Hertz - Must I fly in order to rent a car at the airport

Noticed this term on my recent rental contract with Hertz at SFO (purchased through Priceline name-your-own-price).

"You certify that you arrived by plane within the past 24 hours."

Is this a common requirement?

My contract from Hertz at Miami Airport said the same thing. It wasn't an issue for me because I had flown in the day before, so I didn't bother to ask about it. But I did wonder what happens to local people who wanted to do the FL driveout and their closest participating airport happens to be MIA.

I know Enterprise and in some cases Dollar/Thrifty tend to have a "must show return airline ticket" policy at certain airport locations, but that's intended to keep the mileage low on their fleet. (Statistically, people flying in have a low average daily mileage. Someone who lives where they rent typically rack up more mileage, unless its a replacement rental.) Local people would have a refused rental in the case of Enterprise. In the case of Dollar, local people would have a mileage cap and/or surcharge.

I have never had any issue with a local rental at the airports in the Bay Area, CA. I believe the issue is the local trans tax/surcharge, especially high at SFO, though I understand that OAK and SJC recently increased.

I don't own a car, so I often rent from Hertz at EWR when I need a car, never had an issue.

I don't own a car, so I often rent from Hertz at EWR when I need a car, never had an issue.

I've rented at IAD many times w/o flying in first. It probably has to do that they're automatically adding the airport taxes to each rental.

I've rented at IAD many times w/o flying in first. It probably has to do that they're automatically adding the airport taxes to each rental.

There really isn't any escaping airport taxes. It usually has something to do with the privilege fee.

So what happens if the renter says they can't "certify they arrived by airplane within the past 24 hours?" I'm pretty sure the agency wouldn't refuse the rental for that, nor impose a penalty surcharge. Would a new contract simply be printed without the verbage?

There used to be something about the airport fee applying if you use the rental agency's shuttle service. I got them to remove the fee a few years back in PHX when I rented as a walk-in customer.

Up here in Canada, I've rented from airports as a local many many times. I've never run into an issue or been asked to show a boarding card. Heck, I've walked up to the counter in jeans and a t-shirt with no bags and they don't even bat an eye.

As far as the PLC, I've never been successful in getting it removed from an airport contract. However, I have been successful with off-site agencies. Since I didn't get into the shuttle, they know I didn't secretly come from the airport. Actually, I've seen the opposite of what the OP saw on his RA. At Enterprise YVR, you have to initial to say "I did not deplane at YVR within the last 24 hours". As I had a Victoria, BC address and a ferry receipt, I was in the clear.

I live near DCA. I have rented cars there. No problem.

Rental multiple times at DFW without flying in or out that day... I've also done this at SLC without problems.

I think there's also a no-poaching rule between the airport and local edition locations. LE's can't pick up people at the airport, and airport locations can't rent to locals.

Sometimes there's a rental car tax or fee that's applied only when you arrive by plane within 24 hours (so as not to soak locals on rentals; only soak those who have no say in the matter). It seems odd, though, to certify that you DID arrive by plane; more likely you would certify that you did NOT. There's a choice for this on the web site when making your reservation, and it's generally worthwhile to set it to Not Arriving By Plane if you are not, although whether or not it makes any difference varies widely by airport. When I rented from SFO after being there for a few days one time, I said I wasn't arriving by plane (perfectly legit after 3 days) and at least one tax or fee normally levied there was not charged.

In my experience the answer is no, you don't have to fly to rent a car at the airport. (I used to rent at PIT, too, before there were more HLEs here.) But that doesn't mean there's not one exception out there somewhere.

I think there's also a no-poaching rule between the airport and local edition locations. LE's can't pick up people at the airport, and airport locations can't rent to locals.

Hah! I frequently violate both of those. :D

Local branches are not allowed to pick up renters at the airport. But if the renter takes a train, bus, taxi, etc to go off-airport, that's fine. In fact, I'll bet the local branches closest to the airport are used to getting this kind of customer on a regular basis. Ex, rent one-way to the airport for a week. When I did San Francisco to NY, the HLE said they've gotten similar requests like mine on occasion in the past.

Most companies are okay with local renters going to the airport. After all, isn't it nice to charge them often double the HLE rate? :D Enterprise and Dollar are noteworthy exceptions, however.

I have rented at airports quite a number of times when I did not arrive via air. Never had a problem.

Note however that when you do a pickup/dropoff at the airport, airport fees add substantially to the rental cost. If a Hertz Local Edition is available, it will often be much cheaper.

Perhaps in other areas the HLE may often be less expensive, but where I live it's about 50/50. Also, the vehicle selection is much better at the airport. And if you want to pick up or return to a LE after 6:00pm, Saturday afternoon, or Sunday you are out of luck. The extra day this forces you to keep the car can sometimes negate any cost savings.