Hertz - #1 Gold - What's The Point?

Hello all!

My first post here.

I've been a #1 Gold for many years, but practically never book reservations through Hertz. Why? HotWire is consistently 40-50% cheaper, and my "success ratio" at getting a Hertz car through HotWire is about 50%.

Case in point. Today I booked a 6-day rental for August in TUS. With taxes, Hertz wanted almost $300. Booked it on HotWire for $166 all in. And it's a Hertz car!

Whether I'm on my own dime, or charging the rental to an expense account, there's no way I can justify the premium price Hertz expects.

Am I the only one who feels this way?

I apologize if this topic has been previously beaten to death. :rolleyes:

Your question has nothing to do with the #1 Gold loyalty program and could apply to any car rental company.

Yes #1 Gold gets you in an out as fast as possible. That is the point of that.

Your issues is not with that it is just with Hertz.

Funny, hotwire has never ever been the lowest price, or even close to the lowest for me.

#1 gets you out of the airport as fast as you can get to the car, nothing more than that, it has nothing to do with price.

The 12 or so #1 Club Gold members waiting in line at PDX last Tuesday were probably wondering what the point was....

Don't have to deal with an agent...that's the point.

Hello all!
Case in point. Today I booked a 6-day rental for August in TUS. With taxes, Hertz wanted almost $300. Booked it on HotWire for $166 all in. And it's a Hertz car!


You saved a lot so in you case it is a good deal but more often than not you can get a similar or better rate by dealing with Hertz directly (weekends in particular).

Hertz rates change over time so there is a chance $300 rate will become $200 especially after creative play with CDP/PC codes. Hotwire is non-cancellable; to think of it on you flight out you won't even be able to take an overnight VDB if offered. :D

I'm #1 Gold but appointed myself #1 Platinum when I book on Advantage and saved $700 over Hertz on my summer rental.
The whole Gold thing is to get you on your way faster. I won’t be on my way too fast, but at least my wallet will be heavy! :p

The 12 or so #1 Club Gold members waiting in line at PDX last Tuesday were probably wondering what the point was....

Why were they waiting on line? Whenever I pick up from Hertz the bus leaves me off and I just walk to the car they have already put aside for me.

Why were they waiting on line? Whenever I pick up from Hertz the bus leaves me off and I just walk to the car they have already put aside for me.

No name on the board. They were behind and short cars. No apologies from the staff, just curt (bordering on rude) mannerisms.

Makes me wish I rented (that day) from Alamo. :)

The past few times I've rented with Hertz, my name's been on the board. ;) The day when I don't see one on the board is the day I'll shake my fist at the agent across the counter from me and say "did someone forget my name again?" ;)

Sanosuke!

I hope I am not about to jinx myself...........but in all the years I have rented from Hertz I have had very few problems. One time I complained that the airport bus just drove past empty and they gave me a $75.00 coupon, all I wanted was an apology. I am one of those people that drive arental car and probably don't even know what I am driving. I had a hemi charger once and in my office they were enquiring who was driving it. I didn't know it was me. :D
Back on subject - I usually get treated very well as as already said, the speed of pickup and leave.

Hello all!

My first post here.

I've been a #1 Gold for many years, but practically never book reservations through Hertz. Why? HotWire is consistently 40-50% cheaper, and my "success ratio" at getting a Hertz car through HotWire is about 50%.

Case in point. Today I booked a 6-day rental for August in TUS. With taxes, Hertz wanted almost $300. Booked it on HotWire for $166 all in. And it's a Hertz car!

Whether I'm on my own dime, or charging the rental to an expense account, there's no way I can justify the premium price Hertz expects.

Am I the only one who feels this way?

I apologize if this topic has been previously beaten to death. :rolleyes:


I typically book over the phone if possible. I have a corporate rate that is lower than most discount sites (except maybe the fluke $10 a day rates). Hertz really isn't so much about the rates (as what has already been said), its about the convenience. They are also the only company to my knowledge that will give you reward points, skymiles, hotel points, etc....

(1) Others have already covered the purpose of #1 Club Gold. At most airports, it's the most efficient way to get a rental car. At a few airports, it is rivalled by Avis or National. At even fewer airports, it is inferior to Avis or National - in practice, I typically learn these the hard way as opposed to detailed research, because usually Hertz is very good. (MCO is a prime example of a place where National Emerald Aisle is the ideal way to acquire a rental car.)

(2) For a 6-day rental, chances are very good that you can beat Hotwire by playing the codes correctly at a first-tier agency. The sweet spot for Hotwire and Priceline is two areas: (a) 2-4 day weekday rentals. (b) Certain specialty car rentals. By extension you could probably say 9-11 days is another sweet spot: I haven't really tested that theory extensively. And there are some here who prefer to test their negotiation skills at the airport to get specialty cars: Priceline/Hotwire can be a good place to go if you want a guaranteed convertible, for example, and don't have any good CDP/PC combos that work on convertibles.

(3) Advantage (and other third-tier agencies) and Hertz are apples-to-oranges. Completely different product. I doubt I would accept an Advantage car if it were free. Bad, bad things can happen when you go down this road.

I'm not saying there's no place in this world for Priceline/Hotwire rental cars, but I suspect if Hotwire had one for $166 all in, you probably weren't playing the codes very well. Throwing in a random August week in Tucson into Orbitz, Dollar has regular cars (midsize) for $142 all in - that's fully cancelable/changeable and before I go to Dollar.com and start tossing around promo/corp codes. (I consider Dollar in the 2nd-tier: reputable but not in the same league as Hertz.) If I absolutely required first-tier, an Emerald Aisle rental would set you back about $230 all in - again, before I apply a coupon which will certainly bring it back to the $200 range.

Weekly rentals simply are not a sweet spot for the wholesalers. They aren't set up to deliver value there.

The past few times I've rented with Hertz, my name's been on the board. ;) The day when I don't see one on the board is the day I'll shake my fist at the agent across the counter from me and say "did someone forget my name again?" ;)

Sanosuke!

If you rent a car at LIH there is NO board.

75% of the time that I have rented a car from Hertz at LAX (~21:00 hours) none of the Hertz Gold members were on the board. It seems to be a chronic problem at LAX.

When you go in and out of a city in one day and time is important you could save 15 min. or more sometimes it you bypass agents and all lines.

this reminds me of a question that's been nagging me for some time:

is there any faster way for golds to return a car?

i love being able to get off the rental car van, look at the board, and walk straight to my car. but time matters most to me when i'm dropping off, not picking up. i thought i saw hints on hertz's description of the program that i get rapid returns for being gold, but i've never seen a "gold" line at the return station, and my stomach turns when i pull in behind 20-30 cars waiting with only one or two attendants checking in.

If you rent a car at LIH there is NO board.

75% of the time that I have rented a car from Hertz at LAX (~21:00 hours) none of the Hertz Gold members were on the board. It seems to be a chronic problem at LAX.

I rented from LIH this week and there was a board right next to the office entrance where the bus drops you off.

this reminds me of a question that's been nagging me for some time:

is there any faster way for golds to return a car?

i love being able to get off the rental car van, look at the board, and walk straight to my car. but time matters most to me when i'm dropping off, not picking up. i thought i saw hints on hertz's description of the program that i get rapid returns for being gold, but i've never seen a "gold" line at the return station, and my stomach turns when i pull in behind 20-30 cars waiting with only one or two attendants checking in.

Same here -- especially at larger airports, it's always the weakest point in any of my Hertz rentals. Hertz already has separate return areas for Platinums at many locations, so it seems like it could be implemented effectively if planned right.

Same here -- especially at larger airports, it's always the weakest point in any of my Hertz rentals. Hertz already has separate return areas for Platinums at many locations, so it seems like it could be implemented effectively if planned right.

Platinums, with Hertz? Never knew there was a level above #1 Gold Club or Presidents Club. :S

Sanosuke!

The 12 or so #1 Club Gold members waiting in line at PDX last Tuesday were probably wondering what the point was....

A little late to find this thread. Anyway . . .

About the same date I was picking up a car in CLT. Almost as soon as the bus hit the curb, it filled up and the driver left without getting names. A number of #1 Gold arrived and were not listed on the board. Going into the counter, the ladies were extremely apologetic and frustrated that the driver had not called in names. Once they started calling for cars from the back, if the cars didn't show up in 2-3 minutes, they called again. Time off the bus to a car was probably less than 15 minutes. Not ideal, but I thought the attitude was appropriate. I've always had good experiences at this location.

Every time I go away from my preferred carrental company, I always regret it. I use Hertz for personal rentals, even if it's a little extra $$. I usually use CS certs or points to get a day or two off the rate.

this reminds me of a question that's been nagging me for some time:

is there any faster way for golds to return a car?

i love being able to get off the rental car van, look at the board, and walk straight to my car. but time matters most to me when i'm dropping off, not picking up. i thought i saw hints on hertz's description of the program that i get rapid returns for being gold, but i've never seen a "gold" line at the return station, and my stomach turns when i pull in behind 20-30 cars waiting with only one or two attendants checking in.

Several times when I have been cutting it close to make my flight, I have just pulled in to Hertz, left the keys in the car, and headed to the terminal. They will send you a receipt or you can retrieve a copy from the web site. The downside is that you don't have a receipt in hand, so it would be harder to dispute if odd charges appeared on your receipt (like for gas or damage), but I have not had any problems so far.

In general though, they are usually very fast about getting your return printed out that it is not a problem for me. They are not 100% perfect, but most of the time, Hertz has a great system going for me. I get in and out fast. I would hate to have to always go to the counter to deal with paperwork. I estimate that maybe less than 1 in 10 times do I have some issue that requires counter help (name not on board or something).

#1 Gold is about convenience and upgrades, for me. I am about 80% on upgrades with the program.

But for the reason you mentioned (occasionally high rates at Hertz) I also am an Emerald Club member at National. It's almost as fast as #1 Gold. I also generally use National when at a non-Gold service Hertz location.

I'm #1 gold but almost never see the upgrades. Is there a trick to this? I usually request a midsized car to begin with.

Only have gotten upgraded twice, to my knowledge... once was an upgrade to a mustang, and the other was to an excursion (nothing like doubling my fuel costs, thanks!!!:rolleyes:)

I'm #1 gold but almost never see the upgrades. Is there a trick to this? I usually request a midsized car to begin with.



It just happens. I am # 1 Gold with no status at all and, in the States, get upgraded about 50% of the time (I always ask for the least expensive car).

In Europe, I am close to 100% on upgrades.

My best luck has come when I am renting in one country and returning it in another. I always ask if they have a car which is registered in country I am heading to. I have never once been disappointed. Not only do I get an upgraded car (often several grades higher than what I paid for) but I am also excused from the drop off charge.

i also reserve mid-sized cars, but i can't remember the last time i actually got one. most of the time i'll end up with a taurus, convertible, or an SUV (which i consider a "downgrade").

it makes me wonder what point is served by a "free upgrade" coupon.