National - Good luck??? Why I am switching from Hertz

Hello fellow National renters...

So I used to be a National guy, until a job change mandated use of Hertz. Funny thing is, we had NO discount...(mustve been a good spiff of our travel serpent...er, cooridinator) I was a PC member for the past ~6 years and can tell you I have NEVER been happier then to switch back to National. Switching jobs meant I could come back to the green family!!

I rent "full size" cars every week...with some travel consistently to larger locations-IAD/DCA/LAX/SFO/ORD. I got to know the hertz guys..and still was unhappy. My last 9 rentals were: (remember, FULL SIZE bookings, with 2 car class guarantee upgrades :rolleyes: ) 3 camrys, 3 altimas, 1 maxima, 2 FREAKING tart-cart-grammy-grocery-getter-ugly-as-sin equinox's! I vividly remember one camry with 43K miles on it! The maxima didnt have POWER WINDOWS!!!

Turn the clock ahead to my last 6 National rentals: (remember, full-size rentals, with a status match to executive elite) 2 Chargers (one with 315 +/- miles, 3 toyota avalons-LOADED UP!, and one BRAND-SPANKING-NEW Explorer w/18 miles. Loaded up as well!!! I can not think of a car that did NOT have the sat. radio working... :p

I don't feel the rewards program is anywhere near as strong as Hertz's-with the ability to do european rentals on points now w/hertz, but I am sick of 200+ rentals days a year in a cr@ppy car for a week of free cars!

Anyway...just thought I would give my $.02 on National!

I read the Hertz board sometimes and I cannot figure out why anyone rents from them unless mandated by their employers. People continually complaining about old high mileage cars and lack of upgrades. With EA/ES it is the exception rather than the rule to not get an upgrade.

Welcome back. :)

The thing I don't get is why all agencies haven't copied EA/ES. It has to be less-labor-intensive than #1 Club Gold. (Think of the times you've had to go to the Gold booth because they were running an hour behind on getting the cars assigned and names on the board.) It lets every renter pick what's important to him/her. If I'm going to downtown Seattle and parallel parking every day, I might actually want an Altima off the EA. If I have 3 people with me, then I want the biggest sedan on the ES. If it's just me in most cities, then I want working sat radio above all else. I almost always get a good-enough car, even if the ES doesn't have amazing upgrades that day, and am happy with the rental. In ~30 rentals per year, I maybe have two or three total where I have some sort of issue. (Empty ES or something like that.)

80% of my Hertz rentals leave me unhappy - mainly because the sat radio isn't working. I know Hertz is rolling out their "Gold Choice" thing...I'm just surprised they still bother with their whole system with the boards and (in many places) assigned cars with hangtags and all that. I left Hertz in 2007 precisely because that system began breaking down - they almost never had my name on the board at arrival because they were 1-2 hours behind.

I rent a lot with both National and Hertz. They both have their good points and bad points. Last two rentals with National had full size and received Avalon and 300 Limited. Last two rentals with Hertz with full size res were Camry and Avenger. Biggest advantage with Hertz is points system and specefic cars that can be reserved. Recently started with a large company and they use National. We have LDW included and guaranteed rates, which can be used for leisure rentals. I have a week long res for IAD for a luxury vehicle for about $300 with all taxes included. Using a regular discount a mid size car for that same period is $500 with taxes. That being said, I will still use Hertz for local rentals, as I can save on taxes and usually get good prices.

That being said, I will still use Hertz for local rentals, as I can save on taxes and usually get good prices.

And in many places, a National local rental is....Enterprise. :eek:

I always use HLE for local rentals...maybe Budget once in a blue moon because they have trucks. I can't stand anything about Enterprise and will be hypersensitive if I ever notice Enterprise's attitude, culture, or processes seeping into the National brand. Or Alamo for that matter. To date, I haven't...

I too switched from Hertz to National late last year and have never looked back. Free days seem to accumulate rather slowly, but I think with the 1-2-Free promos it evens out a bit (for domestic awards at least). I would agree with everything the OP said about cars. I'll also add that National has saved me hours this year on pickup/drop-off over where I was with Hertz last year. At least 3 times at DFW I had to wait >1 hour in 100+ degree heat in line at the Gold booth because the board wasn't working just to get stuck in a corola. I find that their "guaranteed" upgrades are very much subject to availability.

One big annoyance with National is the lack of local locations (Enterprise is too annoying to count).

Free days seem to accumulate rather slowly,

If Hertz's program is based on $ spend (from their web site it looks like 1 point per $), then the free days can accumulate really slowly for cheapskates like myself. Right now I earn about 1 free day/month with National (ignoring the 1-2-free promos). With Hertz it would take me at least 2 months to earn 1 free day.

Make sure it's a true comparison.

A National free day can be used for one-ways any day of the week. The Hertz 500 points free weekend day can not. It's 1,000 points for a one-way weekend day, 1,200 for a one-way weekday.

National's regular system is based on number of transactions. Hertz's system is based on revenue. Unless you spend a lot of money with Hertz, points are like a drop in the ocean.

I rent from Hertz for one reason, and one reason alone: consecutive 1 or 2 day rentals on National don't count as an additional rental for computing free days, so if Hertz is cheaper, I'll hop in one of their cars for a day or two and rack up some points with them too.

Hertz is crap... I think the CEOs really need to do a undercover boss sort of thing and come and rent from their own company even at major locations not as them selves to see the level of vehicles and dis-service.

National beats Hertz any day of the week and anyone who has had a contrary experience is the most unlucky man on the face of this planet!

I rent from Hertz for one reason, and one reason alone: consecutive 1 or 2 day rentals on National don't count as an additional rental for computing free days, so if Hertz is cheaper, I'll hop in one of their cars for a day or two and rack up some points with them too.

Are you talking about the same location consecutively, or different national locations consecutively? If the latter, I haven't seemed to have a problem with that.

Are you talking about the same location consecutively, or different national locations consecutively? If the latter, I haven't seemed to have a problem with that.

Consecutive rentals at the exact same location do not earn multiple rental credits.

National beats Hertz any day of the week and anyone who has had a contrary experience is the most unlucky man on the face of this planet!

Well, or they're renting from a National licensee in a couple of cities I can think of. :D Oddly, several of those cities have great Hertz people.

I was loyal to Hertz for years.....

Then they adopted a "cut the service" model where thier prices were still higher then National and their service went from outstanding to pathetic. THat combined with the old beat up cars sent me away. National is not great, but at least I am not paying top dollar for horrid cars and service! the last blow as a "corolla" as a full size "upgrade" for a top tier member. Said car smelled like an ashtray, had 50K miles on it and looked like someone had beat on it with a baseball bat. If you want to change get in line with all the other unlucky gold members. While in line I called National, booked a car and have never looked back.

HLE is better, but I rarely use local rentals.

Hello fellow National renters...

So I used to be a National guy, until a job change mandated use of Hertz. Funny thing is, we had NO discount...(mustve been a good spiff of our travel serpent...er, cooridinator) I was a PC member for the past ~6 years and can tell you I have NEVER been happier then to switch back to National. Switching jobs meant I could come back to the green family!!

I rent "full size" cars every week...with some travel consistently to larger locations-IAD/DCA/LAX/SFO/ORD. I got to know the hertz guys..and still was unhappy. My last 9 rentals were: (remember, FULL SIZE bookings, with 2 car class guarantee upgrades :rolleyes: ) 3 camrys, 3 altimas, 1 maxima, 2 FREAKING tart-cart-grammy-grocery-getter-ugly-as-sin equinox's! I vividly remember one camry with 43K miles on it! The maxima didnt have POWER WINDOWS!!!

Turn the clock ahead to my last 6 National rentals: (remember, full-size rentals, with a status match to executive elite) 2 Chargers (one with 315 +/- miles, 3 toyota avalons-LOADED UP!, and one BRAND-SPANKING-NEW Explorer w/18 miles. Loaded up as well!!! I can not think of a car that did NOT have the sat. radio working... :p

I don't feel the rewards program is anywhere near as strong as Hertz's-with the ability to do european rentals on points now w/hertz, but I am sick of 200+ rentals days a year in a cr@ppy car for a week of free cars!

Anyway...just thought I would give my $.02 on National!

I used to like Hertz, but their fraudulent charges on gas and additional days are just sickening. Now, I might still have 12 times to do Hertz to keep the Five-Star, but most of the other rentals will go to National.

International rental? Either National or EuropCar. Hertz is just ridiculous.

Up until a couple of years ago, the company I work for required that we rent from Hertz. Then, they switched to National. I travel nearly every week.

As to the cars, not much difference in my experience. Hertz always upgraded me, and except for one particularly bad experience with a delayed plane that arrived 10 hours late and Hertz had removed my reservation and took hours to correct when I was already tired, I liked doing business with them.

National has been equally good except for one thing. (My company contract includes LDW). Hertz never, ever, tried to blame me for a scuff or ding that I did not cause. National can be overzealous in inspecting the cars. One agent in DTW even tagged me for having something hanging down under the car, causing me delay to go to the office for paperwork. Like I would have seen something under the car when I picked it up? Why me, I had LDW? Being Exec Elite makes no difference?

For the most part, I am indifferent to both. It is just a rental car. And both have efficient checkin/checkout, which does matter to me.

Consecutive rentals at the exact same location do not earn multiple rental credits.

Except for cars dropped off just before midnight and picked up just after midnight :).

I would think if Hertz didn't have so many corporate clients they would be gone. I realize everyone has different things that they value, but I have yet to find any advantage to Hertz other than they have more locations. Years ago they would also extend their hours when flights were late. Now on Saturdays I have found the counter closed before the scheduled arrival time of the last flight of the day.

I value time and choice so National is the obvious choice for me. I would much rather pick a car and never have to visit the counter, or have someone else pick out what they think I might want to drive. The only thing worse than getting a car that reeks of smoke is to have to go back to the counter or kiosk to get another vehicle, where they act as if it is a huge favor to swap cars.

Hertz has some seriously high mileage cars. I had a station manager keep a straight face and tell me he didn't think 38,000 was that high a mileage for a rental car "because we maintain them so well." Problem is they don't, and 38,000 on a rental car is a lot harder than 38,000 miles on your own car, or even on a company pool car.

I really dislike the locations that don't have the aisle service for National, as they have really spoiled me with being able to pick what I want to drive on the aisle. At least, so far, even at a franchise location I have yet to find a 38,000+ mile car at National.

Had a rental with Hertz yesterday to use up the last of my two free day coupons I had. Reservation was for premium and they tried to give me a Maxima. Only other premium was for a base Taurus (no leather etc). Had to return the Taurus because it was smoked in. They had a 300 but couldn't give it to me for some reason. I could upgrade to the Camaro for a special price of $150 a day. Mind you I already hade a premium res, and am PC. They finally gave me a SUV. On the way out passed a few Lincolns and other nice cars that didn't exist according to them. Last two rentals with National had a full size res and drove off with Avalon and 300 Limited. Will only use Hertz for HLE rentals, because I do not like Enterprise.

When it comes to car rentals I have a choice between National and Hertz, but Corp account, National rates are less, I can use either one for work or lesure, so I always pick National. If I don't see the car i want, I just ask the agent, and in 30 seconds, I'm told where the car is, when I check out, no surpises and no added fee's. When I can rent a new less than 50 miles Chrsyler 300C for 3 days and only pay $115 that is with all tax's and fee's why am I going to Hertz and spend MORE for a lessor car. I'm lost on why my employer doesn't just for go Hertz and just have National. With the rates I pay, I don't care about points, I have enough rental credits to get me a free rental for a couple of weeks.