Well, any hold that doesn't have a penalty is pretty much a suggestion
Renting turnbacks, recalls, and cars that have been sold carry penalties with good reason. Most are smart enough to realize that those are holds that should be respected without penalties either way. Usually the penalties are in place as a reminder to the 1% who are too stupid to figure it out on their own.
A hold for an oil change on a car that is 200 miles overdue that you need for a 1 day rental will be ignored. A tag hold on a car where the tags are fine for another 20 days and you need for a rental that will be returned well before then will be ignored. A hold on a car that has an inoperative NL unit will be ignored if you need the car for a non-NL rental. Those are the types of things that you take care of beginning Thursday afternoon - not Monday morning.
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Underage drivers - most of them were for personal use or insurance replacement. I did have one corporate underage renter that gave us problems consistently - plenty of "I don't know how that got there but my company's CDP includes LDW." The rest included DUI's, possession with intent to sell, and then just pure stupidity of backing into things.
In my humble opinion, here's how I saw it last year before I knew about the underage coupon: Airport rental = nationwide average of $50-$85 for an economy car. Airport surcharge typically = $10. Underage fee of any amount is usually taxable, and causes the daily cost to mushroom. This results in a daily total of $70-$100. If I'm on the ground for more than 24 hours, all those things get doubled, as I'd be charged for a second day. >$100-$200 for a few hours with a tiny Kia is a rotten deal.
That's also assuming a roundtrip rental. If I wanted to combine several trips into a single one-way, because of the underage fee the cost skyrockets to the point it's actually cheaper to fly on several separate trips. That is, provided I stay at a downtown hotel at a discounted rate that has a free shuttle and/or use a discounted shared airport bus like SuperShuttle.
Now I see Hertz's special offers section says, "New: Reduced Fee for 21-24" and says it's now "only" $15. Yet, joining #1 Club gives a PC underage waiver, and joining #1 Gold Family has a CDP that includes the underage waiver.
So, why is Hertz advertising the reduced surcharge? Is this a trial balloon, to see if they can eliminate the retail underage fee waivers in the future while still getting enough renters to bite?
I booked a car for 4 days using PC #137675 which is $10/day up to $40 off when using an amex.
Question:
I'm Hertz Gold and my amex card is the only card in my profile and was used for the booking. The reservation comfirmation online reflected the coupon but when I got the car the receipt stated that PC #137675 would be applied at return.
Is this normal - or will I have to go to see an agent at the counter when I return?
Fine print: Advance reservations required. Subject to availability, this offer is redeemable at participating Hertz airport locations in the U.S. and Canada.This offer is redeemable for Mid-size or above vehicles, including Collections. This offer has no cash value, may not be used with Pre-pay Rates, Tour Rates or Insurance Replacement Rates and cannot be combined with any other certificate, voucher, offer or promotion other than your CDP#. Hertz age, driver, credit, qualifying weekly and weekend rate restrictions for the renting location apply. Taxes, tax reimbursement, age differential charges, fees and optional service charges, such as refueling, are not included. Discounts apply to time and mileage charges only. Discounts in local currency on redemption. Offer valid for vehicle pickup through 1-31-10. No blackout dates.
That is normal. ALL PC's are applied at return. There is always a possibility that they may not be applied return but if they don't then that is an error on their part and you will need to go to the counter at that point in time. However, they will apply it so don't worry about about not getting the discount.
Columbia Missouri out in boonieland between Kansas City and St. Louis has two "independent licensee" locations, one at the airport and one at the hotel. One-ways between those specific two are allowed, so they might be owned by the same entity. Roundtrips give unlimited miles, but one-ways between the two locations in town say 150 free miles.
One-ways to and from STL or MCI corporate stores are allowed with unlimited miles, but at close to $200/day and only midsize or larger. Why only midsize or larger to go out if one-ways from STL or MCI are allowed at about $175/day for an economy?
One-ways using the Weekender are not allowed from Columbia MO but using the Weekender for one-ways in from the aforementioned corporate stores gives a great rate. Do those corporate cars need to be picked up, or can the Independent Licensee keep them on the lot until other customers pay the hefty rate to take them elsewhere?
I put my Priority Club number on my #1 Club profile. Upon checkout my local rental agent added $0.75/day for this. I saw this charge for airline miles, but not for Priority Club points, which is why I chose to receive them instead of airline miles. Was this charge correct?
Auto: Licensee one-way rentals are a mess to deal with. I have no idea how they come up with the rates they do but they should always be a minimum of $200 a day.
Licensees couldn't care less if a corporate car sits on their lot. They don't get charged for it being there. The corporate location that rented it continues to pay for the car. They also don't want to rent corporate cars locally because they only get a fraction of the revenue. I absolutely hated seeing a one-way rental to a licensee because I knew it would involve me making 10 phone calls after it got returned.
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Budblab: It wouldn't surprise me if they changed the terms to include charges for hotel points.
Hi pal!
I have 2 questions about a reservation:
I've just reserved a "Premium Elite" (Toyota Avalon or similar) with neverlost, but in the confirmation page, neverlost concept doesn't appear in the approximate total charges. Could this be a problem when picking up the car??? I mean they could change the price or something like that, and by the way neverlost concept appears in "extras" but without price, can this guarantee that I'll get a car with neverlost???
And also what's the difference between a "premium" and a "premium elite". Which cars aparts from the Toyota Avalon are in this classification???
If Neverlost isn't showing on your charges then the Neverlost portion of your rental isn't guaranteed. Fortunately, many premium cars already come with NL so hopefully this won't be a problem for you. Most of the time they will upgrade you as well into a NL car if you have NL in your reservation.
Premium is usually a Grand Marquis so there is a huge difference between Premium (G) and Premium Elite (H). Avalons & Azeras are the two main cars that come to my mind when I think of H class cars. There are others, though but trust me they are all worlds ahead of the Grand Marquis.
Im not sure if this question has been answered, but Hertz shows significantly lower rates if reserved through Hertz.co.uk for reservations in the US. I also noticed that loss damage waiver is also included in the rate. For all you know, I could have made the reservation in the UK and am just flying home. Will I have a problem booking through Hertz UK?
When trying to book a reservation through Hertz UK it states that the card will be charged as soon as I book my reservation instead of at the counter. This seems different as I usually book prestige vehicles, and am used to the "pay later" system.
In my humble opinion, here's how I saw it last year before I knew about the underage coupon: Airport rental = nationwide average of $50-$85 for an economy car. Airport surcharge typically = $10. Underage fee of any amount is usually taxable, and causes the daily cost to mushroom. This results in a daily total of $70-$100. If I'm on the ground for more than 24 hours, all those things get doubled, as I'd be charged for a second day. >$100-$200 for a few hours with a tiny Kia is a rotten deal.
That's also assuming a roundtrip rental. If I wanted to combine several trips into a single one-way, because of the underage fee the cost skyrockets to the point it's actually cheaper to fly on several separate trips. That is, provided I stay at a downtown hotel at a discounted rate that has a free shuttle and/or use a discounted shared airport bus like SuperShuttle.
Now I see Hertz's special offers section says, "New: Reduced Fee for 21-24" and says it's now "only" $15. Yet, joining #1 Club gives a PC underage waiver, and joining #1 Gold Family has a CDP that includes the underage waiver.
So, why is Hertz advertising the reduced surcharge? Is this a trial balloon, to see if they can eliminate the retail underage fee waivers in the future while still getting enough renters to bite?
Actually, if you look at the promotion on hertz.com, the surcharge has indeed been reduced to just $15, but, if you use that promotion to reserve now, the surcharge is again waived entirely - so you can still be 21-24 and reserve for the same price as 25+ year olds.
Yes, I saw that when it was changed. The "old" Give a Rental Car a Life PC I used last summer is the "new" one now. Thanks for the heads up anyway. Other people might not be aware of it. As a few others have mentioned, the rates for certain holidays can be high, but that's a separate issue.
Need help with a reservation!
