Hertz - WOW, BIG changes to the points required for free rentals!

It seems as if the other link on here listed what MAY come on 3/1. I found what WILL come! (not good at adding a link, but here it is!) https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/emember/join/index.jsp?targetPage=clubsBenefitsView.jsp&contentPage=ProgramChanges.jsp&leftNavUserSelection=globNav_4_4_1


So it seems as if a weekly rental will now be UP TO 15000, thats right folks, 15K points! :td::td::td:



1 Free Weekend of any Fun Vehicle - Non-Peak (up to 4 days)
3,000

1 Free Weekend of any Fun Vehicle - Peak (up to 4 days)
6,000

1 Free Weekly of any Fun Vehicle - Non-Peak (up to 7 days)
4,500

1 Free Weekly of any Fun Vehicle - Peak (up to 7 days)
9,000

1 Free Weekend of any Prestige Vehicle - Non Peak (up to 4 days)
4,500

1 Free Weekend of any Prestige Vehicle - Peak (up to 4 days)
9,000

1 Free Weekly Rental any Prestige Vehicle - Non Peak (up to 7 days)
7,500

1 Free Weekly Rental of any Prestige Vehicle - Peak ( up to 7 days)
15,000



As a PC member, I PAY about $10K to get ONE FREE WEEK? BULL....Hertz can SHOVE their "piece of junk" reward program the same place that USairways can! :td::td::td:

Im tired of Jeep/Taurus/other CRAPPY cars...im headed to AVIS.

Looks like I'll be exchanging my points for paper certificates Feb 29, 2008

On the new chart, one free week in a normal car costs 2,500 points. So you would have to pay $2,000 (not including any coupon codes).

That hasn't changed from before.

I believe the jump he's talking about is the weekly prestige peak rental that jumps from 10k to 15k if I'm not mistaken...

I usually redeem for short-rental free days when other discounts/promotions aren't as effective. 600 points is still not a horrible value. I just did 4 free days at LGA this weekend - two with Hertz, two with National. Got about 15 cents a point on the Hertz side - and that's just comparing to what it would have cost to Priceline a Premium car. (If I used Hertz NYC rates, it was more like 20 cents a point.)

In the absence of something like a 4xWN promotion or smaller WN/Marriott bonuses on very cheap rentals, ZE1 is still the way to go.

1 Free Weekly Rental of any Prestige Vehicle - Peak ( up to 7 days)
15,000



As a PC member, I PAY about $10K to get ONE FREE WEEK? BULL....Hertz can SHOVE their "piece of junk" reward program the same place that USairways can! :td::td::td:

Im tired of Jeep/Taurus/other CRAPPY cars...im headed to AVIS.

a little dramatic, no? You're talking about renting the most expensive car on the lot... say, an Escalade, during the location's PEAK season, of which there are currently very few. The cash price of the same rental would typically be in the $2500 range at the locations I frequent. I think Hertz has been taking a bath on the Prestige award redemptions, and while I've certainly enjoyed the ride, this is not surprising.

It's important, I think, to note that award prices of normal cars and Fun collection are essentially unchanged, right?

Which prestige-equivalent car are you going to be getting for free from Avis, at any price? (Maybe things have changed over there since I last darkened their doors, but I think all the Avis First program does for you is free 2-day weekend rentals of a Malibu Maxx or equivalent ;) )

The other thing I'll give Hertz credit for is that they (a) have never not allowed me to book an award day when I wanted it and (b) haven't gone nuts with loose definitions of "peak" or blackout dates the way some of the hotel programs have.

Devaluations suck, but this one is minor in the grand scheme of things.

The other thing I'll give Hertz credit for is that they (a) have never not allowed me to book an award day when I wanted it and (b) haven't gone nuts with loose definitions of "peak" or blackout dates the way some of the hotel programs have.

Devaluations suck, but this one is minor in the grand scheme of things.

Unlike National which I just changed from after 26 years of being a loyal customer and they do not seem to care.

I like to use the 1 week prestige non-peak certs for vacations. 5000 pts jumps up to 7500 pts, a 50% increase. I agree with the OP, this is BS.

Like Tummy, I'll be getting some paper certs on 2/29/08.

Specialty Vehicles = Minivans and Suburbans?

Specialty Vehicles = Minivans and Suburbans?

Specialty Vehicle Awards include Luxury, SUV, Minivan or Convertibles.

This is why I never accrued one single hertz reward point, best to credit to someone else

This is why I never accrued one single hertz reward point, best to credit to someone else

I've gotten a great deal of value from Hertz points. This increase was the only one I have heard of in the last 5 or so years.

Some examples, each 500 point one day rental can cost me as little as $150 on a weekend to earn, but I can redeem for a $80 / day rental around NYC. I redeemed 5,000 points for a week in a Hummer H2 on Hawaii, which the walk up rate was around $300 / day. The value is not always that extreme, but I think much more valuable than earning airline miles or hotel points, if you like cars.

Here's the e-mail I received from Hertz:

Dear Mr. Billiken:

We value your participation in the Hertz #1 Awards® Program and want you to be aware of the Program changes summarized below.

• In many cases, the cost of #1 Awards will increase effective March 1, 2008. For example, the cost of a Free Rental Day Non-Peak Certificate will increase from 500 Points to 600 Points.

• We'll be adding eight new #1 Awards for some of the more popular car classes and rental periods. For instance, you will be able to redeem for either a 2-Day or 4-Day Weekend Rental for any of the Prestige or Fun Collection® vehicles.

• Now you can apply #1 Awards Points and book your online rental in a single transaction. For more details, log on to hertz.com in the U.S. or hertz.ca in Canada.

To learn more about these upcoming changes, please click here.

Thank you for being a Hertz #1 Awards participant. We look forward to serving your car rental needs again soon.

The other thing I'll give Hertz credit for is that they (a) have never not allowed me to book an award day when I wanted it and (b) haven't gone nuts with loose definitions of "peak" or blackout dates the way some of the hotel programs have.

Devaluations suck, but this one is minor in the grand scheme of things.
I agree 100%. Not that bad. I can use the free day certs in Manhattan when summer/holiday weekend rentals go up to $120/day for a full size. 500 points was great value, 600 points is still very good (when you can buy those points directly from Hertz for $60!!!). Add the free days for 5* (every 10 or 15 rentals) and Manhattan Gold (every 6 rentals) and #1 Awards is hard to beat. (Well, not that I spent much time comparing to the other programs...)

The other thing I'll give Hertz credit for is that they (a) have never not allowed me to book an award day when I wanted it and (b) haven't gone nuts with loose definitions of "peak" or blackout dates the way some of the hotel programs have.

Devaluations suck, but this one is minor in the grand scheme of things.

You're probably right, but, in fairness, rates don't seemed to have gone up 20% so it doesn't seem justified.

And (perhaps this is just current sour grapes), I'm on an award rental and they managed to give me the lowest featured car -- no remote mirror controls, no electronic windows or lock controls, no keyless entry system.

Vehicle meets my needs, i.e. functional, saves cash out flow at a very pricey airport, but still ... nice to feel valued as a PC.

This is why I never accrued one single hertz reward point, best to credit to someone else


I find that hard to believe, but maybe you have found something that I am unaware of. What did you credit your points to & how many points in that program did you get compared to how many you would've gotten if you collected hertz reward points? I would like to know the specifics, because I have been collecting hertz points & if there is something better out there then I may switch.

You're probably right, but, in fairness, rates don't seemed to have gone up 20% so it doesn't seem justified.



I ask this question & honestly do not know the answer as I have only been renting from hertz for a little over 2 years. How long has hertz had its current redemption rates? Have rates increased 20% over that time frame?

This is why I never accrued one single hertz reward point, best to credit to someone else

What program have you been crediting to that has seen less point devaluation over the past 5 years?

You're probably right, but, in fairness, rates don't seemed to have gone up 20% so it doesn't seem justified.

And (perhaps this is just current sour grapes), I'm on an award rental and they managed to give me the lowest featured car -- no remote mirror controls, no electronic windows or lock controls, no keyless entry system.

Vehicle meets my needs, i.e. functional, saves cash out flow at a very pricey airport, but still ... nice to feel valued as a PC.

Yikes...what kind of car is it?!? I always book my award rentals in the Premium category and usually end up driving something quite nice.

Worst case, I get the Grand Marquis...if I really don't want it (it handles like crap in wet/snow), I just have 'em swap me down to a Camry or something.

I ask this question & honestly do not know the answer as I have only been renting from hertz for a little over 2 years. How long has hertz had its current redemption rates? Have rates increased 20% over that time frame?

The 500-pt level has been around since program inception, as far as I know. Actually, they've periodically had promotions that make a standalone free day 450 points, and in the winter they've run promos for 200-point weekend days with some minor strings attached - the most important of which is that you are required to use at least two at one time (which for me generally isn't a problem).

So in general, I'd say that yes, my business rentals are up about 20% since '00 or so. That's the benchmark against which I'd measure the standalone free day. These days I pay about $52/day before taxes for a car at SEA. In the late '90's, my typical corp rate for the U.S. was $38. (Both numbers for midsize cars.) I believe that rate was valid anywhere, although I never rented in NYC so not sure if a higher rate applied there.

However, I'd say the opposite is true for weekend rates - if anything, the various coupons/promotions/bonuses have made those cheaper than they were in the '90's, except in rare cases.

Can someone please explain this to me (from their new awards chart):

4 Free Rentals Days - Non Peak - 2,600
1 Free Week Rental - Non Peak (up to 7 days) - 2,500
1 Free Weekend Rental - Non Peak (up to 4 days) - 2,000

Why would anyone ever redeem for 4 Free Rental Days Non Peak when it costs more than a full week or even a weekend? Baffling.

-Mike

Can someone please explain this to me (from their new awards chart):



Why would anyone ever redeem for 4 Free Rental Days Non Peak when it costs more than a full week or even a weekend? Baffling.

-Mike

I'd guess that if you return a weekly rental "too soon", i.e., as a 4-day, they will charge you the max rate allowed for violating the rental terms.

I'd guess that if you return a weekly rental "too soon", i.e., as a 4-day, they will charge you the max rate allowed for violating the rental terms.

exactly -- you'd be unable to use the PC on your weekly award, as your rental would price out to 4 days. Same situation as with a cash rental, in which it is quite common for a weekly rental to cost less than 4 weekdays.

I'm not sure this has been addressed to date. Thought this might help some people's planning.

I called Hertz to find out whether the 3/1/08 change dates is for reservations or rentals. According to the rep (who checked with a supervisor), the 3/1 date is for reservations. For example, you can make an award reservation in late February for an April rental and the old (current) award points apply.

Could you also just redeem points for printed Award certificates before the 3/1 deadline? I believe those Award certificates are valid for 12 months after they are issued.

Could you also just redeem points for printed Award certificates before the 3/1 deadline? I believe those Award certificates are valid for 12 months after they are issued.

Yes, my plan is to request a certificate in late February at the old rates.

Yes, my plan is to request a certificate in late February at the old rates.

That's MY plan, as well!

That's MY plan, as well!

Me too, 1 Week Non-peak Prestige = 5000 points thru 2/08.

Reminder that the new award chart takes effect in about 8 hours!

I'm trying to get my week prestige rental certs in for 5,000 vs 7,500 tomorrow!

There was a story recently on earning FF miles v. car points. The author suggested that car points were more valuable than the 50miles/day that are awarded by most airlines (+ FF surcharge).

I usually get .5 - 2 RR credits on WN which I value at approx $15 per credit.

My average rental generates $50 per visit -> 12 rentals for one free weekday (weekends are usually cheap as suggested by avg. rental). Ergo, the math for #1 points v. WN credits doesn't seem to work in favor of #1 credits, unless you have a very expensive weekday rental. However I would agree that if you don't want WN credits, you are better off getting #1 points.