Hertz - #1 Club Gold Reservation Question

Here's a strange one. I was checking rates for a rental I need at an airport that only Hertz services. The rates showed up as one rate before I logged in but then when I logged into my account, the rate doubled. I tried deselcting the CDP code attached to my account, but still the rates doubles. I eventally just booked the reservation without being logged in and then called the 800 line. Even the lady in the call center was baffled as to why this was occuring. Any ideas?

That's not really that unusual, you should always check the rates on Hertz (and Hilton) not logged in and again after logging in. As you saw, there are sometimes huge differences, then just send them an e-mail asking they put the reservation on your #1 account so you get the #1 service.

Why they do it? I'm sure they pretend it's a mistake, but I really believe they are hoping the customers won't notice and book it.

Sometimes you can have insurance preferences on your account which apparently affect the rate (e.g. having no insurance can sometimes be more expensive) is the best reason I've heard

Sometimes you can have insurance preferences on your account which apparently affect the rate (e.g. having no insurance can sometimes be more expensive) is the best reason I've heard

That could be true to a certain extent if you were booking directly with the location over the phone because there is an incentive for the person over the phone to get you in the door so you can take coverage. The reservations number doesn't care about coverage because their only concern is getting the reservation & you actually showing up. Your insurance preferences should not influence your rate at any time - especially online. The coverages are optional by definition and there are serious legal issues when you begin to present them differently.

That could be true to a certain extent if you were booking directly with the location over the phone because there is an incentive for the person over the phone to get you in the door so you can take coverage. The reservations number doesn't care about coverage because their only concern is getting the reservation & you actually showing up. Your insurance preferences should not influence your rate at any time - especially online. The coverages are optional by definition and there are serious legal issues when you begin to present them differently.

Sorry, should have explained better: I actually meant that each #1 profile has an insurance setting (e.g. mine has 'no insurance' as standard as my rentals are mostly on company business which means no coverage is needed from Hertz). This can sometimes mess the website up as it seems to automatically include those choices in rate prices when presenting you options when you are signed in :). So therefore if you are not signed in as a #1 club member you tend to get all of the 'special' all-inclusive deals that otherwise it seems to ignore as it says "this car has full insurance so this customer wouldn't want it according to their #1 profile".

Not saying this is definitively the reason in this post. But, based on flyertalk posts in the past and my own experience I believe this is why it is often best to not sign in to your #1 profile to make bookings when you aren't booking for company business as you will often get a better rate without risking the profile messing up your booking.

I see what you are saying. Well you can always call up the Gold line to book your reservation. The website usually assumes that your rental is for business. If you call them and tell them that it is for leisure then they will change the rental to leisure status and then it should ignore any rate plans enforced by your company's CDP since you would no longer be entitled to any benefits normally provided on business rentals.