Hertz - Hertz surcharge for Reservations-BOYCOTT

Hertz announced today that beginning February 16 they will add a $2.50 surcharge to every rental to cover the cost of taking your reservation. :mad: Try renting from them without a reservation.

This is outrageous. It is a cost of doing business and should be included in their rates. If Hertz is successful at this, all companies will match. :td:

Make your voice heard! BOYCOTT HERTZ until they back down. Cancel all reservations and go elsewhere. If enough frequent renters do this, they'll back down within days just as NWA did last year.

I have no previous experiance with Hertz. The question is: Is Hertz service better than others or their rates better than others even after this surcharge. If yes then there is no merit in boycot, otherwise there is a valid point.

If enough frequent renters do this, they'll back down within days just as NWA did last year.

If you didn't notice, NWA didn't back down. Almost every other air carrier did something similar, and now if you book on the phone it costs you an extra $5, and $10 in person at an airport/city ticket office.

I do admit that NWA rolled back some aspect of this when the other carriers didn't match, but they successfully established the principle. As such, it's fairly unsurprising that the practice is spreading to car-rental companies. I assume that bookings through hertz.com are exempt from this.

Having said all that, I can't find a press release or news story confirming this -- does anyone have a link?

I have no previous experiance with Hertz. The question is: Is Hertz service better than others or their rates better than others even after this surcharge. If yes then there is no merit in boycot, otherwise there is a valid point.

Hertz sucks and is not worth paying one dollar more if you have a choice in the matter.

Last week I had a reservation for a car at DUJ (Du Bois, PA) for an after-hours pickup (a Hertz monopoly location). Their hours at this location are 9 AM to noon on Saturday, and my flight arrived at 7 PM, so I had to call to make a reservation since you can't do that on the web.

An after-hours pickup at this location costs $8.00 more (now $10.50 more with this stupid $2.50 charge for doing something that cannot be done on the web site). :mad:

Guess what -- they never showed up! I called Hertz after 20 minutes and they said that the reservation agent never sent the after-hours pick up request to the station, so I was out of luck. I sat in that stupid little airport for five hours until it closed at midnight. Luckily the airport manager gave me a ride to a local motel.

Hertz has made me so mad that I would rather ride a bicycle than ever rent from them again. And now they want to charge $2.50 for the privilege of making a reservation over the phone that they will discard? Unbelievable! :mad: :mad: :mad:

Well, Hertz treats me great and I imagine this is for non-web-based reservations, so I don't plan to switch. Many industries now charge for dealing with a live agent because live agents cost more money then a web server.

And even if this is for any reservation, including web-based, I'll still stay with Hertz.

Hertz announced today that beginning February 16 they will add a $2.50 surcharge to every rental to cover the cost of taking your reservation. :mad: Try renting from them without a reservation.

This is outrageous. It is a cost of doing business and should be included in their rates. If Hertz is successful at this, all companies will match. :td:

Make your voice heard! BOYCOTT HERTZ until they back down. Cancel all reservations and go elsewhere. If enough frequent renters do this, they'll back down within days just as NWA did last year.

Please provide a link to where you found this information - I don't see a press release on the Hertz site or several travel news sites I checked. Thanks.

Posted below is a press release from the Business Travel Coalition sent out this morning.

Tigger;

If you want to pay $2.50 to get on the internet and make your own reservation that costs Hertz less than a dime to process, be my guest. My company has cancelled all of our outstanding Hertz reservations and will not book with them until this new policy is recinded.

The strangest part of this is that their distribution costs are a fraction of what they were just four years ago.





To: Corporate Travel Managers

From: Kevin Mitchell



Rental Car Distribution Cost-Transfer



This email concerns the following policy announcement from the Hertz Corporation:



"Hertz has implemented, for rentals booked on or after February 16, 2005, a reservation fee of $2.50 that will be applicable to all reserved U.S. rentals booked domestically. Several states (Hawaii, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, and South Carolina) do not allow such a fee and rentals in those states will not be charged. The Company is committed to providing access to Hertz reservations through any channel customers may choose, and we have implemented the fee due to the proliferation of increasingly complex reservation systems and distribution channels over the past decade.


BTC QUESTIONS



1. Is this a legitimate surcharge for costs that have been presumably included in the contractual prices paid by corporations for years?



2. As a corporate travel manager, do you support this policy?



3. If not, what would you advice Hertz to do to manage increasing distribution costs?



4. Similarly, what would you advise Hertz's competitors?



5. If you agree with Hertz's cost-transfer policy, what other costs would you expect suppliers to begin surcharging for?



Please consider providing your comments on this development at [url]http://btcblog.typepad.com/travelblog/. (You can comment anonymously if you so desire.) Please do NOT respond directly to this email.



---END---


Founded in 1994, the mission of the Business Travel Coalition is to lower the long-term cost structure of business travel. BTC seeks to bring transparency to industry and government policies and practices so that customers can influence issues of strategic importance to them.

Not sure what the scope is of the charge - sounds like it might be targeted to corporate bookings. I don't see a global announcement or release directly from Hertz. Yet.

I find these fees offensive. They use them because it is easy to deceive and purposefully misinform the customer. I truly believe they should be illegal. I respect and agree with a business's right to set whatever prices it wants, but it should be required to do so in a forthright manner.

If they want to raise their base rates to $99 per day because of the cost of running Hertz.com, they should and do have every right to do that.

I feel the same way about resort fees and fuel surcharges. Travel companies do it because they know most people are easily tricked and deceived.

If Hertz charges $2.50 for a reservation, I will no longer use Hertz - period. I think Hertz is the best agency and usually provides by far the best value in the industry. If their base rates went up by $2.50 per day, I would likely not change a thing - I'd keep renting Hertz, because they are truly worth it (in most cases) to avoid Alamo and the like. But if Hertz chooses to insult my intelligence with this trickery, I will leave.

Of course, if the other agencies follow them - just like they all already have other dirty fees on the bill - we may find ourselves back to square one in short order. :mad:

Hmm, I work for a very large company who's corporate contract is with Hertz. No mention of it on our travel web page. I book all my reservations (personal and business) on the Hertz website. While I would understand charging a fee for phone reservations (I don't like it but it's standard practice in travel these days) I' would also be upset if they charged it on all reservations.

But I would _still_ judge Hertz against its competitors the same way I do now. Which is I'm willing to spend X amount more to rent from Hertz. That amount would now be X-$2.50

This is all I could find on a Google search: http://www.btnmag.com/businesstravelnews/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000799940

No mention if the fee applies to all rentals or just those not booked online. Either way it's lame.

This is a true disappointment with Hertz. Although I like Hertz, I've heard others here say really great things about National - maybe it's time to switch. Avis is always cheaper in Europe that Hertz is & Hertz is generally the most expensive rental car company - it'd be one thing if they were charging the 2.50 for reservations over the phone (like the airlines do) - but to charge a 2.50 surcharge for internet based reservations? That's crap. :td:

Here is a link to a Washington Post story on the "hidden fee". Make no mistake about it, it applies to all internet and other types of reservations.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24923-2005Feb14.html

There's one way to get them to rethink this charge, go elsewhere.

I'm going to complain to Hertz using their webform for the #1 Gold Membership comments. Here it is in case anyone else wants to complain to:

https://www.hertz.com/customer_10/contactus/index.jsp?referrer=new&subject=gold

I also just submitted a note to AAA requesting that they adjust their partnership with Hertz as the new charge effects all its members too since Hertz is AAA's preferred provider.

A truly sad day...ten years and hundreds of mostly-satisfactory Hertz rentals. I made a reservation this morning, actually. I hope it isn't my last one with Hertz. :(

I would not be surprised if Hertz is doing this as a seperate fee and not just adding it to the daily rental charge because of all these "Internet travel sites" that list prices.

If you are not wedded to Hertz, and say Avis charged $25 with a hidden $2.00 fee and Hertz just raised their rates to $27, how many thousands - if not tens of thousands - of people will pick Avis because it's "cheaper"?

And even when the $2.00 is added to the bill at the end, they won't care because they didn't pay any more then if they had gone with Hertz, but Hertz just lost a rental because they appeared more expensive. So Avis generates thousands of extra rentals a day over Hertz.

Price is king to the majority of travellers today. People really will switch over a few dollars if they have no underlying loyalty to a certain vendor. You may think it "sneaky" or "dishonest", but far, far more people just look at the lowest price in the grid on Travelocity, Orbitz, and Expedia and go with that. I mean add in the airport taxes, concession fees, recovery fees, and all that crap that nobody lists on these sites, and you often can add upwards of 25%-75% to the final total.

As a President's Circle member, I have no intention of bailing to Avis or Enterprise for a measly $2.50. I often pay more then that just to rent from Hertz, period, compared to other chains.

But the fact that "Not Exactly" is more then just a catchy slogan, and Hertz treates me anywhere from well to amazingly well, be it on a $15 weekend rental or a $100 special event Prestige rental, has earned them my exclusive business.

If you are not wedded to Hertz, and say Avis charged $25 with a hidden $2.00 fee and Hertz just raised their rates to $27, how many thousands - if not tens of thousands - of people will pick Avis because it's "cheaper"?


No brainer: I'd pick Hertz every time.


You may think it "sneaky" or "dishonest", but far, far more people just look at the lowest price in the grid on Travelocity, Orbitz, and Expedia and go with that. I mean add in the airport taxes, concession fees, recovery fees, and all that crap that nobody lists on these sites, and you often can add upwards of 25%-75% to the final total.


I always attempt to view all of the dishonest fees before I rent. I know Hertz uses them, as does everyone else. A lot of times I'll place my Hertz reservation, and then go place an identical Alamo or Avis reservation and attempt to compare bottom-line to bottom-line. You're right: it's usually 50-75% on top of the rental bill. As long as all of the companies are doing roughly the same thing, I stick with Hertz, regardless of whether or not they actually are the cheapest.


But the fact that "Not Exactly" is more then just a catchy slogan, and Hertz treates me anywhere from well to amazingly well, be it on a $15 weekend rental or a $100 special event Prestige rental, has earned them my exclusive business.

Agreed. In most cases, they treat me amazingly well as a PC (in some years) or 5-Star (worst case) renter. That's why it annoys me so much that they are insulting my intelligence with this garbage fee, even though I'd probably pay a slightly higher rental rate without hesitation.

I havent' yet seen a press release from Hertz talking about this fee. Neither do we have concrete facts that this fee is on ALL bookings with Hertz regardless of channel through which the booking was done. So, isn't it a bit premature to start trashing the fee? Is there one for sure?

I've rented from Enterprise and National in the past. Enterprise is a pain, despite having low costs. National comes close to Hertz but i hear they have improved in 2004.

Despite being just a Club Gold member for over 3 years, I would still go with Hertz. The cleanliness of the cars, the service and the responsiveness are consistently what makes a difference for me.

Just called the gold line and they cvonfirmed the new fee....if you call or go to their own internet site.

As a presidents club member Ill still use Hertz, cause they treat me well.....but I'll probably do 10-20% less rentals, which will go to other company's offering a lower price. Something I didnt consider before.

They confirmed it in an email to me. (which basically said take it or leave it)

I am not sure what I will do. A lot depends on what the company policy is, but for personal rentals I will probably go to the EA program at National

SEA_Tigger,

I see your point - I'm a big fan of Hertz as well. However, my complaint is that they are charging a 2.50 fee for no real reason. I could understand if they charged the booking fee for reservations made over the phone through their agents (like a lot of airlines do) - but to charge 2.50 to make a reservation over their own website is ridiculously unnecessary.

I agree that they shouldn't add it into their base fees (why? because of the reasons you stated) - however, I don't think that they should charge customers 2.50 per reservation made over their own website. What's next? Hotels charging booking fees on their own websites? All this nickel & diming isn't helping their industry. Make your competitive advantage your features, advantages, and benefits of using your product. Don't penalize customers for booking your services. Sure, they may end up with similar prices in the booking grids at the travel websites like Expedia/Orbitz, etc, but what about those customers, like most everyone in the Hertz forum here, that book regularly with Hertz via its own booking channel? Why charge their most loyal customers that fee?

I'm hoping that some other rental car companies see this as an opportunity to provide better rates & service than Hertz & pull away business from Hertz & that in the end, the consumer wins. Just my 2 cents...

I often rent from Washington Reagan airport, where Hertz has a "contract fee" of $2.5 / day, ON TOP of their airport concession recovery fee, vehicle licence recovery fee, etc. etc.

I agree it would be much better for consumers to have a transparent pricing regime, but that is not what we have now, and the $2.50 fee is not going to change things much.

I often rent from Washington Reagan airport, where Hertz has a "contract fee" of $2.5 / day, ON TOP of their airport concession recovery fee, vehicle licence recovery fee, etc. etc.

I agree it would be much better for consumers to have a transparent pricing regime, but that is not what we have now, and the $2.50 fee is not going to change things much.


I've rented from DCA several times & have never been charged a 25.00 "Contract Fee" on top of the price of a rental.

I agree, 2.50 isn't going to change that much - which is why Hertz will be able to get away with charging that price - it's unfortunate, IMHO, that its not going to change that much. Basically, it'll add 2.50 to the cost of business rentals & leisure rentals - the business customers won't mind as much, because their company's are footing the bill, however, the company's that are footing the bills are the ones that need to speak up. As for leisure travelers, I do believe that SEA_Tigger is correct in stating that most leisure travelers will go with the lowest possible rate - and since this adds another 2.50 to the rate, they may lose some business. Of course, they could always not notify the public themselves & slip it in as a new fee along with the other fees & consumers wouldn't be the wiser. If this wasn't covered in the major news sources, such as the Washington Post (where I read about it this morning), then it wouldn't appear that they have done a good job of notifying their customers. This goes into effect tomorrow - I get the Gold e-mails & read them - they just sent one out the other day & didn't notify their customers...in my opinion, that's a poor way of doing business... :td:

This fee is absolute cr*p! What's next, charging for use of the A/C or the windshield wipers?

Hertz has long been my preferred rental car partner. Since no car rental firm offers an abundance of FF miles any more, I am almost exclusively focused on price. Amongst the major players Hertz, Avis, and National), I have found no difference in service, thus price is the key factor. With Hertz's AAA rates and the occasional coupon, I usually manage to get Hertz's total cost down to the same level or lower than the others. This new fee will make doing that a bit more difficult.

One question, does this new fee apply to existing reservations for future car rentals?

One question, does this new fee apply to existing reservations for future car rentals?

------------

Well, not to any reservation anymore. Hertz today rescinded its decision to charge the reservation fee. Thanks to those who spoke up and helped them realize the error of their ways.

This is the answer I received when I questioned Hertz. They sure don't give many details. :(


Thank you for taking the time to write us regarding this matter. This fee is used to offset reservations and operating costs.

Regards,
Fontina
Correspondent
www.hertz.com
The Hertz Corporation
10401 N Penn
Oklahoma City, OK 73120
U.S.A.

So, isn't it a bit premature to start trashing the fee?

It's never too early to begin trashing such a dishonest fee. :D

I don't know what's the fee's current status is: I haven't seen any emails or press releases discussing it at all. I see alphascan's latest post about the fee being rescinded. If that's the case, then I'm glad we had a good solid day to puke all over this horrible idea. Maybe Hertz took notice and decided it is a bad idea after all.

Aside from the disdain for dirty fees in general, there's one thing I find odd: the complex distribution channels of which Hertz speaks already work in their favor. The rate I book at Hertz.com is always lower than a booking anywhere else, with the occasional exception of Priceline. I say "occasional", because usually booking through Hertz.com is less expensive than even Priceline!

In other words, Hertz should be doing backflips every time somebody books via a third party. In the vast majority of cases, they are overpaying for the rental to begin with.

I realize that a lot of folks are locked into a corporate travel agency for their bookings because they get a corporate rate that is bundled with primary comprehensive & collision coverage. Those are a different beast altogether - if Hertz and their corporate customers are negotiating those large contracts with fixed fees per rental, so be it.

Dear Billiken:

Thank you for taking the time to contact us.

A $2.50 reservation fee will be charged to all US rentals booked domestically on or after February 16th. Customers who walk up to the counter without a reservation and rent a car will not be charged the nominal fee.

Thank you for choosing Hertz.

Sincerely,

Donna *********
Hertz Business Account Program
Business Account Program
Departmental Mailbox
The Hertz Corporation
14501 Hertz Quail Springs Parkway
Oklahoma City, OK 73134
U.S.A.
E-mail: BAPService@Hertz.com

Maybe I should make a bunch of exploratory reservations at Hertz for my favorite destinations, since typically as long as you keep the same pickup/drop off location the confirmation # remains the same -- so would that mean that it's a way to hedge some future rentals against the $2.50 fee?

Ugh. I really do like Hertz but they keep pushing and pushing....

Implementation Of $2.50 Fee Has Been Put On Hold


http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=400676

Dear Billiken:

Customers who walk up to the counter without a reservation and rent a car will not be charged the nominal fee.

Glad to hear that it's been put on hold, Billiken - although, I'd like to read that in print in a major paper or in an e-mail statment from Hertz.

Just a quick note about walk-up rates to all - Walk-up rates are generally MUCH higher than reserved rates. If you make a reservation more than 1 hour out from pick-up time, you'll generally get a better rate than a walk-up rate. Don't do walk-up rates unless you need to - and if you do, chances are, Hertz won't be the lowest...

Now that its been "put on hold", charging a fee for booking on their website is ridiculous.

I can understand if they charge that for booking through other channels (expedia, travelocity, orbitz et al) or on the phone. There may be costs involved in those processes.

Corporate rentals, I don't care. My company's rate takes care of it. But personal rentals, if they do charge 2.50 for even booking through hertz.com, i'll start looking at other Rental companies.

I've never rented from Hertz since I'm under 25, but I agree with all of you that a surcharge even for web-based reservations is absurd. It's good to see that the fee has been put "on hold."

If you're looking for another agency to serve your rental car needs, give National a try. You can get a free Emerald Club membership---check the link over on the National board here on FT. Emerald Club allows you to choose your own car from a designated aisle; once you've rented more than 10 times in a year, you'll have access to the "Executive Selection" with a guaranteed upgrade to full-size (and often higher) when you pay the rate for an intermediate.

Free days take far less time to earn with National than with Hertz; if you're top tier Executive Elite (25+ rentals per year) every 5 paid rental days gets you a free day. Base Emerald Club members earn a free day for every 7 paid days and Executive members (10+ rentals per year) earn a free day every 6 rental days.

I don't work for National and have no vested interest in the company, but I've found them to be the best in terms of frequent-renter perks, discounts, and upgrades.

Well I certainly agree with those who believe that charging a fee for booking on Hertz.com is ridiculous and counter-productive to most company's stated goals to get as much business as possible to the web site since it saves on call center costs.

I imagine in the end Hertz will institute the fee, but only charge it for telephone-based reservations, probably to their central reservations number (and maybe the local numbers, as well) but not do it for those booked online through Hertz.com.

They may also tack it onto reservations made online through other booking agencies (Travelocity, airline sites, hotel sites, etc.).

I've never rented from Hertz since I'm under 25, but I agree with all of you that a surcharge even for web-based reservations is absurd. It's good to see that the fee has been put "on hold."

If you're looking for another agency to serve your rental car needs, give National a try. You can get a free Emerald Club membership---check the link over on the National board here on FT. Emerald Club allows you to choose your own car from a designated aisle; once you've rented more than 10 times in a year, you'll have access to the "Executive Selection" with a guaranteed upgrade to full-size (and often higher) when you pay the rate for an intermediate.

Free days take far less time to earn with National than with Hertz; if you're top tier Executive Elite (25+ rentals per year) every 5 paid rental days gets you a free day. Base Emerald Club members earn a free day for every 7 paid days and Executive members (10+ rentals per year) earn a free day every 6 rental days.

I don't work for National and have no vested interest in the company, but I've found them to be the best in terms of frequent-renter perks, discounts, and upgrades.


Not to turn this into a National vs. Hertz thread (because everything you say is correct), but I've definitely seen many, many airports where a rental from National takes longer to process and complete than a rental from Hertz. National is dismantling/downgrading Emerald Aisle in a lot of places, whereas I rarely if ever experience any delays using #1 Club Gold.

Free days are nice, but if the paid rentals to earn the free ones are excruciatingly painful, it isn't worth it.

Obviously a lot of this depends on your airport. If you rent from 1 place only, and that place has a solid, efficient, well-stocked Emerald Aisle with smart, efficiency-driven employees staffing it, go for it!

Not to turn this into a National vs. Hertz thread (because everything you say is correct), but I've definitely seen many, many airports where a rental from National takes longer to process and complete than a rental from Hertz. National is dismantling/downgrading Emerald Aisle in a lot of places, whereas I rarely if ever experience any delays using #1 Club Gold.



Just about every major airport in the US has an Emerald Aisle. At airports without one, you do have to wait in line at the National counter---but the agents are supposed to have your rental contract preprinted and keys ready to save time.

you do have to wait in line

That's my point.

Under the old Emerald Aisle (and Quicksilver, for that matter), there was no standing in line. Quicksilver used a kiosk where you swiped your credit card (it would print your contract info); for EA, either the bus driver or the security guard handed you the contract info. (This depended on the airport.)

And the old Emerald Aisle almost always have full-size cars with specialties sprinkled in. When I used to rent EA, I would frequently get convertibles in TPA and luxury cars at MCI. Quicksilver would usually yield a premium car with an Intermediate booking except at MCI where they got to know me pretty well and always gave me the same Chevy Blazer. Then they started scaling back: F cars still around, but no specialties. Then the Quicksilver kiosks disappeared, then they started taking down Emerald Aisle in its previous form.

Now I do not believe there is any way to acquire a rental car from National/Alamo without standing in line. At least, not that I know of at the airports I've been at recently. I'm not sure what their strategy is: part of me thinks they want to sell out and exit the car rental business. Who knows...

Now I do not believe there is any way to acquire a rental car from National/Alamo without standing in line. At least, not that I know of at the airports I've been at recently. I'm not sure what their strategy is: part of me thinks they want to sell out and exit the car rental business. Who knows...

Not true. You must have been traveling to some smaller airports lately that don't have an Emerald Aisle, or you didn't select Aisle service when you made your reservation. At airports that have an Emerald Aisle there's no waiting in line.

It can't get any easier than this:

Take the shuttle to the National lot (or walk to the garage at airports such as SEA and DCA), then proceed to the Emerald Aisle and choose any car on the aisle. Get in the car and proceed to the exit gate. Show your driver's license, credit card, and Emerald Club card to the agent; he'll give them back to you and you're ready to roll. No need for a preprinted contract and no need to wait in line at the counter.

From what I can gather, it's a pretty similar experience if you use Hertz #1 Club Gold, but the difference is that there's a specific car with your name on it. If you don't like the car you're given, then you have to wait in line at the Gold booth to see if something else is available. I much prefer National's system, where at many locations I can pay for an intermediate and drive off in a full-size, SUV or luxury car of my choosing from the Executive Selection.

By the way, here (https://www.nationalcar.com/emc/e_locations.jsp?sublevel=/emc/&pageToLoad=e_locations.jsp&SESSION_ID=&ORGANIZATION=) is a listing of National locations with an Emerald Aisle.

The only problem I've had with National is the lack of a contract makes me nervous at times.. and National can be a lot slower, especially at locations where they have combined with Alamo. But National is my second preferred carrier. Since my company mandates use of Hertz, it's a no brainer to build on that for personal rentals.

Not true. You must have been traveling to some smaller airports lately that don't have an Emerald Aisle, or you didn't select Aisle service when you made your reservation. At airports that have an Emerald Aisle there's no waiting in line.


At Denver, there were probably 10-15 Emerald Aisle renters standing in line waiting for their cars. All were waiting for SUVs. The Emerald Aisle area was empty. There was, however, one (that's it, one) Chevy Classic there. I took it and left the angry SUV renters behind. Still had to go inside to get my contract...

At Orlando, the Emerald Aisle was there with cars but you had to stand in line to get a contract. (I'm sure National considers themselves as having an EA there.) Then you got to walk over and pick out a car.

While there are a few airports in the world larger than those two, I wouldn't call them small airports.

I haven't seen the "old" format - either bus driver or exit gate handing me the contract - in a long, long time. (Maybe when you say "large" airport you're talking ORD, LHR, DFW, ATL - I admit I haven't rented at those locations.) National/Alamo is still my #2 agency in a lot of places (because, frankly, their rates are so unbelievably low that it's impossible to ignore them - even if the EA/QS process sucks). I'm just saying that Emerald Aisle is "Not Exactly" #1 Club Gold.

Oops...looks like we did another National vs. Hertz thread. :o

At Denver, there were probably 10-15 Emerald Aisle renters standing in line waiting for their cars. All were waiting for SUVs. The Emerald Aisle area was empty. There was, however, one (that's it, one) Chevy Classic there. I took it and left the angry SUV renters behind. Still had to go inside to get my contract...

At Orlando, the Emerald Aisle was there with cars but you had to stand in line to get a contract. (I'm sure National considers themselves as having an EA there.) Then you got to walk over and pick out a car.



Okay, Orlando and Denver are not small airports by any means. I usually rent from LAX, PHX, ORD, LAS, SFO, and DCA which all have standard Emerald Aisle/Exec Selection service.

In Denver, you didn't have to go inside to get your contract for that Chevy Classic; as long as you're an Emerald Club member, you could just have driven to the exit gate and the agent there would have created a contract based on the EC Master Rental Agreement. You don't actually receive a printed contract anymore from National; the hangtag on the rearview mirror serves as proof of legal rental and gives a toll-free number for law enforcement to call in case they need to verify anything.

Same with Orlando. If it's marked "Emerald Aisle" there's no need to stand in line, as long as the keys are inside each car. You don't need a printed contract if you're an Emerald Club member.

As far as the Denver situation, it looks like they were close to being sold out of cars. As Executive Elite (25+ rentals per year) I am guaranteed a full-size car or higher in sold-out situations, at my regular discounted rate, as long as I reserve 24 hours in advance. Does Hertz offer a benefit like this to its elite members?

Sorry to have turned this thread into Hertz vs. National, but I just wanted to make everyone aware that there is a good alternative (often with lower rates, as you mentioned) out there. :)

I do rent with National on occasion and I'm an Emerald Club member. Last October in Denver I encountered a similar situation to what is reported here. There were 5 cars (actually one Malibu and 4 mini-vans) on the Emerald Aisle. You can be sure that MileKing was the first off the bus in order to snag the Malibu. The next few people went to the mini-vans, grumbling as they did so. The other 5 or 6 Emerald Club members on the bus had to go inside and find a car.

In Manchester (NH), also last October, I arrived on a late flight to find a line at the National counter and only one agent working it. When I asked about the Emerald Aisle, the response was that because it was late, everyone had to get their contracts from the desk.....the aisle was not operating and their were no other National employees on-site. I was lucky as I was number 4 or 5 in line and only waited 1/2 hour. The poor souls at the back of the long line probably waited well over an hour for a car. I ended up with a Chevy Trailblazer, a fuel guzzling beast if there ever was one.....the rental ended up being less expensive than my gasoline purchases! I certainly didn't want that thing, but my alternative was an Aztec, another monster.

Maybe I've just had some bad luck, but Emerald Aisle seems to have gone downhill.

Does Hertz offer a benefit like this to its elite members?


Hertz has a sold-out guarantee for President's Circle members, but I don't know if a particular size is guaranteed. The guarantee is 2 hours.

I've invoked it once at ORD - they got me a compact car at my corporate rate in about 45 minutes when every agency at the airport was sold out. (I made it clear that I would accept any car they had without complaints.)

Maybe I goofed at MCO, but the Denver situation was definitely not that case: the bus driver drove directly past the empty Emerald Aisle area to the building where a long line awaited. I got paperwork inside (thankfully, the EA/QS line moved more quickly than the regular line). As soon as the Classic was pulled up and parked on the lot, I jumped in it before any of the frustrated SUV people could change their mind about whether they wanted to keep waiting. :)


I just wanted to make everyone aware that there is a good alternative (often with lower rates, as you mentioned) out there.


That makes sense - in fact, I'd advise anyone to sign-up for the expedited renter card at all of the agencies. Thrifty True Blue, Budget Perfect Drive, Dollar Fastlane, etc. And get both of the National/Alamo cards: Quicksilver and Emerald Aisle. Alamo.com and National.com sometimes serve up very different rates for the same car, dates, and location.

Hopefully you will never need to use them, but if you do, you'll be very glad you can book a rental at any of a number of agencies and get some semblance of customer service.

Emerald Aisle is such a stupid idea. The company either rents out a luxury car for a mid-size price or stiffs people with a smaller car than what they reserved. It makes as much sense as open seating on a three cabin aircraft.

I used National one time because I wanted a one-way rental from IAH to DFW, and National's one way rates were the only ones that weren't insanely overpriced. I reserved a mid-size car but got stuck with a small car because that's all that was left on the lot. The people inside couldn't be bothered and the man at the exit booth was no help, so I kept the over-priced car and put National on lifetime boycott.

Budget sucks big time, and while Thrifty has good rates and good service the one time I tried them, I just don't like driving a Chrystler. So, that leaves me with Alamo. I signed up at Alamo.com (whatever their plan is called) and saved $5 off a weekend rental. Not a huge savings, but whatever it takes to teach everyone else a lesson. ^

I used National one time because I wanted a one-way rental from IAH to DFW, and National's one way rates were the only ones that weren't insanely overpriced. I reserved a mid-size car but got stuck with a small car because that's all that was left on the lot. The people inside couldn't be bothered and the man at the exit booth was no help, so I kept the over-priced car and put National on lifetime boycott.


If all that's available on the National lot is a smaller car than what you reserved (and paid for), you are entitled to a partial refund. This happened to me at JFK when I arrived late one night and the only car was an intermediate-size Dodge Stratus. The counter and exit agents were no help, just like in your situation. I am guaranteed a full size or higher as Executive Elite, so a few days later I called Customer Service (1-800-468-3334) and they credited $15 or so back to my credit card to compensate for the downgrade.

I signed up at Alamo.com (whatever their plan is called) and saved $5 off a weekend rental. Not a huge savings, but whatever it takes to teach every one else a lesson. ^

Five bucks was all it took to call off the lifetime boycott? ;)

Emerald Aisle is such a stupid idea. The company either rents out a luxury car for a mid-size price or stiffs people with a smaller car than what they reserved.

I reserved a mid-size car but got stuck with a small car because that's all that was left on the lot.


If all that's available on the National lot is a smaller car than what you reserved (and paid for), you are entitled to a partial refund. I am guaranteed a full size or higher as Executive Elite, so a few days later I called Customer Service...and they credited $15 or so back to my credit card to compensate for the downgrade.


The above is yet another reason I am sticking with Hertz. I rent Premiums because I need that space. It's a little hard to transport five adults and their luggage in a Chevy Cavalier. :)

So since it is evidently "First Come, First Served" at EA, then if I reserve a Premium or Luxury I risk people who arrived prior to me taking all of those cars because they're sitting there. So I have to go stand in line at the counter and, if I am lucky, they will actually have one available for me when I make my way to the agent. And if I am not, then I am SOL.

No thank you. I'd rather walk to my stall at Hertz and know that, at the very least, I will see parked there what I reserved, and often times something better. ^

So since it is evidently "First Come, First Served" at EA, then if I reserve a Premium or Luxury I risk people who arrived prior to me taking all of those cars because they're sitting there. So I have to go stand in line at the counter and, if I am lucky, they will actually have one available for me when I make my way to the agent. And if I am not, then I am SOL.

No, no. You can reserve a Premium or Luxury outright at National rather than taking your chances on the Emerald Aisle. It's called "Emerald Reserve" service and is also applicable to SUVs, minivans, and convertibles. If you reserve a specific car class, you still don't have to go to the counter as an Emerald Club member; just head to the Premium or Luxury aisle instead of the Emerald Aisle, choose a car from that class and drive to the exit booth. The vehicles on the Premium and Luxury aisles aren't tagged as Emerald Aisle cars, so there's no risk of someone else grabbing them before you, unless they want to pay the full rate for that class.

There are times when I need a larger car, so I'll go for the Reserve service. As an Executive Elite, I'm charged the premium rate for luxury cars and the full size rate for premium cars, so even a Cadillac with all the bells and whistles is only $20-$25 more per day than a full size.

From yesterday's WSJ. WSJ TravelWatch (http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110842237326054547,00.html?mod=DAI).

Hertz Adds Fee

Ford Motor Co.'s Hertz Corp. tomorrow will start charging $2.50 for car rental reservations made in the U.S., excluding a handful of states where such fees are prohibited. Rich Broome, the company's vice president for corporate affairs, attributes the new charge to the proliferation of reservation outlets, including third-party Web sites, which have raised the company's information-technology costs by requiring increased synchronization.

In November, Hertz raised its prices by $5 a day or $20 a week, but took those rates out of the market in January for February pickups after competitors failed to match them. Overall, Hertz says rates are down by 3% from 2002 to 2004 overall. A spokesman for Cendant Corp.'s Car Rental Group, which operates Avis Rent A Car System Inc., says it is discussing the implications of the change but has no immediate reaction.

No, no. You can reserve a Premium or Luxury outright at National rather than taking your chances on the Emerald Aisle.

Ah, good to know.

Doesn't change my mind about sticking with Hertz, mind you. ;)

[B]In November, Hertz raised its prices by $5 a day or $20 a week, but took those rates out of the market in January for February pickups after competitors failed to match them.

I don't get it...doesn't Hertz raise and lower its prices in every market many times per week? Per day, even? Just like airlines and hotels...

I know they've raised prices in Florida 300+% in some cases over what I booked there on the same dates last year, thanks to supply & demand. (Fortunately, other agencies in the markets where I was renting didn't do that.) In other places, I've been renting Hertz cars for less money than ever before. It's just like any other travel market...

If Hertz tried to jack up the rates by $5 across the board...well, duh!...of course that isn't going to work. That would be like an airline trying to jack airfares by $50-100 across the board in every market they serve, and then acting surprised with Southwest and the others don't follow them. The market isn't going to bear it.

Not that I'm a bean-counter or have ever worked in the rental car industry, but IMHO Hertz would've been better off inching up their daily rates by 50 cents or a buck per day. That would generate the revenue they hoped to get out of the $2.50 surcharge with no backlash whatsoever. Hertz would not lose any customers to other agencies because of a dollar a day.

Thanks to this move on Hertz's part (right in the middle of our contract negotiations), my firm has dumped Hertz in favor of national as our preferred provider. :mad:

Brilliant. I wonder if they comp EA executive, or whatever it is...

National generally does not comp elite status, but you can get Executive after only 10 rentals...and the standard Emerald Aisle isn't all that bad.

Just made a reservation for PHX @ Hertz.com. Noticed this on the confirmation screen under "Additional Items (included in Approximate Total Charges)":

Rental surcharge per rental (minimum charge 2.50usd): 3.25 %

Maybe I never paid close attention to it but was this always there? Or is this PHX specific?

Just made a reservation for PHX @ Hertz.com. Noticed this on the confirmation screen under "Additional Items (included in Approximate Total Charges)":

Rental surcharge per rental (minimum charge 2.50usd): 3.25 %

Maybe I never paid close attention to it but was this always there? Or is this PHX specific?

That's a normal part of the outrageous Phoenix taxes, which cumulatively run anywhere from 40-60% additional charges depending on your rate. There are a few postings on this, but with no search ability.....

There is a flat fee component, as well as percentages. The 4.50 daily fee is funding the mega-complex which will house all companies. The 2.50 minimum (or 3.25% -- whichever is higher) funds spring training facilites and other sports venues. Then there's the 15.1% general tax, as well as a couple other smaller percentage taxes.

My October 2004 one day $25 rental ended up costing about $40. $25 to rent, $15 for tax.

My October 2004 one day $25 rental ended up costing about $40. $25 to rent, $15 for tax.

Sounds like Europe! :eek:
Ouch!

Sounds like Europe! :eek:
Ouch!

Sounds like....everywhere! :eek: I think just about every major city has figured this out: you can tax the hell out of rental cars and there really isn't much anybody will do. And if a city isn't taxing rental cars heavily, it might as well get on board and keep up with the Joneses, because its citizens are ponying up everywhere else when they travel.

Kansas City recently approved $4/day on rental cars to spend on downtown revitalization. Citizens overwhelmingly approved it, thoroughly pissing off St. Louiis in the process ^ (long story). They mayor came out of it looking like the hero - almost unanimously hailed as the biggest political victory for the city since 1972. This is at an airport where rental cars are almost always available well under $20/day, so it's a 20-25% tax on top of all of the other taxes there were there before.

I'd probably be unhappy about it...if I didn't have to pay 63% at DFW, 70% in Houston, 45% in Denver, almost 100%(!) on a rental at PHX, etc.

Los Angeles is one of the few cities that doesn't (yet) rip off visitors with rental taxes. Last I checked, Hertz charges only 8.25% state sales tax at LAX...with none of the junk fees that are so common elsewhere.

Los Angeles is one of the few cities that doesn't (yet) rip off visitors with rental taxes. Last I checked, Hertz charges only 8.25% state sales tax at LAX...with none of the junk fees that are so common elsewhere.

Look here and weep:

http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=393814
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=395531


Hammer

I don't know if Hertz is charging the recoupment fee at LAX on all rates, or just corporate rates.

National only charges the extra fees when using a corporate contract ID. I'm stuck with the corporate ID during the week, but when I rent at LAX on the weekends I use a leisure rate that only adds the standard 8.25% tax.

The "Airport Concession Fee" is already included in the rate, not added...

This thread made today's Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42687-2005Feb21.html

Consumers Exercise Their Growing Clout

By Keith L. Alexander
Tuesday, February 22, 2005; Page E01

Consumer clout -- it's a potent weapon these days for bullying travel-related companies into changing policies. Competition is so tight that airlines, hotels and car rental agencies are listening -- and responding -- to customer complaints with renewed vigor.

I didn't see this answered above - if you cancel a reservation, do you still pay the fee for having made it?

I didn't see this answered above - if you cancel a reservation, do you still pay the fee for having made it?

Actually, that will cost you five dollars. The cancel order is another transaction, so that's another $2.50, plus taxes and other fees. ;) :D

(Perhaps you might want to read the last dozen or so posts in this thread. And I'm just funnin'...I'm guilty of the same thing myself in long threads. :))

Five bucks was all it took to call off the lifetime boycott? ;)

When did I put Alamo on lifetime boycott?

When did I put Alamo on lifetime boycott?

Sorry...I thought you were pissed at National/Alamo and were boycotting them.

Sorry...I thought you were pissed at National/Alamo and were boycotting them.

I was pissed at National because I paid for a larger car than what was left on the lot. I read the posts in this thread about how you can choose the Emerald Aisle or the regular aisle (forgot the name) based on car class and so on, and frankly it is very confusing. I would rather just choose a car type and then gets the keys to said type at the counter.

By the way, it wasn't a lifetime boycott, just a regular boycott. :) Hertz is on lifetime boycott for stranding me. :td: Hertz corporate and the independent licensee are passing the buck between one another. If they expect me to feel sorry for their internal problems and rent with them again, they are sorely mistaken.

At least Avis gave me two $25 discounts when they stranded me, so they are on regular boycott. I guess they do try "harder", relative to Hertz anyway. :mad:

Kudos, folks! Practically brought a tear to my eye to read about Flyertalk's influence in the San Jose Mercury News today. :D

I was pissed at National because I paid for a larger car than what was left on the lot. I read the posts in this thread about how you can choose the Emerald Aisle or the regular aisle (forgot the name) based on car class and so on, and frankly it is very confusing. I would rather just choose a car type and then gets the keys to said type at the counter.

Yeah...I hear ya. It's even more confusing when they now have all of their programs and operations lumped together - the Alamo and National versions - and all of the aisles are sitting there empty of cars and people are standing around yelling at the attendants to bring more cars up.

I get the fact that the ability to select a car is cool, and I happened to think the kiosks were kinda cool, but when the processes are breaking down all over the place, I'll just take my smooth-running #1 Club Gold operation - even if it nets me a boring Taurus - any day of the week.

all of the aisles are sitting there empty of cars and people are standing around yelling at the attendants to bring more cars up.


After about 40 rentals in the past year, that has only happened to me once at National---on a sold-out weekday morning at DCA where I had to use the Executive Elite 24-hour guarantee to get a car. But within two minutes, an agent drove a newly washed and cleaned car up, I hopped in, and drove off the lot. DCA is a ridiculously small rental operation for a major airport because of limited space in the parking garage where most of the agencies are located. (Incidentally, this is one of the few places where Alamo is still off-site and not merged with National).

Everywhere else I've rented from, there has always been at least one car (usually 20 or more) in the Aisle/Executive Selection; no need to have an attendant bring one.

The #1 thing I prefer about National is the ability to choose a car, especially since many locations have SUVs and premium cars offered for the midsize rate in the Executive Selection. Also, the free days add up fast---only 5 rentals gets you a free day, valid even for expensive one-way rentals with no drop fees.

When I turn 25 (or if I'm able to negotiate an agreement for underage renters with my local Business Account Program office) I'll give Hertz a try...but from my perspective, National is the better program. YMMV.

Hertz already laid off a few hundred employees after 9/11, these tactics of adding a fee, and actually improving their web site for rentals are ways to trim more employees.