Hertz - Is it easy to get free upgrade at Salt Lake City airport Hertz

We are going to SLC next month, and need to rent a SUV for a week (6 people to YellowStone). I checked all my gold member coupons and stuff but found out that most of them are for compact to premium. I'm wondering if it's easy to get upgrade in SLC, then we probably can rent a lower level car waiting for the free upgrade while getting other discount. Is it's possible there, which level should I rent? I prefer a standard or full size just in case there's no free upgrade we can pay less for the upgrade fee to a SUV.

Any input? TIA.

FWIW I upgraded for $2/day from an economy to a RAV4 for a 3 day weekend rental last week at a HLE... I don't think the SUVs are in high demand with the way gas prices are.

FWIW I upgraded for $2/day from an economy to a RAV4 for a 3 day weekend rental last week at a HLE... I don't think the SUVs are in high demand with the way gas prices are.

What was the difference in level from economy to RAV4? I don't really know how to count the upgrade. From what I saw on the site, it's compact/midsize, then full size then premium, then midsize SUV, standard SUV. I believe we need a standard SUV for 6 people.

I think you should be able to upgrade to a SUV without too much hassle. I don't think you should count on a FREE upgrade, but in the end it'll probably be cheaper to reserve a midsize or fullsize and upgrade from that to the SUV for approximately $10-$15/day. For comparison purposes, I recently paid $20/day to upgrade from a midsize to a Suburban at SFO.

I would actually probably reserve *2* cars, or a minivan, just in case you can't get any SUV, you would still be able to carry all 6 passengers to Yellowstone.

Finally, I wouldn't be afraid to look at all the vendors; you just might find a SUV from another rental agency cheaper than through Hertz. That said, the number of SUVs that can reasonably hold 6 passengers and luggage is limited.

Procter, yeah I misread. I thought you said 5 people. A RAV4 will only hold 5. You'd need an SUV with a 3rd row to hold 6.