Hertz - Is 5 Star worth a "Rental Run"

I'm a rental short of 5 star for next year. Are the benefits worth a trip to the Local Edition office for a quick cheap rental ?

Most of my rentals are domestic booked as full size. My company often has 1 class upgrade coupons available and an occasional free day as part of our corporate program with Hertz.

Any thought on this or comments on the benefits that you are getting as a 5 star is appreciated.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by WestCoastFlyer:
I'm a rental short of 5 star for next year. Are the benefits worth a trip to the Local Edition office for a quick cheap rental ?

Most of my rentals are domestic booked as full size. My company often has 1 class upgrade coupons available and an occasional free day as part of our corporate program with Hertz.

Any thought on this or comments on the benefits that you are getting as a 5 star is appreciated. </font>

I have been 5-star for several years and have founds the benefits to be marginal. Upgrades vary by location, most of the time it is to a Sable from a Taurus. If you are only one rental short, then I would go for it, but I wouldn't expect a whole lot next year.

Honestly, I would not go out of my way for 5-Star. I have not seen any real benefits over basic Gold as one. I admit I normally rent Premium as a minimum, anyway, but even when I use double-upgrade coupons and rent an intermediate, an intermediate is what I get even at locations with larger cars available.

President's Club evidently means something, with many reporting Luxury or Prestige Collection vehicles no matter how low they rent. But even then, that depends on the location.

The main benefit I can see of 5-Star is the free rental day coupons, but then you need to already be a 5-Star and rent subsequently to earn them, so just making 5-Star doesn't get you any.

During the period that I was a Hertz 5*, I found there to be absolutely no benefit. Was never upgraded, never received any "special" treatment, etc. Being PC for three years running now, the experience is a little different...the car is usually in the PC area and I always get an upgrade of at least one car class. I'd have to also toss in a "no" and say save your ca$h.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by fredmartens:
During the period that I was a Hertz 5*, I found there to be absolutely no benefit. Was never upgraded, never received any "special" treatment, etc</font>

Sounds like my story. Been a 5* for a few years and have got nothing "special". I'd say not worth it if your a Gold already.

Well, I am new to Hertz, so no expert on the benfits of frequent rentals yet,, but if you are really only ONE rental short, I'd go for it.

The amount of time and money spent is so minimal (maybe 30-40$$ and an hour of your time..) why not go for it ?

My opinion is that I would skip the mileage run as 5* does not seem to bring any substantial benefits. Last week, I went to Hertz desk in ICT to get the keys. I go outside to discover that I am in a Chevy Cavalier, which I did get changed. But, as a 5*, I would assume that I would never have to worry about getting a Cavalier.

No need to make the run in my opinion.

No !

I have to say I get no upgrades worth shouting about. Ocasionally I get a Crown Vic but my biggest beef is that I rent 20 times a year for 5-6 days at a time, I emailed Hertz and asked about premium - never got an answer

If you are one rental run away from 5 star I would definitely go for it. 9 times out of 10 I get a one class upgrade--but what is really a good benefit is the free day coupons. There are far fewer black-out day restrictions and they have saved me a good amount of money on rentals around Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays.

Another benefit is the availability issue. This fall I was absloutely out of luck in finding a rental in the SFO bay area--ANYWHERE. I plead my case as a 5* and the staff at SFO went over and above the call of duty to accomodate me.

I was in the President's Club for a few years and it never did anything for me.

5* is worthless, don't bother.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by SEA_Tigger:

President's Club evidently means something, with many reporting Luxury or Prestige Collection vehicles no matter how low they rent. But even then, that depends on the location.

</font>


Just to be clear as a PC I find the upgrade to Luxury or Prestige to be very rare indeed. The last 3 rentals (BOS, IAH and SJC) booked as a full size got me only a Taurus, and in every case I had to go in and ask for an upgrade. I got 1 FY (Diamante), I Marquis and no upgrade the last time (At least I had them downgrade the rate to Midsize and kept the Taurus).

Quite honestly the ONLY benefit I see as a PC is that my car is usually closer to the bus when I get off. If I wasn't mandated by company policy to use Hertz I would have NO LOYALTY at all!!!

Just my .02

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by jimc_usa:
I have to say I get no upgrades worth shouting about. Ocasionally I get a Crown Vic but my biggest beef is that I rent 20 times a year for 5-6 days at a time, I emailed Hertz and asked about premium - never got an answer</font>

Jim

My rentals normally average about $467 because I am renting for a 7-10 day period. I also emailed Hertz about PC based upon &gt;$9,000 rental fees in 5 months,but received no response. I called and the person I spoke to said Hertz would review my request and still no answer (over 1 month ago). Let me know if you ever get a response from hertz on your request.

I'd go for it. While I agree that the automatic upgrading for Five Star is very inconsistent, I often received multi-class upgrades when I went to the Gold Counter and asked if any "Five Star Upgrades" were available.

Think about the potential return: You invest $30 now on a one day rental. Depending on how you value it, one surprise upgrade next year might equal or exceed the value of what you spent to get the status. And, if you happen to rent 15 times next year, you'll earn a free day certificate.

It's not a great program, but I do think it's worth the additional rental.

I agree with the Snorkmaster. If it's only one rental, find something cheap for one day and you'll get the return back with some upgrade and free day coupons next year. But, don't expect much. 5* is no great shakes.

5* gets me very nice treatment at my Local Edition. Part of it is because I've done quite a few rentals with them, but part of it is because some sort of "frequent renter" flag shows on their screen. (They've mentioned it.) I don't always get upgraded, but when I don't I get the best car in class.

5* gets me upgrades about 25% of the time at airports. Most of my rentals anymore are dirt-cheap weekend rentals, so my expectations are never high. I feel Hertz delivers a more consistent product in terms of service and efficiency across the board, so I'm sticking with them.

My experience this year is that 5* is definitely worth it. I usually reserve a deeply discounted (CDP) midsize. 75% of the time this year I was actually driving a Mustang or a SUV. Granted I spent almost 9 months visiting the same customer each week, and got to know the Sun night manager well since I was always on the last flight in and he had to stay late for my arrival each week. On a couple of occasions I even had a Mustang Convertable on a midsize rate - great deal for Mardi Gras week, eh? And one trip through PVD netted me an S-Type on a compact rate! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif

Granted, this is not typical of all locations. At LAX I consider it a deal if they simply upgrade to a Taurus http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif SEA is another place that is tight on handing out freebies, but they have given me a comp tank of gas on numerous occasions this year.

In the end, though, YMMV depending on the locations you frequent. Small airport locations with fewer 5* and PC clients tend to be more generous than their bigger cousins.

GMF

I find I get upgraded about 90% of the time and just booked the free rental day coupon to save $60 for a personal rental. Therefore, I think 5* was worth it for me this year. One time I booked an $18 midsize rental and got a Grand Marquis.

Five Star's benefits are not meaningful, except the nice leather luggage tag I received.

President's Circle is, in my experience, very valuable. While I do not get Luxury vehicles, absolutely every time I've rented as PC, I've received a one-class upgrade. This always gets me into a Premium vehicle for a full size vehicle rate.

Interesting, no PC luggage tag, however.

I should add that, although I don't think 5* helps out that much, I do think Hertz is the best rental car company out there in terms of service and product. Having rented from another company recently, the difference is clear.