Hertz - New to Hertz - Rental in Miami

I will rent from Hertz for the first time this March at Miami International Airport. Through SWISS, I got a free Hertz Gold #1 Membership and will get a 1 class upgrade.

I have made reservation for a Full Size. What kind of car could I expect with the upgrade ? Are there certain cars which you would recommend I reject when offered ? Does Hertz MIA have the Gold Service (where you just walk to your car) ?

I would appreciate any comments.

I rent from this location often. It is off-site, so it's a bus ride to the garage. They do have Gold Service at the garage after you get there.

Pointfreak, thanks for that info. Any thoughts on the car question ?

huegli - In south Florida, the upgrade from full size is almost always to a Ford victoria or a Mercury Grand Marquis. Just about the only way that it would be otherwise for a confirmed upgrade would be if they had run out of those two.
By the way, confirmed upgrades in Hertz reservations are relatively uncommon. I have always seen Hertz upgrade commitments being labeled as "subject to availability."

Note that the Grand Marq / Crown Vic is a very large American car. It is roomy - seats six pretty easily and has a huge trunk. It has a V8 engine and drinks a lot of fuel. Some people - even those of us that like upgrades - don't like these cars. A lot of people don't like the way they handle and would just prefer to have a smaller car. I like them when there are 4 of us traveling together with golf clubs, but I don't like them when there are only 2 of us.

I've found that when I book "standard" with an upgrade code, I get a Taurus. A Taurus is still a decent-sized car with plenty of room for 4 (and "normal" luggage) and six cylinders. If that is more what you are looking for, you might change your booking to save a few bucks.

The other possibility is that they will upgrade you to a sport utility vehicle (something like an Explorer, which sits on a Ford Truck chassis). Unfortunately, it's fairly rare that a regular Gold member will score a Jag or Lexus off of a coupon upgrade.

Call Hertz and ask them to put 'No American Cars' on your profile. At least then you are less likely to get one of these awful road boats.

South Florida has some of the best Hertz fleets in the country when looked at from a diversity point of view. In the Premium class you may be able to score a Toyota Avalon (The Toyota version of the Lexus ES300), an Infiniti G35 (BMW 3 series competitor with 3.5 litre 260 bhp V6 - very nice) or a Nissan Maxima amongst others. Your best bet is to talk to the Gold guy out in the lot and ask him what else he has. Usually these guys will give you a better car than the people at the desk who will usually try to upsell you. Slipping him $10 might help too.

Well, I'll be just by myself and probably won't need such a big car (1 suitcase, no golfbag this time). I've had a Grand Marquis a couple of years ago when renting from Avis and quite liked it, though. On the other hand, a Jaguar would be great (that's the car I'm considering to buy in the next 12 months...). I guess my chances aren't too good to get a Jag, so I' wondering how good my chances are to "convince" a Gold lot attendant to give me a car that "fits my needs".
And yes, my upgrade is of course subject to availability.

Do you think that contacting the rental station in advance (maybe by e-mail) is gonna do any good or should I just try to slip the attendant a $10 or $20 bill ?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by huegli:
Well, I'll be just by myself and probably won't need such a big car (1 suitcase, no golfbag this time). Do you think that contacting the rental station in advance (maybe by e-mail) is gonna do any good or should I just try to slip the attendant a $10 or $20 bill ?</font>

Since you're Gold and they have express in and out there, I'd bank on the attendant. They can do everything on the handheld.
For your use, the Nissan Maxima and Toyota Avalon are pretty nice. They also should have some good mid-size SUV's (like the Toyota Highlander) if you like sitting up a bit higher.

Hertz MIA is one of the better run operations I've seen in our travels and their vehicles, IME, are top-drawer. You'll do fine. The facility is easy to find and has shuttles running to and from MIA every few minutes. Everything is under cover.

Enjoy your trip!

Pat

Just wanted to let you know how my rental went and thank you for your great input.

When getting to the lot (#1 Gold thingie), I saw a Grand Prix on my assigned spot... Needless to say I asked the attendant whether an upgrade had been given to me (I had reservation for Full Size and a 1-class upgrade coupon), she checked and said she could give me a Grand Marquise. Told her that I'm by myself and it's too big for me, and that I would prefer something non-american. And boom, I got the Infiniti G35. I absolutely loved the car, it's probably the best rental car I've ever had. And all that for a weekly rate of $286 all incl. !

Just wanted to let you know how my rental went and thank you for your great input.

When getting to the lot (#1 Gold thingie), I saw a Grand Prix on my assigned spot... Needless to say I asked the attendant whether an upgrade had been given to me (I had reservation for Full Size and a 1-class upgrade coupon), she checked and said she could give me a Grand Marquise. Told her that I'm by myself and it's too big for me, and that I would prefer something non-american. And boom, I got the Infiniti G35. I absolutely loved the car, it's probably the best rental car I've ever had. And all that for a weekly rate of $286 all incl. !


That's great. I only wish that they started putting some of these nice cars out to other locations instead of subsidising Detroit's best by buying barges that would be off the market were it not for the rental companies and municipalities buying their antiquated designs.

I got the Infiniti G35. I absolutely loved the car, it's probably the best rental car I've ever had. And all that for a weekly rate of $286 all incl. !

I agree 100%. The best car I've rented in a long time also. Look forward to getting it again when ever I can.