During our recent trip to Southern California (where we stayed at Alila Marea Encinitas), I took advantage of my new Hertz President’s Circle status for the first time, which I got through the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (review) (Rates & Fees). I wanted to report back on my experience, as I’m starting to hate renting cars less than I used to.
In this post:
How to earn Hertz President’s Circle status
There are a variety of ways to earn Hertz President’s Circle status, either through rentals, through status matches, or through credit card, airline, and hotel perks.
On the most basic level, Hertz President’s Circle status ordinarily requires $4,000 worth of qualifying spending or 20 rentals annually. For 2021 those requirements have been lowered to $3,000 worth of spending or 15 rentals, in light of circumstances.
However, there are a variety of other ways to earn Hertz President’s Circle status as well:
- The Capital One Venture X offers the status for free; read all about that here
- Delta Platinum & Diamond Medallion members receive the status for free; register here
- Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador members receive the status for free; register here
- You can status match from other programs — Avis President’s Club, Enterprise Plus Platinum, National Executive Elite, and Europcar Privilege Elite, all match to Hertz President’s Circle status
Getting Hertz President’s Circle status through the Capital One Venture X is probably the easiest pathway to this tier, given that the card is such a good value even without this perk (the card has a $395 annual fee, but offers a $300 annual travel credit and 10,000 anniversary bonus miles, which alone more than justify the annual fee).
Hertz President’s Circle status benefits
Here are the published perks of Hertz President’s Circle status:
- Guaranteed car upgrades, a minimum of one-class, at participating locations
- Freedom to choose any vehicle in the President’s Circle section of the Hertz Ultimate Choice lot on the spot at no extra charge
- No additional driver fee for a spouse or domestic partner in the United States
- 50% bonus on Gold Plus Rewards points on all qualified rentals
- Expedited vehicle pick-up at over 1,000 locations worldwide
- No stopping at the counter at over 50 airports
- eReturn, whereby you don’t have to wait when returning your car
- Hertz Valet, whereby you can take advantage of a terminal drive-back service at participating locations up to four times per year
- A dedicated President’s Circle call center line
If you ask me, the single best benefit here is access to the President’s Circle section of the Hertz Ultimate Choice lot, available at participating locations. Much like with National Emerald Aisle, the idea is that you can skip the counter altogether and pick your car, as this takes the hassle out of the rental car experience.
The one other perk that might stand out is the Hertz Valet concept, though I’ve heard mixed reports of that actually being honored, so I wouldn’t count on that.
Hertz President’s Circle rental experience
I recently rented with Hertz at San Diego Airport (SAN). I rented a “standard” vehicle for $135 for two days (including all taxes & fees, of which there are a lot), and that gave me access to the Hertz Ultimate Choice lot.
I took the bus to the rental car center, and outside the Hertz counter there was a sign telling members to proceed directly to the garage and look at the directory board.
In the garage there was a Hertz Gold Plus Rewards desk, presumably if you wanted to further upgrade, or needed assistance.
Hertz has the “Gold Member Directory,” where there’s a board that shows all the elite members renting, and their status (and therefore which area they should select their car from). Okay, a couple of thoughts:
- Am I the only one who finds it a bit odd how they display the full name of all elite members renting? Maybe they should learn from airlines and just post initials?
- The whole concept also seems kind of unnecessary, because if you know your elite status, there’s no need for this board; all this does is show your status, in order to remind you from which area you can select a car
I had checked Hertz’s availability the day of our rental and saw there were no more cars available for rent, so I was fully expecting to show up and have no choice of cars. Well, fortunately that wasn’t the case, and there were lots of cars to choose from.
The Hertz President’s Circle car selection isn’t just in one area, but rather the cars were in different sections, with some other categories of cars inbetween (like premium upgrade cars).
There sure was quite a selection of cars, primarily compact SUVs and minivans. There weren’t any options that stood out as being particularly exciting,
Am I the only one who struggles with picking cars in this situation? I love having the choice, but I also suffer from horrible indecision in situations like this, when there’s not a clear best option. In theory I’d go based off which car is newest and has the fewest miles, but I also saw in the welcome email that cars were “sealed” due to enhanced cleaning protocols:
Rent confidently knowing every car undergoes an enhanced cleaning process before we seal it so you’re the first inside after a thorough sanitization.
I quickly noticed that almost all seals were “broken,” though I still didn’t do a mileage comparison of all the cars.
I ended up deciding on a Chevrolet SUV. I’m not sure why exactly, but I just did. It had about 15,000 miles, so was fairly new. As usual, the keys were already in the car, so I could drive off towards the exit.
At the gate I presented my driver’s license. I pointed out that there was some damage on the car, so I was given a little sheet where I could mark the damage, and then I was sent on my way. I didn’t have to provide a credit card, or anything else.
My take on Hertz President’s Circle status
I’ve written in the past about how I find the process of renting cars to be incredibly frustrating. You have to worry about whether your reservation will be honored, you sometimes have to wait for a long time at a rental car counter, you end up with a terrible car, there are endless upsells, and just everything about the situation is horrible.
Then I discovered National Emerald Aisle (I know I’m late to the game), and everything changed — there was no hassle to the rental experience, and you had a good selection of cars.
Well, my experience with Hertz President’s Circle status is largely the same, at least based on my first rental. I’m a happy camper renting cars if the process is seamless, and that’s an area where Hertz President’s Circle status is awesome. I could skip the rental car counter, I could choose my car, and I could leave with a single human interaction that lasted less than a minute (at the booth while exiting the lot), with no waiting anywhere.
While I think I still slightly prefer National for the selection of cars, I’d absolutely rent from Hertz again, as Hertz is often priced cheaper, in my experience. I’m grateful to have easy access to the “choose your own car” aisles with two rental car companies now.
Bottom line
I recently earned Hertz President’s Circle status through the Capital One Venture X, and my experience was great. The best benefit of Hertz President’s Circle status is the ability to pick your own car in the President’s Circle section of the Hertz Ultimate Choice lot.
President’s Circle status takes the pain out of the rental car experience, so I’m grateful to have access to this. The whole experience reminded me a lot of renting with National, which is a good thing. My rental car experiences are getting significantly less bad, and I’m grateful for that.
To fellow Hertz President’s Circle members, what has your experience been like? Any tips of things that I missed? How do you go about choosing a car?
Upon enrollment, accessible through the Capital One website or mobile app, eligible cardholders will remain at upgraded status level through December 31, 2024. Please note, enrolling through the normal Hertz Gold Plus Rewards enrollment process (e.g. at Hertz.com) will not automatically detect a cardholder as being eligible for the program and cardholders will not be automatically upgraded to the applicable status tier. Additional terms apply.
i earn mine from AA plat pro status
I last used my Prez Circle a couple of weeks ago (also via VX) in Nashville and scored a Mustang convertible. Love the program—sometimes!
The indecision is awful .... I thought it was just me. The agony of possibly not picking the best available car and then the worst of human nature surfaces when someone else starts considering the cars and The fear they might get the best one... all good fun I guess.
I am still on hold for 2+ hours now, trying to finally speak to an agent about how Hertz continues to rip off its President's Circle Members. This is the third straight time this has happened-- Hertz, when you log in to your account on the website or app, will quote you the "best" rate or your chosen car, which is 100% of the time more than 2x higher than what they would charge a...
I am still on hold for 2+ hours now, trying to finally speak to an agent about how Hertz continues to rip off its President's Circle Members. This is the third straight time this has happened-- Hertz, when you log in to your account on the website or app, will quote you the "best" rate or your chosen car, which is 100% of the time more than 2x higher than what they would charge a nobody trying to rent the same car, during the same time, with the same parameters. Hertz refuses to address this. Its straight up cheating and stealing. From its best customers.
I’ve never had a bad experience and I would tell you to get to get a medium or small size vehicle at the cheapest price, because they’re going to upgrade you automatically. You get to save money and get upgraded. To me you’re getting the best of both worlds.
They say that they have a dedicated phone line but they don't tell you what it is and good luck trying to find it anywhere on their website!
hmmm, they gave it to me when I earned Pres Circle a number of years ago and I stored it in my phone. You can always call the Gold line and ask them for it.
It’s on this page
https://offer.hertz.com/offers/index.jsp?targetPage=TierStatusMatch.jsp&ID=36284
the valet service is the best (and I use it every time - just drive to lot and tell them you are presidents) They will then drop you off at the gate and help you with your luggage
I apparently was upgraded to the Hertz President's Circle in time for my most recent rental (early March).
All went well with pick up and drop off until a week afterwards I got not one but two calls from Hertz Vehicle Control. They wanted to know when I'd be returning the rental ...the one I returned the week before. They had the attitude of debt collectors with the assumption I was the guilty party. Even...
I apparently was upgraded to the Hertz President's Circle in time for my most recent rental (early March).
All went well with pick up and drop off until a week afterwards I got not one but two calls from Hertz Vehicle Control. They wanted to know when I'd be returning the rental ...the one I returned the week before. They had the attitude of debt collectors with the assumption I was the guilty party. Even though my receipt from the Hertz website showed I had returned the vehicle on time. And they were charging my credit card additional days!!! Lesson.....get a printed receipt when you drop off your car.
Do you have to reserve a certain class of car to entitley you to choose from the President Circle lot, or can you reserve the cheapest subcompact available, and still have access to all the cars in the President Circle lot?
Midsize or better based on terms.
Were you able to pick any car you wanted including something much more expensive than you had previously booked?
I have found President's Circle incredibly useful. The choice of cars can sometime be blah, but it depends on the airport and the time. I have selected full size new extended cab pickups, high end SUVs, sports cars, etc.
Most Airport sites don't allow you too rent right now online within 24 hours you have to call. So that's why your same day search was empty. I don't know why this occurs probably because they run out of cars so often?
I BEEN A HERTZ PRESIDENT CIRCLE MEMBER FOR ALMOST A YEAR NOW, AS LOCAL LOYAL WEEKEND RENTER IN MY HOMETOWN AIRPORT. THERE'S TIMES I WOULD HAVE TO GIVE FEEDBACK TO THE EXECUTIVE CARE DEPT, ABOUT VERY LIMITED ULTIMATE CHOICE SELECTION THAT DON'T SATIFIED ME SOMETIMES, CAUSE OF THE AMOUNT OF CARS THAT HERTZ HAD TO SELL OFF DURING THE SO-CALLED PANDEMIC, THAT CAUSE HERTZ TO BUY HIGH MILEAGE & OLDER CARS & SUV'S @ THE...
I BEEN A HERTZ PRESIDENT CIRCLE MEMBER FOR ALMOST A YEAR NOW, AS LOCAL LOYAL WEEKEND RENTER IN MY HOMETOWN AIRPORT. THERE'S TIMES I WOULD HAVE TO GIVE FEEDBACK TO THE EXECUTIVE CARE DEPT, ABOUT VERY LIMITED ULTIMATE CHOICE SELECTION THAT DON'T SATIFIED ME SOMETIMES, CAUSE OF THE AMOUNT OF CARS THAT HERTZ HAD TO SELL OFF DURING THE SO-CALLED PANDEMIC, THAT CAUSE HERTZ TO BUY HIGH MILEAGE & OLDER CARS & SUV'S @ THE PUBLIC CAR AUCTIONS TO REPLACE IN THEIR FLEETS. NOW HERTZ FOCUSING ON GETTING MORE TESLA ELECTRIC CARS INTO THEIR FLEETS, WHICH I EXPLAINED TO HERTZ GLOBAL, THEY NEED TO GET MORE BETTER LATEST MODEL OF DIFFERENT MIDSIZE, & STANDARDS SIZE SUV'S WITH MUCH LOWER MILEAGE, SO INDIVIDUALS & FAMILY CAN HAVE MORE STORAGE SPACE & ROOM.
At 15000 miles, a rental car is actually close to being phased out.
In Germany, around 20k km is the cap. Then the rental companies sell the car back to the manufacturer or do so themselves.
Absolutely not in the US and definitely not with Hertz. I was given a Nissan when 47,000 miles in MIA just last week. I’ve had a super old Impala with over 60,000 too. That said *most* of the time at airport locations they tend to be newer with less miles at least in PC aisles.
I've been Delta Platinum or Diamond for years and I've never been able to get President's Circle. Delta says they tell Hertz, Hertz says contact Delta. On the other hand, I try to avoid Hertz (I think National is much better) so perhaps it's just as well.
I had the same experience with Medallion Platinum status and Hertz President's Circle. On delta.com they now have added links which help you set up this benefit. My President's Circle status showed up on Hertz.com 2 days later.
Make sure they don't accuse you of stealing the car!
My challenge is that I'm afraid to just pick a car and go. With my most recent experience in Tampa last month I even asked a Hertz employee who was directing people who entered the garage and after identifying myself as a President's Circle member she told me to go to line for the Gold counter anyway. It would be nice if they both honored the benefit and encouraged people to use it.
Been this level of Hertz or higher for 25 years. Never rent w them. Worst major car rental agency especially given all the police reports for people that rent their cars which are ALL due to Hertz IT issues.
Give me National Executive Emerald Club any day over Hertz ( been that level around 25 years as well)
Exactly......I have called to extend rentals and told everything was ok only to receive threatening phone calls and letters from Loss Control,
for only 2 day rental I picked a premium car with discount (president = discount rate) Don't expect a clean car though. I never ever had a clean car with Hertz. the explorer looked nice.
Just make sure to check your card for the actual charges compared to your reservation. In this contactless pick - drive - return - walk away system Hertz charged me over $850 on a $165 reservation. I only found out when I received my card statement. When asked about this multiple times Hertz says "read the rental terms". Basically they reserve the right to charge whatever they please without notification. Very bad.
"Am I the only one who struggles with picking cars in this situation? I love having the choice, but I also suffer from horrible indecision in situations like this, when there’s not a clear best option."
I mean the clear and obvious best choice is whatever vehicle has the highest MPG rating.
Whatever happened to your carbon offset initiative btw? Seems like its never a factor for you. Ever.
If you want to actually reduce your carbon footprint then don't travel. By posting here you probably like to travel so it's not that important to you. Saving a couple miles on mpg is really not going to change anything.
My biggest issue with Hertz is the high percentage of cloth vs leatherette seating in vehicles. I can't stand cloth seats given the smells they retain and how dirty they get. Avis is much better in this regard and I rarely ever get a cloth seat.
And cleaning of interiors with any of the companies is a complete joke. It's actually gotten worse since Covid and verging on disgusting. Dog hair, kids messes, food...I doubt they even do a basic wipe down inside nowadays.
I’m president’s circle through United 1K (not sure if they’re doing that any more). I rent quite often at LAX for business trips. The cars are almost always a yawn, but often there is one mustang GT or a BMW X1 which you can nab if you run in front of everyone else off the bus.
This Hertz location is notorious for charging for fuel even when you decline and return the car full. I...
I’m president’s circle through United 1K (not sure if they’re doing that any more). I rent quite often at LAX for business trips. The cars are almost always a yawn, but often there is one mustang GT or a BMW X1 which you can nab if you run in front of everyone else off the bus.
This Hertz location is notorious for charging for fuel even when you decline and return the car full. I know rental companies do this all the time, but man, it’s really bad at Hertz LAX. I explicitly decline fuel verbally to the agent at the exit, but of course Hertz doesn’t document this choice anywhere. I always fill up and show the receipt when I can but more than half the time I find a $20 charge for 1-2 gallons of gas when I get home. I have to remember to take a photo of the dashboard and scan in my gas receipt, then email Hertz to have the charge removed. I have filed a complaint with the California Attorney General’s office, which I’m sure landed on deaf ears.
Anyway sorry to rant, but Hertz is a pretty mediocre to poor rental car company, and President’s circle is barely worth choosing them over Avis Wizard or National Emerald. Meh.
I don't see what the deal with President's Circle status. I'm Hertz Gold and rent only a couple of times a year. In recent years I've been able to select my own car and once at PHL I was "chauffeured" to the terminal. So I'm having trouble seeing what the additional benefits of being PC.
Also in terms of car selection, I want a smaller car with higher gas mileage and easier to park....
I don't see what the deal with President's Circle status. I'm Hertz Gold and rent only a couple of times a year. In recent years I've been able to select my own car and once at PHL I was "chauffeured" to the terminal. So I'm having trouble seeing what the additional benefits of being PC.
Also in terms of car selection, I want a smaller car with higher gas mileage and easier to park. I'm happy with a Corrola or a Camry and don't want to be upgraded to some larger sedan/SUV.
All my PC experiences have been train wrecks, varying from my name not being on the board, or on the board with a "go to the counter" message, to not having the car class I reserved available. Given up and using National or Avis Preferred.
Has anyone figured out how to successfully opt-in to President's Circle via their Delta Medallion Status? I like the accounts, but it never shows that I'm President's Circle.
I have had the same issue. I used the hertz contact page on their website to send an email saying I had platinum status with delta and it was not matching in hertz. It was fixed within 48 hours.
Agreed about the board kind of being a relic. However, the board originally was to show what spot your car was in. This was before you had the ability to pick whatever was in the President's area or the Gold area or whatever. Also before the days of an app to tell you where your car is located if you want to take whatever they've assigned you (can't remember if Hertz does this or not,...
Agreed about the board kind of being a relic. However, the board originally was to show what spot your car was in. This was before you had the ability to pick whatever was in the President's area or the Gold area or whatever. Also before the days of an app to tell you where your car is located if you want to take whatever they've assigned you (can't remember if Hertz does this or not, I switched to Avis a couple years ago and that's what Avis does).
So you used to get into the rental area, find your name on the board, and found out where you needed to go to pick up your car. Less useful these days, but people are used to the board being there, so I guess it stays.
Ben, if this matters to you at all, try to choose a car next time that has the radar at the top of the rear view mirror. You can see it at the top of the windshield in the center in a sort of triangle shape facing the front of the car. That means the car has crucial safety features like automatic braking, lane keep assist, and potentially adaptive cruise control. Looks like your Chevy...
Ben, if this matters to you at all, try to choose a car next time that has the radar at the top of the rear view mirror. You can see it at the top of the windshield in the center in a sort of triangle shape facing the front of the car. That means the car has crucial safety features like automatic braking, lane keep assist, and potentially adaptive cruise control. Looks like your Chevy had none of those, but lots of the other options did! Just something to consider to make sure you're as safe as possible on the road.
Eek. I like the adaptive cruise control out of sheer laziness on unbusy- monotonous roads with the occasional car in front of me, If someone has (needs) to have the car keep in land and stop for them as part of their vehicle choice, that sounds like someone with poor driving skills who I hope isn't on the same road with myself.
Ben, I'd like to hear more regarding "I’m starting to hate renting cars less than I used to". I'm likely to try Turo for my next trip because of consistently bad experiences with car rental companies, but still have an open mind.
@XPL and others beware renting from Turo.
I wanted to try Turo for my previous rental and even had a car picked out. Then I had a thought, does my personal car insurance protect me for this? The answer is "No". So, if you want to be safe you'll have to upgrade the Turo insurance which added 40%-100% of the cost of the rental depending on how much coverage you want! Chase Sapphire doesn't cover Turo person-to-person rentals either. I chose Avis instead.
YMMV
Perhaps YMMV but yes most personal car insurance do cover Turo.
I don't know about "most" personal insurance covering peer-to-peer car rentals, but each renter should check with their insurer and not assume they are covered. Also, even if you are covered for your 12 year old Corolla (for example), the coverage limit won't cover you when you total a Tesla (for example).
Ben,
Been PC for about three years, status matched over and have since earned the hard way. PC was pretty good pre-pandemic, better selection of cars. Then Hertz went bankrupt and sold off a huge chunk of their fleet AND they merged with Thrifty/Dollar. Since then, it's been kind of a disaster.
God help you if you decide to rent at LAX. While the Gold counter staff is generally helpful, I have experienced issues like:
Ben,
Been PC for about three years, status matched over and have since earned the hard way. PC was pretty good pre-pandemic, better selection of cars. Then Hertz went bankrupt and sold off a huge chunk of their fleet AND they merged with Thrifty/Dollar. Since then, it's been kind of a disaster.
God help you if you decide to rent at LAX. While the Gold counter staff is generally helpful, I have experienced issues like:
1.) Lost reservations
2.) Name not appearing on the board
3.) Far fewer frequency of shuttles to the facility
4.) A shuttle driver picked me and a few others up at Terminal 7 and then announced he had to go around again because some passengers didn't hear him announce terminals. No option to get off and wait for the next one, just started driving.
5.) The wait to exit the facility once you've selected your car often exceeds 30 minutes.
I've written to Hertz PC customer service for each of these issues and have yet to hear a response regarding any of them. It used to be that you'd get a response in 24 hours.
Long story short: Hertz no longer has its act together. Time to switch to someone else.
At least you haven't been arrested, thanks to Hertz filing false police reports. View from the Wing has the latest.
And a new story was released on CBSMornings just today.
As a President's Circle member this happened to me too. Here's my story as reported by CBSMornings https://twitter.com/CBSMornings/status/1456258931190222853?s=20
A little confused how this is different from Gold, where I also skip the line and go directly to my car. Is it because the of the ability to choose from an assortment of cars? Personally, I don't care that much, since I'm usually happy with what I booked. I guess the upgrade is nice.
Yeah, Hertz doesn't do a good job differentiating President's Circle from lower Gold elite statuses. But, in my experience, I have found that I always have a car as a President's Circle customer even at branches out of cars from everyone else. I also always pre-pay. Those two things make a big difference.
I am sure many know this, however it is worth noting that most rental car companies do status match. So if you get Hertz Presidents Circle with VentureX or Delta status, you should be able to then use that to gain elite status at Avis, Enterprise, etc.
Avis doesn't match to its top tier.
I just status matched to Avis presidents club with ease.
How did you manage the status match?
I've always used the National Emerald Aisle at ABQ and had a great choice of vehicles (pre-COVID). Hertz rental prices always have been higher so I have never tried the President's Circle. Given the Amex Platinum benefit, I'll try it next time and see what happens.....
I’ve actually gotten the valet once at MCO. Not a big deal, but it was cool. The guy said leave your bags in the vehicle and he checked me out and drove us to the gate. Saved a couple minutes. Apparently it happens although it was before Covid.
That would be a huge benefit at Denver and even Detroit and Sam Francisco. Not worth anything at airports with attached car rental facilities.
Its really hit or miss. in SFO the best available vehicle just after the 4th of july was a Hyundai Venue. Last week in TPA was an Infiniti qx50 (I think, it's their smaller SUV). Generally speaking it's what you see. I still like the convenience of the program and that alone makes it worthwhile.
How I choose: In SoCal, always go for the convertible. After that, go for the least scuffed (look at the rims, front/rear bumper), best-equipped, highest brand. Best airports for choice: LAX, MIA. ONT is okay (booked Standard, got Mustang convertible, ideal for a PSP getaway). Remember: you can change cars later, for any reason, at any Hertz location. I often do, when I find flaws, or just don't like it.
I used you link Ben for the Cap X card. How long does it take to get Hertz President associated with one's account?
after a week of my status not updating I reached out to hertz directly and they updating my status.
@ CK -- Thanks for the support! For me it posted within one day of registering. I shared my experience in this post:
https://onemileatatime.com/guides/capital-one-venture-x-hertz/
The point of the Board is to clarify who has a car. It is not a status trip. If your name is not on the Board, to the office for you. This is not a rare occurrence. Being a President’s Circle member does not mean you will always have immediate access to a car. Really depends more on whether other people actually return their car on time than anything Hertz controls. Ben is unlikely to...
The point of the Board is to clarify who has a car. It is not a status trip. If your name is not on the Board, to the office for you. This is not a rare occurrence. Being a President’s Circle member does not mean you will always have immediate access to a car. Really depends more on whether other people actually return their car on time than anything Hertz controls. Ben is unlikely to ever use Hertz at MIA but the location is among the worst primarily due to ex US visitors that seem to have real difficulty returning their car at the right time (day).
FYI you don’t need Presidents status to skip the counter. Just free Gold status.
More of the standard Emerald aisle experience
I would say that Hertz doesn't do a good job differentiating President's Circle from lower Gold elite statuses. Sometimes, the cars in the President's Circle section are lower quality. Most Hertz employees seem to treat all Gold customers the same, when President's Circle should be elevated.
It worked well for me but my expectations are relative low. Never received "Hertz valet" nor have I ever received "expedited vehicle pick-up" either so not sure if its even available or how it works.
A lot of times Presidents Circle cars are not that much better compared to the regular cars. I do like the select your own car and once it really helped me save a lot of money but this was...
It worked well for me but my expectations are relative low. Never received "Hertz valet" nor have I ever received "expedited vehicle pick-up" either so not sure if its even available or how it works.
A lot of times Presidents Circle cars are not that much better compared to the regular cars. I do like the select your own car and once it really helped me save a lot of money but this was before covid (played the game and reserved only a regular car but wanted a Suburban).
For a 'free' status (I had it via United 1K) it is pretty good but nothing to write home about.
Did you book through the portal (earning 10X) or directly with Hertz? And, presumably, you paid with the Venture X?
You can also get the President Status by being a 1k on United.
Not anymore.
I’ve been Presidents Circle for years now. Have been driven back to the airport many times by Hertz rapid return agent. Did you know if your Presidents
Circle and don’t see a car in the Presidents isle that you like you can pick a car from ANY of the Gold Isles also? I found this out in PDX once. They had a mad rush of President Circle members arrive at the same time and...
I’ve been Presidents Circle for years now. Have been driven back to the airport many times by Hertz rapid return agent. Did you know if your Presidents
Circle and don’t see a car in the Presidents isle that you like you can pick a car from ANY of the Gold Isles also? I found this out in PDX once. They had a mad rush of President Circle members arrive at the same time and couldn’t fill the President Isle fast enough. Agent said if your Presidents Circle you can wait for us to bring up more cars or just grab one from the other Gold isles. On a future visit their wasn’t a car that I liked and asked the agent if I could pick a car from the Gold isle and he said if your presidents circle you can chose from any isle not just Presidents.
I've done that at the airports in Fort Myers and St. Louis.
I've been President's Circle for several years. In my previous employment I had a Hertz outlet just around the corner from my office and used them regularly. They always treated me well. One thing they would do for me is to waive the drop fee if I was picking up downtown and dropping at the airport, or vice versa. The upshot was that it was almost always substantially cheaper to rent a car to get...
I've been President's Circle for several years. In my previous employment I had a Hertz outlet just around the corner from my office and used them regularly. They always treated me well. One thing they would do for me is to waive the drop fee if I was picking up downtown and dropping at the airport, or vice versa. The upshot was that it was almost always substantially cheaper to rent a car to get to the airport than to take a cab. A drop fee would have occasionally changed that. I would usually book the "Manager's Special" at the airport (no area to choose your own car at that particular location) and got some amazing vehicles, from a Prius, to a Volvo, to a Mustang.
I've had a variety of very nice cars from Hertz over the years, though I do find the selection at my new airport a little SUV heavy. They're usually more car than I need, and burn more gas than I'd prefer.
On the minus side, I find Hertz's app buggy and the website occasionally has problems
Hertz is SUV heavy in North America because US carmakers are no longer making sedans. They think Americans and Canadians only want to drive crossovers, SUVs and trucks. Meanwhile, foreign carmakers are still making and selling sedans.
I have had Hertz President's Circle status since 2015. I have NEVER received "Hertz valet" nor have I ever received "expedited vehicle pick-up." I'm not even sure what "expedited vehicle pick-up" is exactly.
I use Autoslash. I almost always book a full-size sedan, although sometimes a higher class or speciality class of rental car is cheaper. In that circumstance, I'll book the premium option. I almost always get a premium or luxury sedan; generally...
I have had Hertz President's Circle status since 2015. I have NEVER received "Hertz valet" nor have I ever received "expedited vehicle pick-up." I'm not even sure what "expedited vehicle pick-up" is exactly.
I use Autoslash. I almost always book a full-size sedan, although sometimes a higher class or speciality class of rental car is cheaper. In that circumstance, I'll book the premium option. I almost always get a premium or luxury sedan; generally a Chrysler 300, which I really like. Increasingly, rental car branches don't have sedans because Ford, Chevrolet and Chrysler basically stopped making sedans in 2020 and 2021. Lately, I've been getting Ford Mustangs and Ford Edges since no sedans have been on the lot. I don't like getting Chevrolet or other General Motors cars because they typically don't have Apple CarPlay installed and there's no other navigation option.
My biggest complaint about Hertz besides worthless points and HORRIBLE customer service -- when I have a major issue I typically just email the CEO of Hertz and I get a telephone call from a regional VP or operations director within a day -- is SiriusXM satellite. Sometimes it is included free of charge on premium, luxury or speciality cars. Other times it isn't included. Yet other times you may the absurd daily fee for the SiriusXM option but the branch never properly activates it. I think it's outrageous that SiriusXM Satellite isn't included free of charge. After all, Hertz doesn't charge for regular radio or even air conditioning.
Anyone have experience with Hertz PC in Europe? Are you able to pick an automatic from the lot even if you rented a manual?
Hmm....
"No additional driver fee for a spouse or domestic partner in the United Statues"
United *Statues*?
Looks like you got autocorrected.
Used to be Presidents Club for many years. I got tired of the indifferent to horrible customer service. I switched to National this year and while not perfect, it has been much better. The two programs are essentially the same otherwise.