Effective from immediately, frequent flyers of all 20 member airlines can enjoy a variety of benefits on Hertz rentals while earning miles towards air travel.

Special rates apply whether cruising in a convertible along Australia’s Great Ocean Road or America’s iconic Route 66, taking a jeep down South Africa’s Garden Route, or simply needing a runabout.

To take advantage, customers quote a special SkyTeam code when they make their Hertz reservation and provide their frequent flyer number to earn miles on qualifying rentals.

“Millions of SkyTeam customers hire cars at home or away and we are excited to take frequent flyer perks up a gear through our partnership with Hertz, one of the world’s leading car rental brands,” said Mauro Oretti, SkyTeam vice president sales and marketing.

“Our aim at SkyTeam is to offer the best end-to-end travel experience for our customers. Extending loyalty benefits beyond the airport is a natural step as we continue to add value to our customers’ everyday travelling lives.”

Hertz covers SkyTeam’s global network of 1,072 destinations.

Car hire reservations can be made online, by phone or through the Hertz app.

Vincent Gillet, vice president, marketing, Hertz International, added: “We at Hertz are honoured to offer car rental benefits to the 730 million customers travelling annually with the members of SkyTeam, one of the world’s leading airline alliances.

“Hertz already works more than half of the SkyTeam partner member airlines, so it was a natural move for us to extend our relationship to the full alliance.

“As a proud partner of SkyTeam and their first non-air affiliate, we look forward to providing a seamless fly-drive experience for our mutual customers.”