Don't know if this was due to my Gold membership, or if it's standard at most Hertz airport locations, but when I returned my car Sunday night, they gave me a free ride back to my hotel.

I didn't want to pay the hotel parking charge so I had decided to return the car Sunday night instead of Monday morning. I was pleased to find that the Hertz lot was a very short distance from my hotel (the ES North), and if it had been any other time, I probably would've hoofed it back, but I had managed to roll my ankle earlier in the day and I wasn't up for even a short hike back.

At first, I had envisioned simply taking the shuttle back to LAX, then catching the hotel shuttle back to the hotel, but the more I thought about it, the more of a bother it seemed. So after returning the car, I asked the Hertz guy if there was any way that I could get a ride back to the hotel. I was surprised to be told that I should just ask at the service desk and that they would arrange a ride for me. Sure enough, I spoke to the customer service woman at the curbside desk and she called up a driver to take me back to the hotel. She didn't even ask me which hotel. Moreover, when the driver showed up, he asked me which hotel and when I said "Embassy Suites", he asked north or south, indicating that he would've been happy to drive me to the other ES, in El Segundo, which is a bit farther away.

Does anyone know if they do this at all of their locations? Just airports? Is there some sort of policy on max radius that they will drop you off?

Anyway, it was a really nice surprise and a real hassle avoided. Thanks Hertz!