Hertz - 5 star membership - worth?

probably it has been asked before ... :o

I have 8 rentals so far this year (France, Germany & USA)
is it worth trying to make it ten to get 5 star club membership?
I am regular Club Gold member ...

It has been worth it to me. At my HLE, I rent B and get my choice of cars.

5-Star now gets a #1 point bonus, which helps make it a bit more attractive. Since you're already 80% of the way there, I recommend you rent twice more and secure it.

(1) In your 5* kit, you get a Free Day.
(2) Small ZE1 point bonus.
(3) I believe the emails I get contain PC codes that not everyone gets. I actually used one this weekend on a 2-day rental that was for $25 off.
(4) I get basically the same thing that curbcrusher gets at my HLE. They know me by now, I always rent something small and drive a Camry.
(5) At airport locations, I don't seem to get many automatic upgrades, but when I want one and am willing to take the time to go ask for it, they have given it to me. On this weekend's rental, 5 guys with luggage, I was able to walk in and ask for a Grand Marquis with no problems.

Make sure you call or email Hertz after rental #10 posts. They will switch your account to 5* and you'll get the materials within 2-3 weeks. If you don't call, the status won't automatically bump up until next year. (At least, it didn't in the past.)

It is to me. The frequency of upgrades has increased. My car is now often parked in the Presidents Circle.

im in pretty much the same situation, trying to decide if its worth it, i tried to run a little con past hertz by saying that 5* is no good to me, and that i was thinking of leaving hertz, but would be tempted to stay if i went straight to Pres circle. Didnt work.

Bit miffed though since some of my 2 week rentals etc have still only been counted as one rental.

im in pretty much the same situation, trying to decide if its worth it, i tried to run a little con past hertz by saying that 5* is no good to me, and that i was thinking of leaving hertz, but would be tempted to stay if i went straight to Pres circle. Didnt work.

Bit miffed though since some of my 2 week rentals etc have still only been counted as one rental.

try renting for 1 or 2 month periods then you can get miffed. They really should have a number of rentals or a number of rental days qualification :( :mad:

I was in the same boat last year -- 24 rentals and something like 60 days rented, but no PC.

5* has been very hit or miss. Sometimes it seems to have worked, but not always -- and to be honest, as a plain old Gold I'd get an upgrade from time to time.

Steve

try renting for 1 or 2 month periods then you can get miffed. They really should have a number of rentals or a number of rental days qualification :( :mad:

They do have something similar. I believe it's based on revenue and the exact amount is not published. I think it was allegedly around $7k / year for PC, not sure what it would be for 5*.

It is to me. The frequency of upgrades has increased. My car is now often parked in the Presidents Circle.

So that's who's car has been in my PC spot.... while I have to walk to the last row in Gold as MSP.

It depends on the station, but for most part, I haven't seen any advantage to 5* (when I had it) or PC (which I have now).

My biggest problem with it is that my company contract doesn't allow me to get ZE1 points so any 'bonus points' are worthless to me (50% of Zero is....).

Hertz really needs to take a good look at this program and decide if they want to lead the pack and offer something worthwile, or simply glide along and keep what they have.

Hertz really needs to take a good look at this program and decide if they want to lead the pack and offer something worthwile, or simply glide along and keep what they have.

The problem is that nobody is pushing them. National has a psuedo-elite level, but there are too many airports where the Emerald Aisle and Executive Aisle processes are just plain broken. I don't think Hertz is too worried about them.

From what I can tell about the Avis Preferred Select level, it sounds like basic parity to #1 Club Gold. In fact, it seems to me that Gold might still be faster than Preferred Select. (Avis has a couple of unpublished VIP levels, just like Hertz does.)

Budget has a points system, but again there are very few airports in the world where Budget offers a remotely comparable product to Hertz. (Basically, they are comparable only where the airport itself has forced all agencies into one building with shared buses - and Budget has decided to invest in a top-notch location by their standards.)

Anyway, as it currently stands, Hertz isn't feeling any market pressure from either the Customer Service side of things (everybody else is horrible) or the loyalty program side of things. Their basic program is, sadly, by far the most advanced at this time.