Hertz - Five-Star Membership - Is it Free?

I've been Five Star since as long as I can remember. I don't usually pay attention to my rental car statuses since I've got enough to worry about juggling all those frequent flier programs. I guess I rent 250 - 300 days a year and most of it from Hertz.

Not sure what's included in Five Star membership or what I have to do keep it.

When a colleague recently attempted to sign up for Gold status, he told me it would have cost him $50. It was an annual charge too! Yikes!

I've been a #1 Gold member for many years and I don't remember there ever being a charge for the service. Are they charging my credit card on file and I'm just not aware of it or do they not charge Five-Star members?

FYI - I asked the counter at my last rental and was told that everyone gets charged regardless, as far as they knew. Still sounds odd to me.

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UPDATE: Found the answer to why I have not been charged:
https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/emember/join/index.jsp?targetPage=clubsBenefitsView.jsp&contentPage=sumGoldbenefits.jsp

I also didn't know there was a higher class of membership than Five-Star. Hmmm. I wonder how to find out how many rentals I've had so far this calendar year and maybe I can shoot for the coveted "President's Circle" Actually, you can't get a list online as one would expect b/c you have to enter a confirmation code to find a reservation. I will call the Billing department at Hertz tomorrow and waste their time answering this for me.

Gold status is nominally $50/year according to Hertz, but there are lots of free offers out there for the initial signup. I have been gold for around 8 years and have never been asked to pay an annual renewal, and have never heard of anyone else being billed either.

The only perk of base Gold is faster rentals.

5 Star is an elite tier of the Gold program, earned after 12(?) rentals a year, the next step up is Presidents Club, earned after 40 rentals a year. The higher levels give you free upgrades, and some other bennies.

Just as a point of reference I got my Gold status free for the first year (thanks to some FTers) a couple years ago, have rented maybe half a dozen times each year since then, and they don't bill me $50. What happens if you do pay it the first time I don't know, but it sure seems as long as you have even a little activity they're not going to bother charging you for subsequent years.

You rent 250 -300 days out of the year and your not presidential?

you must be doing a few long rentals instead of several short ones.

I've been Five Star since as long as I can remember. I don't usually pay attention to my rental car statuses since I've got enough to worry about juggling all those frequent flier programs. I guess I rent 250 - 300 days a year and most of it from Hertz.

Not sure what's included in Five Star membership or what I have to do keep it.

When a colleague recently attempted to sign up for Gold status, he told me it would have cost him $50. It was an annual charge too! Yikes!

e.

If you sign up in conjunction with your company (CDP) you will not be charged $50. I have rarely seen any benefit in Five-Star. I rarely get upgraded and my car is not parked anywhere near/special.

nicowens, call Hertz Gold Customer Service in Oklahoma City at 405-775-3180. They have records of all your rentals, and can easily tell you how many rentals you have and whether you qualify for President's Circle or not (which you likely should qualify for). If you do qualify, they'll bump up your status on the spot, too (instead of having to wait 'til the next cycle). ^

Now only 10 required for 5*. You should be able to qualify for Presidents unless you are renting for months at a time.

You rent 250 -300 days out of the year and your not presidential?

you must be doing a few long rentals instead of several short ones.

Long rentals is right. I typically keep a car in ORF for 30 days at a time, maybe 6 months out of the year, so it only counts for 6 rentals. My company is budget-conscious so if the rental is for more than a few days, I shop around for the best rate and end up renting many vehicles from Dollar, Avis, Budget, and others for a good chunk of my rentals.

I easily do 100 - 150 days annually on Hertz though. Too bad it's not based on number of days or total monies paid annually. Seems like a missing link in their plan to accomodate their customers that spend the most money w/ them by rewarding perks to only those customers w/ lots of 1 - 2 day rentals.

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I easily do 100 - 150 days annually on Hertz though. Too bad it's not based on number of days or total monies paid annually. Seems like a missing link in their plan to accomodate their customers that spend the most money w/ them by rewarding perks to only those customers w/ lots of 1 - 2 day rentals.

Total amount for PC status is unpublished, but last I read is around $7,000 annually.