20 year old thread.
Just learning of Hertz "Franchise" locations. Former corporate pilot, Used Hertz for most rentals. Accrued many points to use in retirement. Bad move..
Recently, Hertz made a change from never expiring points to two year expiration. No mention of this in an email or other method. I learned when I tried to book a car with points. My 30000 point total showed zero. After a month of back and forth, I finally got them re-instated. ONLY because I had saved and email from 6 months prior stating my point balance and had no mention of them expiring.

Now on to making a rental in South Carolina.

3 weeks ahead of time, I wanted to book a one-way rental for a wedding, dropping the car at CVG airport (Cincinnati/ Northern KY). Every location where I tried to book near me (Spartanburg) said no cars available. Called the Gold number. Rep said it was possible but I needed to go to my local Hertz and ask them to "Override" the issue by having the local agency call them while I was there. Tried that, they were unwilling to comply. Girl behind the counter was very UN-professional. Only when the manager over heard the conversation did he step in and explain were TWO locations in South Carolina that were "corporate", i.e. not franchised. Closest was 1 1/2 hours away, both in the wrong direction of my intended travel. That was the best they could offer, to go to one of those locations if I wanted to use points to cover the reservation.

Long & short - Hertz does everything they can to bring customers in and retain them. Then when it's time to reward that loyalty, everything they can do to de-neigh their prior obligations.