Hertz - Smallest/Cheapest Neverlost Cars?

Is there a list around anywhere of which Hertz cars or car classes have Neverlost available? Anything smaller or cheaper than a Taurus that regularly has it?

Never heard of a list that has this information. From reading past threads pertaining to Neverlost it seems that most FT'ers who reserved anything smaller than full size and request Neverlost end up getting a full size.

Smallest car I have had with it is an Oldsmobile Alero, which is a "Specialty Intermediate" - YC.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by BigJC:
Never heard of a list that has this information. From reading past threads pertaining to Neverlost it seems that most FT'ers who reserved anything smaller than full size and request Neverlost end up getting a full size. </font>

How is such a reservation possible? Hertz.com seems to know which car classes have NL available and which don't, and when you call Hertz, the operators know which car class you have to book, too.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by SealBeach:
How is such a reservation possible? Hertz.com seems to know which car classes have NL available and which don't, and when you call Hertz, the operators know which car class you have to book, too.

</font>

It is kind of odd, isn't it. There must be some midsizes out there with NL or they wouldn't let you book that car type. But it still seems like poor fleet management to be constantly giving away those upgrades when they could make a few extra bucks by only allowing full size bookings. Although, the price differential between midsize and full size is usually a lot less than the daily NL charge. So perhaps they'd rather have the reservation for cheap car with NL and give a more expensive car than have a reservation with cheap car w/o NL and have to give a cheap car with NL.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ijgordon:
It is kind of odd, isn't it. There must be some midsizes out there with NL or they wouldn't let you book that car type. But it still seems like poor fleet management to be constantly giving away those upgrades when they could make a few extra bucks by only allowing full size bookings. Although, the price differential between midsize and full size is usually a lot less than the daily NL charge. So perhaps they'd rather have the reservation for cheap car with NL and give a more expensive car than have a reservation with cheap car w/o NL and have to give a cheap car with NL.</font>

This seems exactly right to me. Hertz seems to allow reservations for intermediate with NL at all NL locations, without regard to whether there are actually any intermediates with NL available at the location. Reserving intermediate with NL is almost never going to be cheaper than reserving full-size without NL, except maybe for long one-way rentals.

My gripe is the opposite. Hertz does not allow reservations for SUVs with NL even though there are such vehicles and I can often get one by specific request to the location. So I have to either book a full-size with NL and pay for an upgrade to SUV at the counter if available or book an SUV without NL and ask if they have NL (and pay the daily charge). Sometimes I do it one way and sometimes the other depending on whether the NL or the car is the most important for that trip.

Charles

I am sick of aleros and taurus's, but i just booked a mid-size NL... what can i expect? I have foreign car pref in my profile. Do any foreign cars have NL?

My most recent rental, from a HLE location in San Francisco, was a Nissan Altima (class YC) WITH NL. Really enjoyed it and would take it over a Taurus anyday.

I had NL on a Mazda 626 a couple of years ago, I've got a similar (Mazda 6) reserved in a couple of weeks and I'll see if I get it. I think what happens in general is that they don't have a LOT of cars that size with NL, so they sell out of them a lot.

Steve

I am sick of aleros and taurus's, but i just booked a mid-size NL... what can i expect? I have foreign car pref in my profile. Do any foreign cars have NL?

Chances are you'll end up with a Chevy Classic if you request a midsize with NL -- this is what I seem to get when they actually DO have a midsize with NL and haven't upgraded me to a Taurus.

malibu classic=worst car ever. well, the aztec is worse... the 2004 malibu actually seems pretty nice... but i havent seen that in rental fleets yet.

I have a slightly different question. Thanks to a third day free coupon, I am renting a Lincoln Town Car for the same price as a Crown Vic from Nashville (BNA). This location is a Prestige Location.

Anyone had any experience with a Premium or Luxury with NL? I rent Premium a great deal and have never received one (even YG cars) with Nl, nor have my two previous Luxury rentals had it.

I'm wondering if I request NL for my Town Car, they will kick me up to a Lincoln LS or Volvo S80 since they have NL as standard. I'm a Five Star, but I know that really means nothing when it comes to upgrades. Of course, I'd be ecstatic to be downgauged to a YG Infiniti G35 if those cars usually come with NL.

I have a slightly different question. Thanks to a third day free coupon, I am renting a Lincoln Town Car for the same price as a Crown Vic from Nashville (BNA). This location is a Prestige Location.

Anyone had any experience with a Premium or Luxury with NL? I rent Premium a great deal and have never received one (even YG cars) with Nl, nor have my two previous Luxury rentals had it.

I'm wondering if I request NL for my Town Car, they will kick me up to a Lincoln LS or Volvo S80 since they have NL as standard. I'm a Five Star, but I know that really means nothing when it comes to upgrades. Of course, I'd be ecstatic to be downgauged to a YG Infiniti G35 if those cars usually come with NL.


I rent Gs a lot and have never got one with NL in it. I think for the most part NL comes in prestige and full size cars.

Anyone had any experience with a Premium or Luxury with NL?

Rented two Premiums (got Grand Marquis) in the last year without asking for NL and received it at no charge (same vehicle IIRC). This is at a relatively small office (FAT). Recently asked for and received a Taurus SES with NL. Last rental was a full-size, no NL requested; received a Buick Century, which we actually liked better than the Taurus (we usually put about 1000-1200 miles on the vehicle) for our use. I think it actually got better fuel mileage than the Taurus too.

No experience with Luxury.....cars, that is. :)

Pat

Well I rented a Premium w/ NL today at SEA and got a brand new 2004 Crown Victoria, so evidently they do exist. :)

With gas being the way it is, probably better I got a CV then a S80 or LS that requires Premium. ;)

I'm renting a regular convertible (Group U) with Never Lost next week in LAX. I think I will get a Mustang. Are they really exited? I mean Mustang convertible w/ NL?? If not, what others Hertz will offer me instead?

Thanks in advance.

Well LAX is a Prestige Site so your other option would be a Ford Thunderbird. I believe the Volvo C70 used to exist at some locations (LAS), but not sure if they are in current inventory.

I had ordered a mid-size with NL at MIA but when we picked it up (Alero) in the Gold parking area there was a pre-printed note apologizing for not having one available and offering a $25 credit on a future rental. That's fine if they haven't charged me for NL... haven't done the math yet. ;)

As soon as I got my final bill at dropoff time I realized I was getting a true $25 credit. ^ to Hertz!

I had ordered a mid-size with NL at MIA but when we picked it up (Alero) in the Gold parking area there was a pre-printed note apologizing for not having one available and offering a $25 credit on a future rental. That's fine if they haven't charged me for NL... haven't done the math yet. ;)

If that ever happened to me (especially on a multi-stop business trip), it would be the LAST time I ever rented from Hertz.

If that ever happened to me (especially on a multi-stop business trip), it would be the LAST time I ever rented from Hertz.

Yes, reserving a certain car or feature and believing you thereby are getting it, and then not getting it, is anywhere from annoying to maddening, depending on the circumstances.

Fortunately, I was on a uni-stop leisure trip and, being a member of the pre-technological era, was able to fall back on an archaic printed resource called a "road map." Mrs. Fredd's "map reading" and accompanying verbal directions - e.g. "you should have turned right back there, you idiot" - are as pithy as, and more colorful than, the high-tech version, although I choose not to compare the accuracy. :D

If that ever happened to me (especially on a multi-stop business trip), it would be the LAST time I ever rented from Hertz.

It did happen to me on a multi-stop business trip in SEA, and I was quite furious, but restrained myself at the counter. I got a $50 certificate.
I called the next morning, they had a NL available, so I drove back to the airport and swapped cars (I had to drive back to pick up colleagues anyway). I kept the certificate and Hertz ate the gas charges for the first day/car of the rental.

Three trips in the past 2 weeks:
DFW: Request midsize w/Neverlost, receive Chevy Classic
LAS: Request midsize w/NL, receive Oldsmobile Alero (seemed like regular midsize to me, someone here said it was specialty -- why, because it has a power driver's seat?). BTW, the price differential between midsize and full size was roughly $9/day for some reason.
MKE: Request midsize w/NL, will not confirm, no midsizes with NL available at this location. Adjust reservation to full-size w/NL. Name not on #1 Gold board upon arrival, counter woman couldn't figure out why not, so she waived the NL fee for making me wait. Oh, they pulled up a Taurus.

Moral -- it seems that the days of free upgrades to full size by booking midsize w/NL are over!

I recall booking a fullsize in IAD, and requested NL at the counter. The only car they had with NeverLost was an Alero, and they said that in addition the the NL fee, I would need to pay an additional $5 on top of full size because Alero was a "specialty midsize car". I refused to pay the extra $5, but I wasn't able to downgrade to the midsize rate (it's only $1 difference on my corp rate - so I didn't care).

I guess the moral of the story is to request NL at time of booking.

Fortunately, I was on a uni-stop leisure trip and, being a member of the pre-technological era, was able to fall back on an archaic printed resource called a "road map."

Don't get me wrong, I don't object at all to using a map. But the problem is, I need advance warning to print out driving directions from Mapquest between each of the 8 stops I plan to make over 2 or 3 days, and doing so can be quite time consuming. Moreover, even with a map, I often find myself making multiple wrong turns (maybe I've lost my edge thanks to NL dependency or something) and being reluctant to find out of the way restaurants, etc.

But at least Hertz is usually pretty generous with their goodwill gestures under such circumstances (as a counter agent told me recently after I complained about the repeated lame interior cleaning jobs I'd encountered, "If I don't care of the problem now, you won't come back" -- she took $30 off the bill.)

I am renting for one day in BOS in early March. Can I get a car smaller than a Taurus with NL? Which car classes have NL? has this been published anywhere in the one year since this thread was started?

SImilarly which car classes have Sirius?

I have foreign car pref in my profile. Do any foreign cars have NL?

Can someone tell me how you indicate in your profile that you prefer a foreign car? I can't seem to figure this out...thanks!

Can someone tell me how you indicate in your profile that you prefer a foreign car? I can't seem to figure this out...thanks!

This can't be done on your online profile... you need to call or email Hertz with your request.

I am renting for one day in BOS in early March. Can I get a car smaller than a Taurus with NL? Which car classes have NL? has this been published anywhere in the one year since this thread was started?

NL is not available in cars smaller then Midsize. I have received it in the Old Alero and Mazda 6.


SImilarly which car classes have Sirius?

It has been my experience that full-size and up. I have had Sirius in the Taurus, the Sable, the G35, the Crown Victoria, and the Town Car.

I've had a Nissan Altama with NL.

On a related subject, vehicles can have NL or Sirus, but never both.

I've had a Nissan Altama with NL.

On a related subject, vehicles can have NL or Sirus, but never both.

Actually that's not 100% true -- if a car has factory-installed Sirius (e.g Lincoln LS), Hertz will still put Neverlost in. They will not, however, do aftermarket Sirius and Neverlost together.

wondering also thanks for the info

Do the Camry's come with NL? I just booked a Camry for pickup at BOS and it said NL not available on this car type. I thought the Taurus and Camry had NL.

I had a Camry with NL in Jan at FLL.