Hertz - Double upgrade + driving abroad

Hi, please be gentle with this Hertz Rookie.

I will be in NYC december and am planning on renting a car for 4 days to drive up state to BUF/Niagara and then head over the border to YYZ and stay for a few nights, before heading back to NYC.

Are there any penalties or other rules I should be aware of for taking the vehicle across the Canadian border?

As BMI Gold I was given Hertz Gold Double Upgrade Vouchers and a CDP code.
Lets say want a prestige Mercedes SUV. Do I book a lower class car and then show the Voucher to get an upgrade? Or is the upgrade automatically processed when I book using the CDP code?

Many thanks for any advice. :)

Petrus

You won't have any issues driving across the border; I've done it many times in Hertz cars. No special paperwork, insurance or otherwise is required.

You can't use your double upgrade voucher to get into any prestige cars. If you want a prestige, you'll have to book a prestige.

The voucher should have a PC code for the upgrade; so when you make your reservation you would use the BMI CDP code and the PC code for the voucher, which would let you get upgraded... at least in theory. My experience with upgrade vouchers is that they're only sometimes honoured.

Finally, note that the manhattan locations sometimes have very high rates so depending on your flexibility you might consider pricing a pickpu in Stanford, CT or Newark airport and taking the train to get the car.

Hi, please be gentle with this Hertz Rookie.

I will be in NYC december and am planning on renting a car for 4 days to drive up state to BUF/Niagara and then head over the border to YYZ and stay for a few nights, before heading back to NYC.

Are there any penalties or other rules I should be aware of for taking the vehicle across the Canadian border?

As BMI Gold I was given Hertz Gold Double Upgrade Vouchers and a CDP code.
Lets say want a prestige Mercedes SUV. Do I book a lower class car and then show the Voucher to get an upgrade? Or is the upgrade automatically processed when I book using the CDP code?

Many thanks for any advice. :)

Petrus

Petrus , it's a journey I have done many times , quite frequently using Hertz .
No problems taking the car into Canada.
The advice about not hiring from a Manhattan location is good advice.
My own recommendation would be use the Hertz location at North White Plains (I'm presuming you are stopping in NYC first). The Hertz depot is just across from the Metro North station on the Harlem line, which is easily accessed via Grand Central Station .

http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/mnr/html/mnrmap.htm

You can either drop it off at the airport or back to NWP with normally no additional charge if you choose the OW rental option.
The Hertz depot is ideally situated to connect to the road network for the journey North. It's very easy.

If you want any further info, please PM me and I'll provide further details for you .
Car hire , journey , sights on the way etc
I90 (NYS thruway) is a fairly boring route and I would probably use RT17 instead .

However after me posting all that , have you thought of just flying up to Buffalo, or even Rochester and hiring a car from there ?
You are looking at a journey of approx 400 miles from White Plains to Buffalo (7 hours ish)..the Falls are about 45 mins from Buffalo...Toronto is another 2 hours or so from the Falls.
Again I've hired cars OW to/from BUF & ROC and not paid OW charges.
You could fly OW and drive the other.

PM me by all means.

Upgrade coupons do not change your actual reservation class since upgrade coupons are subject to availability. These are not guaranteed so if you really need a nicer car then you should reserve one.

When the location reviews the manifest, it will just show your actual reserved class. They will only see the upgrade coupon when you arrive and look at your information at an individual level.

Thanks to all of you for the good advice! ^

Will pm you Hammy.