Fair enough. And as a cheapskate trying (and often succeeding) to get a Mercedes at Sixt for the price of a Hyundai at Hertz I'll have to accept it.

But for those people paying well over 100 per day for an E-class it seems to maybe damage the Sixt brand a little by putting those customers through such a hard upsell. It seems that the big American brands have recognised that it's better not to put their loyalty scheme customers through this.