FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Consolidated "Extra Driver / Additional Driver / Spouse Fee" Thread
Old Jan 21, 2019, 9:52 am
  #55  
AutoSlash
Company Representative - AutoSlash and HotelSlash
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
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TL;DR - We are pretty sure spouses can still drive for free if you're a base-level Hertz Gold member.

Actually, it turns out Hertz likely did not make any changes, and spouses are included for base Gold members. Initially, one of our team brought to our attention that in the public T&Cs for Gold members, it only says that Five Star or President's Circle members are eligible to waive the additional driver fee for a spouse or domestic partner. Additionally, if you look at the T&C's for any US location (like Orlando Airport) it doesn't really clarify the situation much.

Further confusing the issue is that there used to be a page on Hertz.com with the following wording, but it seems to have been removed (or at least we can only find references to it on archived non-Hertz blogs):

As a Hertz Gold Plus Rewards member, your spouse, domestic partner, or co-worker is automatically considered an authorized user, so there is no need to add them to your reservation. If the person you would like to add is not a spouse, domestic partner or co-worker they will need to fill out an Additional Authorized Operator agreement at a Hertz location at an additional charge.
However, if you log in to your Hertz Gold account and then go to Membership Information T&C you still see the following:

For rentals in the United States and Canada by renters enrolled to use the Program in those countries, this means that the renter's spouse or domestic partner may operate the Car without registering as an Additional Authorized Operator or paying a fee, provided he or she is at least 25 years old and has a valid driver's license from a jurisdiction acceptable to Hertz.
and:

2. WHO MAY OPERATE THE CAR
Only You and, with Your permission, the following persons, provided that they meet the qualifications set forth in the following sentence (“Authorized Operators”), may operate the Car: Your spouse, Your domestic partner (if You are not married), Your employer, employees and fellow employees incidental to their business duties, and any other person who meets Hertz’ qualifications and who signs an Additional Authorized Operator form at the time of rental. Except as provided in the following sentence, all Authorized Operators must be at least 21 years old and have a valid driver’s license from a jurisdiction acceptable to Hertz. Charges for Authorized Operators under 25 may apply. For rentals which commence in Michigan and New York, persons between the ages of 18 and 24 who meet Hertz’ other qualifications and who sign an Additional Authorized Operator form at the time of rental may be Authorized Operators; in such cases, an Underage Differential Charge will be assessed. Except to the extent necessary for valet parking or in an emergency as permitted by law, no other persons are permitted to operate the Car; for purposes hereof, an “emergency” shall mean urgent circumstances which, under the laws of the jurisdiction in which the alleged emergency occurred, would justify the operation of an automobile by an unlicensed driver. With respect to persons who must sign an Additional Authorized Operator form , other qualifications may, at Hertz’ discretion, be in effect at the time and place of rental; and, where permitted by law, Hertz may impose an additional fee for such persons. A “domestic partner” is an unmarried partner of the same or opposite sex who is not Your parent, grandparent, sibling, child, grandchild, uncle, aunt, niece or nephew (in each case by blood or adoption), who permanently resides at the same address as You, and whose driver’s license shows the same residence address as Your driver’s license.
*Note that I was logged in as a basic Gold member--not 5* or PC when I pulled this.

As per the above, it seems that the T&Cs around additional drivers have not changed. It's an error (and apparently a long-standing one) on the part of Hertz's web content team. We'll revert the changes to our blog post accordingly.

Last edited by AutoSlash; Jan 21, 2019 at 11:02 am
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