Originally Posted by
marcworld
It's better to HAVE the "Presidents Circle" status than NOT to have it, sure, but...FYI....Hertz is garbage. Specifically, their rewards program.
Presidents Circle peeps get this benefit, whooppeeeedooo:
"675 points after every 15 qualifying Hertz rentals"
That means, for 15 rentals (likely 30 or more actual days)....you get ONE free day. This is not even a drop in the bucket.
Compare this loyalty program to Avis First, where they give you "Two-day Weekend Rental Rewards with every fourth qualifying rental of two or more days."
So if you have 16 rentals....Avis gives you 8 free days, and Hertz gives you 1.
I say all of this as a person who rents very frequently and today I actually achieved Presidents Circle by the normal way - renting a lot of cars.
Also keep in mind that Hertz's website is impossible to use, really janky, and much of the time, you are not able to use your points on a rental anyway, or at best, never for more than ONE free day of the entire rental. Good luck trying to redeem 2 days at once, meaning, the cash add-on for the other days will almost always be a factor in your redemptions. In my experience, one free Hertz day + one Hertz paid day can actually be more expensive than 2 paid Avis days.
So, it's amusing that today's news came just as I had already decided to focus 100% on Avis next year so that I can earn Avis First in due time. Still, of course I registered. At least, in 2016, I will still be Presidents Circle, even though I plan to rent from Hertz almost never again.
Having President's Circle at Hertz makes NO difference between you and any other Gold member (I was 5* until October...nothing has changed). I could cite many experiences, both positive and negative with Hertz but one thing stands out to anyone who rents from Hertz, their cars these days have more mileage on them then Rent-a-Wreck (and are in worse shape...rarely ever cleaned well). I rented a minivan on Sunday (reserved and was given an MVAR). Was given a 2013 Dodge Grand Caravan with 5 miles short of 60K miles at LAX (in the FURTHEST space from the Gold Office, in the 800's, quite a walk especially if you have luggage...which I did not since I am a local). Plenty of dents and dings on it. Good thing for me, the keys were not in the vehicle. Went back to the Gold office. Was given a 2014 Dodge Grand Caravan with 40K mileage after an extensive search (again in the 800's). In ok shape. Drove it for about a day but it stalled on us a number of times so I returned it yesterday and was given a 2015 Dodge Grand Caravan with just over 4K mileage. Much better but still it could have been cleaned better. Status was NEVER mentioned one time in this rental. I also earned my status.
I disagree with you about the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards, though. Frequent double, triple point promos, add on features bonus points - such as for SiriusXM or LDW, 250 point birthday bonus (which for me got doubled this year stacking with a double point promo), the 25% bonus for President's Circle members, nets you points pretty fast. For 20 rentals this year, some of which were reward rentals with insurance or Sirius/XM add-ons and count towards the 20, I'm sitting on enough points for 4 free weekly full size car rentals. Currently paying $145 per week - for 3 weeks - for a Minivan (MVAR)...which I couldn't find at any other agency in Los Angeles. If you know how to work Hertz with various CDP's and PC's (promotional coupons), you can get some very good deals at Hertz. Just wish the vehicles were like they use to be a few years back.