status before saying yes. The next thing I knew, I was driving away in a 2020 Audi Q3 SUV. I forgot what it was like to drive in luxury. The interior was gorgeous and the drive felt amazing.
I always considered myself to be a ‘car’ person. But this reminded me how much having a nice car can affect my mood. Now I have mini dance parties in my car on my way to work.
In our present environment there is so much chaos going on, that it’s sort of a relief to find pleasure in the small things.
