Hertz - The miles just weren't worth it...

Rented a car at IAD this past weekend. Camry with MD plates and 15K miles on it waiting in my Gold spot. Guess they must have noted my preference for foreign cars.. thanks! Had a decent drive down to Charlottesville for a wedding, and back to IAD the next day, returning the car after about 32 hours.

I used the free day PC, making my total of $29.85 after all taxes. I'd chosen to credit miles to my US DM account, for which Hertz charged me the standard $0.50/day. In the end, this $1.00 charge earned me 22 miles (pre tax and surcharge amount) for my account. That means the miles cost me $0.022 each -- not worth it! Next time I'll take this into account and probably use Hertz Awards instead.

Rented a car at IAD this past weekend. Camry with MD plates and 15K miles on it waiting in my Gold spot. Guess they must have noted my preference for foreign cars.. thanks! Had a decent drive down to Charlottesville for a wedding, and back to IAD the next day, returning the car after about 32 hours.

I used the free day PC, making my total of $29.85 after all taxes. I'd chosen to credit miles to my US DM account, for which Hertz charged me the standard $0.50/day. In the end, this $1.00 charge earned me 22 miles (pre tax and surcharge amount) for my account. That means the miles cost me $0.022 each -- not worth it! Next time I'll take this into account and probably use Hertz Awards instead.

Yes, always use Hertz #1 Awards code ZE1 with each rental. According to Hertz, really only way to get upgrades, etc. You can ask for this code to be permanately written into your Hertz profile.

The only credit I ever consider taking from Hertz anymore is Southwest (.5 credits per rental minimum, more with bonus condes) or Marriott Rewards (500 points per rental). I believe there are a few other foreign airlines that also offer still decent deals (Virgin and Qantas?), but you definitely need to do your research, especially on shorter rentals.

Most of my rentals are pretty low dollar (really cheap weekend rentals or only one or two days for business at the more expensive rates), so I don't bother with ZE1 points myself.

Actually, it's even worse: your miles cost you 4.5 cents each! Definitely go with Hertz awards.

Rented a car at IAD this past weekend. Camry with MD plates and 15K miles on it waiting in my Gold spot. Guess they must have noted my preference for foreign cars.. thanks! Had a decent drive down to Charlottesville for a wedding, and back to IAD the next day, returning the car after about 32 hours.

I used the free day PC, making my total of $29.85 after all taxes. I'd chosen to credit miles to my US DM account, for which Hertz charged me the standard $0.50/day. In the end, this $1.00 charge earned me 22 miles (pre tax and surcharge amount) for my account. That means the miles cost me $0.022 each -- not worth it! Next time I'll take this into account and probably use Hertz Awards instead.

I used to go with Hertz #1 Awards, but unless you are renting quite a bit, the points expire before you can use them. It takes 500 points to even get a free weekend day and you don't get credit for taxes and fees. At least that's what I've encountered with mostly weekend rentals. I think Marriott Reward points are the best deal, although I also have miles credited to FF accounts (AS, CO, NW) which I don't use very often in order to prevent expiration of miles in those accounts.

Or put the miles to a non-US frequent flyer programm and you will receive at least 500 miles per rental and no tax surcharge on it. Most big European frequent flyer programs can be chosen.

worth re-emphasizing that it can keep a dormant account with points from expiring.