Hertz - President's Circle

My year to date rentals will be 37, 3 short of the President's Circle threshold.

Has anyone received President's for being "close"? Any suggestions based on past experience as to how to convince Hertz that I merit another trip around the President's Circle?

Without wanting to sound flip .. my answer would be" "rent three more times"!!! Unless you've given Hertz about $7k this year from your rentals, I doubt very much they will keep you among the elites. You could do a search through various similar threads on these boards over the past year-18 months ... the perceived wisdom is unless you shell out moola bucks, Mr Hertz won't be too inclined to keep you PC unless you do 40 rentals. There's a weekend coming up .. you could go for three cheap weekend day rentals! Last weekend I split a planned two-day rental into two single rentals .. Ford Taurus for $18.09 each day .. and that got me over the hump! Have a good Christmas!

[This message has been edited by UAPremExecflyer (edited Dec 23, 2003).]

And even if you spend $7K or more, it's not guaranteed they'll keep you as a PC.

You're too close not to do three rentals for the cheapest thing on the lot to be sure.

Go have dinner and catch a movie, then bring it back and go home. Repeat twice.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by SEA_Tigger:
And even if you spend $7K or more, it's not guaranteed they'll keep you as a PC.

You're too close not to do three rentals for the cheapest thing on the lot to be sure.

Go have dinner and catch a movie, then bring it back and go home. Repeat twice.</font>

Even cheaper would be to bring it back within 1 hour and only pay the hourly rate!

I'm also 3 shy but for some reason the Seattle rental rates are through the roof for the rest of the year. I guess I won't bother. Is it really that big a deal?

QL

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by QuietLion:
I'm also 3 shy but for some reason the Seattle rental rates are through the roof for the rest of the year. I guess I won't bother. Is it really that big a deal?

QL</font>


Did you check the weekend rate witht he AAA discount?

You should try to book through the 1-800 CAR GOLD number as ask for the AAA discount.

For the person that says just rent for an hour. I don't think that would be a good idea since they have to charge a minimum of 24hrs. first then they can go into extra hours.

Also just as long as you make sure you just ask for your AAA discount that will be enough. The agent usually just goes by whats on your profile so if it is not on the profile just make sure you have them check that as well. It doesn't really matter what number you call in on because it all goes to the same agents. It just depends on how they answer hello. Depending on the number you call it tells them ahead of time on a screen that you called in on either the gold number, AAA, ect.. There are only a few departments that actually handle certain specific numbers. Like International, Road Side, Web support, and Platinum. Each of these has there own specific specially trained agents for that type of rental. The other 800 numbers help Heryz out for tracking measures to see what kind of volume each other type of company brings in. Like AAA, USAA

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by :paul5E

I know your frustration with this one. A few years a go I was coming off an inside assignment that had me off the road for about 14 months. It was living hell having been top tier with almost everyone forever. So I got on the phone and explained my situation to everyone and every single program (AA, MR and HH) and everyone either comped me the status for the year or issued a challenge that allowed me to show a pattern of activity consistent with the top tier. Everyone that is with the exception of Hertz. They were adamant about 40 rentals for PC so I did as you said and dropped off the car every day and got a new one while on multiple day trips. I was especially pleased with Hertz during this time period every time I had to walk 2 or 3 hundred yards extra to get my car when it was not in the PC area! Boy was that a good move on their part!

While this certainly got me to PC quickly it must have cost Hertz's a bundle. Think about all the extra processing, washing, paperwork, check-out, check-in etc...

Sometimes policy and strict adherence to it can get to be pretty expensive and actually contrary to the original purpose. I find this to be the case in almost every instance that big companies fail to empower their Customer Service folks!

My .02

</font>

Thanks Paul,

I appreciate your perspective. I called the Hertz Gold Customer Relations number and was told that the record indicated that my account was under review by the Director of Customer Relations. After a few minutes on hold, I was informed that I would be granted 2004 PC membership based on the total number of days rented in 2004, which was over 120. The CSR said that the standard policy is 40 rentals annually but sometimes exceptions are made due to history and total rental days. I was pleased with this news. Hertz and their response made me a satisfied customer and one that will take any, and every, opportunity to rent exclusively from them. Additionally, I will now share every positive experience to illustrate to others how Hertz has been helpful to me and makes renting cars while traveling a pleasure.

PC proved to be a great blessing today. I am on a trip in Portland, OR and had a Hyundai XG350 assigned to me yesterday. Nice car, IMO, and one I would have kept. In lieu of the 40-rental policy, I am now playing the game of multiple returns to reach 40 ASAP. I returned the car late this morning in a "blizzard". The car is certainly not the best in snow but I managed to return it all right. After returning the car, I found a 2003 Grand Prix in my stall (talk about pseudo-one class upgrades from Full size: rolleyes: ). As stated, I hardly think this is a viable upgrade especially when there were many Volvos and Jags sitting unassigned. I returned to the Gold counter and inquired what cars were available. I asked for the 2004 Grand Prix, like the one I had last week w/leather - nice car. The agent said that they would have to clean one but would have one in 10 - 15 minutes. After 10 minutes, the counter manager said that the car they were cleaning for me had some kind of starting problem and apologized. He said that he would offer me the Volvo XC70 at the same daily rate. &lt;IMG SRC="http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif"&gt; was my thought. The manager said that with weather like what Portland was getting this would be a better car. He is certainly right! I guarantee that this would never have happened if I had not been PC. I have been 5* many times and I always had to pay an additional amount from my company negotiated fee. There are some things I do like in life and PC level is one.


[This message has been edited by RobotDoctor (edited Jan 06, 2004).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by paul5E:
Even cheaper would be to bring it back within 1 hour and only pay the hourly rate!

</font>

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