If I am Hertz President Circle member, are additional drivers free? Does it matter which CDP I use? Would immediate family such as my father be included?

Hopefully someone will correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that #1 Gold members and those who use a AAA CDP can have a spouse only as an additional driver for no fee.

Spouse automatically allowed to drive the car with #1 Club Gold membership, everybody else pays unless you have AAA membership and the person being added to the contract also has AAA membership then no fee

Spouse for free for Gold in USA.
Not true in other regions, such as Europe.

All additonal drivers free in Australia for Gold members.

Additional drivers also free in California.

For the USAA members:

So if you have a common-law partner you will have to pay?

The Gold terms say spouse or domestic partner, so I think they have this covered.

Domestic partner is actually a pretty broad term seems to me, requiring no legal arrangement at all. Although most people might immediately think of same sex couples when they hear domestic partner, I've always taken Hertz's terminology to be inclusive of my opposite sex domestic partner as well.

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Sorry about bumping an old thread, but I came across this while doing a search and it seemed most on point with its discussion of additional drivers.

I just noticed that AAA allows for additional drivers without charge, if the drivers are also AAA members.

So to clarify Hertz4Me's statement, I can add any AAA member as an additional driver without charge, not limited to those who are my spouse/domestic partner/share my same address, as long as I add them on the authorization form?

e.g. if my father's brother's cousin's nephew's former roommate were also a AAA member, I'd be able to add him without charge onto my rental agreement?

Before my husband and I got married if he wanted to add me as an additional driver as an AAA member (he was also AAA) they did ask to see a credit card of mine before they would add me to the contract. I don't know if they still do that, but if so that is something to keep in mind.

Yes you can add any AAA member as additional driver at no charge but they must check in with you, show license and perhaps credit card and presumably proof of AAA membership, etc. You can't add them to agreement without being present. You could also attempt to add after the fact if you stopped at another Hertz location, but the driver has to turn up with you in person somewhere for you to add him/her to your rental agreement.

Your spouse or domestic partner doesn't even need to bother showing up if you're Gold, though. They get to drive automatically and for free.

Watch out for the insurance implications either way particularly in terms of damage to the rental car. I use Amex's premium coverage at $20-25 per rental to ensure that I have coverage for my "domestic partner" if she is driving and the rental were damaged. We don't have collision insurance anymore on the one car we have in the household, and while she rarely drives the rentals, it's just a cheap peace of mind that I use on all but the shortest rentals. (I would otherwise be relying on free credit card coverage for damage to the rental, and those don't cover anyone but the cardholder in most cases. I don't use it on one-day rentals when the car's in the shop or such. ) I believe the Amex Premium covers all additional drivers.

OK, thanks for clarifying CrazyOne. Yup, I also use the Amex Premium Car Rental Protection coverage, but never looked into its additional driver clause.

Double check on the Amex though; it might say something like household instead of just any driver.

Also bear in mind this won't do anything for liability if you hit someone else. Your father's brother's cousin's nephew's former roommate needs to have liability insurance from somewhere. For most car owners in the US, you're set, but anything else (doesn't own car, is from out of country, etc) might necessitate buying LIS from Hertz.

Right, I carry non-owner's insurance from my regular car insurance, which covers liability.