Hertz - Is Hertz the best car rental company?

If so, why? If not, which is better and why?

If so, why? If not, which is better and why?

Yes.

Loyalty program. #1 Club Gold / 5 Star / Presidents Circle / Platinum status. Free car upgrades and never have to wait in line with #1 Club Gold.

More interesting cars, at least in the US, in comparison to other companies. Fords, Toyota, Mazda, Land Rover, Jaguar, Infiniti, Subaru

Consistently well maintained, clean cars.

More frequent / cleaner / faster shuttle bus.

I believe it is, and so far they have done nothing to disuade me of that opinion and many things to reinforce it.

No, its National.

Has everything that Hertz has plus:

Choose your own car;
Frequent multiple upgrades (reserve an intermediate, drive an SUV) for elite members;
Earn free rentals.

In my experience, Hertz, but National is a close second (but the closer they get to Alamo the more they get dragged down to their level). In nearly every US airport Hertz has the prime position (ie best place for the bus, closest rental location, closest stalls, etc, etc) and the most shuttle bus frequency. In addition with Internet coupons available on their website, their rates are comparable to any discounter without the hassle of having to examine your car with a microscope.

The only place I do NOT always rent from Hertz is Las Vegas -- Dollar/Thrifty regularly have Economy cars for $12 a day and Hertz often does not compete.. and when I average 8 miles per day when I rent in Vegas, the slight Hertz premium is not worth it. (Though if Dollar FastLane and Thrify BlueChip got much slower then it would be... regular rentals are ridiculously slow)

Overall, if I had to do many rentals across a variety of locations and was required to use 1 company, it would be Hertz without question. No one even comes close to providing the Hertz level of service across a large number of rentals. Each rental transaction with #1 Club Gold involves less time-risk than a rental transaction with any other company. Hertz has my car ready more and hoses up my reservation less. Multiply that 50x or even 10x and there really isn't another viable option.

However, at specific locations, other agencies have one-off operations that are sometimes better than the Hertz location. National at TPA, for example, has been smoother and more seamless for me than Hertz. (I used to say the same about National at MCO as well.) At shared-facility (including buses) airports like DFW, time-risk is constant enough across all companies that I'm willing to roll the dice with National, Alamo, or one of the others - as long as I know they run a decent expedited-rental process at the site.

But usually when the agencies running their own off-terminal operations, Hertz does the best job. They have more frequent buses. They run a better expedited process. They get the best real estate near the airport. They have the largest fleet and are less likely to have a problem putting your car into your stall at the right time. When flying into an unfamiliar airport, I never gamble with anything other than Hertz.

On my National rentals, I do enjoy picking out my own car. But...as long as #1 Club Gold is working right, picking my car doesn't put me on the road faster. In most cases, I'd rather have my standard Taurus sitting there near the bus, engine running, paperwork inside, than anything.

No, its National.

Has everything that Hertz has plus:

Choose your own car;
Frequent multiple upgrades (reserve an intermediate, drive an SUV) for elite members;
Earn free rentals.

Hertz dispenses free upgrades to elites fairly liberally. I've driven Jags, Lincolns, SUV's, etc. on midsize/fullsize bookings. Varies widely by location... A bump up to a larger car class on a compact/midsize booking is almost 100%

If you choose, you can earn free rentals with Hertz as well. I earn Hertz points on my longer rentals. $600 in spending (or less if you are earning some bonus points) = 1 no-strings-attached free day.

Some of the other threads have commented on how well Hertz fixes problems if one happens, including if you have to call them later because of an overbilling. I've never had a problem, so I can't really comment on that.

Some of the other threads have commented on how well Hertz fixes problems if one happens, including if you have to call them later because of an overbilling. I've never had a problem, so I can't really comment on that.

I've only had minor problems over the course of hundreds of rentals (which says something by itself), but when I've had a problem with a coupon or a gas charge or whatever, Hertz has fixed it - no arguing, no hassle.

The only place I do NOT always rent from Hertz is Las Vegas...

But if you use the right CDP's & the right coupon codes, you can get a good deal - I have a 2005 Mustang (hopefully not the Monte Carlo) booked in LAS for 2 days over MLK weekend in two weeks for a total of 48 bucks all-inclusive - of course, their regular rate without CDP & Coupons would be about 82 bucks all-inclusive - but if you take a little time & make a little effort, you can drop the price down significantly & still have the same experience.

That makes it worthwhile, of course, if you're averaging more than 8 miles/day in Vegas! ;)

See post #6.

I could not have said it any better. If National had an equivalent to NeverLost, I would rent from them more. Excluding NeverLost, the two are very close, but my heart is still with Hertz.

Not to denigrate National, you understand, they are also near and dear to my heart, too...

I've only had minor problems over the course of hundreds of rentals (which says something by itself), but when I've had a problem with a coupon or a gas charge or whatever, Hertz has fixed it - no arguing, no hassle.

I recently had my first real billing problem with Hertz, but they fixed it instantly. Other small problems always receive appropriate response.

This compares with my last two Budget rentals, which each had billing problems that were nearly impossible to fix. I had to get my corporate travel office involved, which is always a last resort. One never did get resolved and the office just paid the overcharge. I've yet to experience anything like that with Hertz.

Ditto to all above about Hertz #1 followed by National. Two most important qualities I have experienced is Hertz seems to have most frequent bus pick ups and they are the best at responding to complaints.