Some of the regulars may remember my postings a while back regarding hiring prestige from Hertz, here are two reports briefly:
1 - Mid August 2005 - One day rental CLE - Jaguar S-Type
This was to be my very first rental with Hertz. Cleveland has a rather distant yet modern rental facility where all the car rental agents are in one location. Probably around 1 mile from the airport. Too far to walk!
As this was a prestige rental, I was able to use the #1 Gold/Prestige desk. Having only rented from Alamo and Dollar before, I really like the small rectangular rental agreement, rather than some yellow carbon copy thing nobody can ever read!
The car was in a #1 Gold Bay only 20 feet from the rental counter! ^
Also, all the cars seemed to be in undercover bays which was a nice touch. As it was drizzling slightly, this certainly made it easier to spot anyscratches/dents before leaving with the car, which was immaculate.
Looking at the build labels in the door, the car was quite new - May 2005 and only 6000 miles on the clock.
I was impressed how high the specification was on the S-type. As I live in the UK, Jaguar sell some quite basic S-Types in the UK, complete with poverty cloth
, however this example with Hertz was excellent. The car was a metallic silver with grey leather inside with the usual fake wood trim. It was pleasing to see some nice options, rainsensor, heated seats, electric seats and xenon headlamps.
Overall the car was excellent. I needed it as I wanted to visit Niagara Falls which seemed just about feasible in a day and the Jaguar was very comfortable. I was also surprised how well the rain sensor worked, switching speeds depending how heavy the rain fell.
However, how you work the Neverlost system, I don't know. There were no instructions with the car, and although it was easy enough to choose a destination, the lack of information on the screen did not enthuse confidence it would actually take me anywhere I wanted to go!
Returing the car in the evening was effortless. I had chosen to return the car empty.
A very impressive first rental. However no mention of Gold #1 membership?!??
2 - Early September 2005 - Two day rental LAS - Audi S4
I arrived early into Las Vegas on an American Airlines flight from DFW. Consequently, I knew it would be too early to check-in to my hotel.
Rather pleasingly at the Hertz desk, for Prestige/Gold#1 I was told to go straight to the bus. I was very impressed to see a scrolling display on the bus which identified Gold#1 renters. However, my name was not listed even though I had rented a prestige! I wondered at this point what I should have done differently to enroll in Gold#1, is it not automatic after a Prestige Rental?
We arrived at the very familiar rental area close to the terminal. Rather ironically, Dollar was across the road!
Gold#1 seemed to have a small office of its own. Soon I discovered they didn't have any Jaguar XK8's available. My options were "any other car they have" or "an Audi S4 and a $30 a day discount".
I wanted to look at the Audi S4 which they brought to show me. As it was a rather attractive bright red with stainless steel wing mirrors and black leather upholstery with white piping, I opted for the S4 and $30 a day discount.
A very pleasing car all around. The BOSE sound system was great, however no matter what I tried, there was far, far too much bass from the subwoofers and speaker. I know lack of bass in cars is usually deemed as a failing, however, I never find it lacking normally, and there was way too much on this system - even with the roof down! People must be getting tone deaf in nightclubs, that's all I can think!
The S4 was very nice. Lots of grip for pulling off at the lights from the quattro system. Very pleased - drove very well. It must be analagous to RS4 which is available in the UK - as there isn't an S4 model available here.
Very complicated roof folding mechanism. I would hate to own one if something went wrong and the warranty had expired!
Only downside of the rental was the 100 mile a day limit. I returned the car with 20 miles short. Again the return was completely effortless although no mention of Gold#1 on pick-up of the car or return.
Overall
PROS:
1 - Very professional, premium feel to the whole rental experience.
2 - Excellent selection of cars.
3 - New cars, superb specification.
CONS:
1 - Hertz Neverlost completely useless in comparison to other GPS systems.
2 - Rentals quite pricey for more than a few days.
3 - Lack of information on Gold#1 membership.
In regard to the latter point, if I sign up now for Gold#1 membership - can I back credit the last two rentals towards my yearly rentals for Five star tier level as I easily rent 1 car per month on average?
Although I will always opt for prestige rentals, surely belonging to the Gold#1 scheme will give Hertz some kind of idea how many cars I rent with them each year, etc?