Hertz - No Gold Upgrade- Opportunity to Buy Upgrade?

I've been Gold (and at times Presidents Circle) for years. Have always made my Hertz res on line at Hertz.com and always received great upgrades. For a recent return visit to LAS, I made the unfortunate mistake of booking via the CO website- that was offering additional miles if I booked my car at the same time as my flights. I entered my Gold number and sure enough yesterday upon arrival at LAS my name was on the Gold list. (so far, so good). I had booked an compact car, as I usually do and was hoping for at least a Corolla-mid sized, which hubby likes. At my spot was a Chevy Aveo which is a very mini car (hubby and I are not big people, but even for us it was a tight fit). We went to the Gold desk to change the car, and I explained about Gold upgrades etc. and was told they were subject to availability----and that no upgrades were available at that time (mid day Fri 9/7), but we could have our choice of just about any other car if we wanted to pay the higher prices of between $10--60 per day!. Now I can understand if they were sold out, but they clearly had lots of other cars from which we could choose, but not for an upgrade. I asked about that and she replied that the reservation was made for a compact with CO that's all you get---- NO Upgrades. We were hot & tired, so we went for the additional $14 per day for a midsized Ford Fusion. My original rate was $20.99 per day, so we were now at $34.99 which isn't bad and as it was for only 3 days -- but I was mainly upset at the 'subject to availability' line, when it clearly appeared that there were lots of cars available-----but at a price.

PS-we'd rented at LAS lots and lots of times and always got some sort of an upgrade, and yes I know this is a busy weekend -- what with the MVA's & UNLV vs Wisc etc.

Presidents Circle and above are the only ones with guaranteed free one class upgrade. 5* status gets upgrades "if available". Gold level is not entitled to a free upgrade at all.

This exact same thing happened to me on Maui earlier this summer. Hertz did not automatically upgrade me as a gold 5 Star as I usually get everywhere else. When I asked for an "available" upgrade, they said that they could only upgrade me for a $13 per day fee...

Now if the upgrade was "available" for a fee to rent to whomever wanted to pay for it... wouldn't that mean that the upgrade was "available" under the terms of the Gold 5 Star?

I don't really see how there could be shades of grey on this one... either the car is there or it isn't?

Now if the available upgrade is subject to quanitity limitations... such as they only will give out 10 free upgrades per day, then Hertz should explain this...

All in all I have had great luck with Hertz and I think the person at the counter in Maui just did not want to take the time to do the paperwork as they were busy...

It's sort of sad that when a hotel, airline, or car rental company deliver what we reserved and paid for we don't feel it's right of them.

As upgrades are not guaranteed, I don't see what the issue is, you reserved a compact, and shouldn't really have expected anything more.

It's nice when it happens, but don't really think it's worth going back to the desk and trying for something more for free.

Hmmm... I thought the Aveo was an Economy car - the lowest (below compact) level. That is truly the smallest rental car I've seen or driven in the U.S.

But anyway, I digress... In the OP's case, Hertz was certainly within their rights to deny the upgrade - but I do understand the frustration. Historically, I've been able to walk to the Gold desk and ask about other cars if I don't like the one I'm in. If they have one, and if I'm not asking for some sort of specialty or luxury car, they had me the keys no questions asked. Granted, I save it for only when I really don't like what's in my stall, and I preface it by saying "I'm not picky...anything other standard nonsmoking car will do." I think many long-term Gold members are used to being able to do this regardless of their elite level (or lack thereof), so suddenly getting into negotiations for more money would be considered a definite change in procedure.

(I'm not talking about situations where you walk in and start asking about convertibles, luxury cars, etc. Clearly in those cases, the renter needs to be ready to negotiate rate.)

In UCSB's case, the only way Hertz could claim to be in the right is if the upgrade offered wasn't one-class above what was booked. For example, if I book full-size and premium is sold out, I'd don't have automatic dibs on a luxury/specialty car even if one is available. But I suspect that wasn't the case - the one-class upgrade was probably there and they should have given it to you for free under the terms of 5*. (I'm speculating on this, but the $13 opening negotiation point is a clue. If we were talking about a very high-end car, Hertz would probably open with a much higher starting offer.)