Hmm... Maybe it's not just staffed locations. But there are certainly many more locations that offer roundtrips than offer one-ways.

See, e.g., Lower Manhattan one-way locations:



vs. roundtrip locations:

Because the card that came with it said it required validation by presenting a DL. It refers to finding a 24/7 location to do this, but many of the urban ones are unmanned and the website is not particularly helpful in indicating which locations are manned and which ones are not. If I could take care of this by visiting a desk at an airport, that would tend to be more convenient for me as I have a number of upcoming trips where I will be passing through to pick up a car over the next several weeks.

Interesting. I don't remember having to do that, but I got my card several years ago.

100% agree with you on that and one of the reasons I've used so many of the locations near me is that I can't count on any particular location in my area to have 100% availability for one-ways. In many cases, my bookings require me to make them weeks in advance and/or monitoring availability on a daily basis to see if a more convenient location opens up.

For example, the locations I use for one ways are shown in your example above as having no availability. Normally, a few weeks in advance, at least one of the four or five locations around NYU will show yellow and I will book that, as it's within reasonable walking distance for me. But, I will keep looking to see if the garage closest to me turns yellow and move my reservation there.

In the UK, you can ring up the Hertz 24/7 customer services and they'll do a conference call with the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) to confirm your license details, then they activate the fob for you. Is there not something similar for the US?

Another option might be to go to a manned Hertz office at a quiet time. If they can access the Hertz 24/7 system, job done! If not, you might be able to ring up customer services, then have them speak to a member of Hertz staff at the location and have them confirm that they have seen your license. Don't know if that would work, but if you're passing one it might be worth a shot!

Apparently you've never tried to call a DMV office in the U.S. It's hard enough to get a human when you're in the office...I haven't been very successful getting a human any other way.

Plus, as DMV stuff is handled by states, not the federal government, that means Hertz has to have 50 different procedures for dealing with the 50 different states, depending on which state issues your license.

As for going to a random Hertz office, it seems most Hertz agents are completely clueless as to what 24/7 is, so I doubt walking into an office in Dubuque, IA or even a major airport like LAX at a quiet time would get you very far.

I could be wrong (on all counts above), though.

I had a one-way from Manhattan to LGA booked for this morning (made the reservation about three weeks ago). I received the dreaded "Issue With Your Reservation" email about 30 minutes before my pick-up date, followed by a auto-rebooking to a location 10 blocks away.

I called Member Care and canceled; they will be paying for my cab ride to LGA this morning.

I'd estimate my one-way success rate at about 75% - 80%.

You mean your success at getting a free ride to the airport?

Any DC HOD members just lose their neighborhood car? Three of the four in close proximity to me have just disappeared off the map.

Co-incidentally, there are suddenly Enterprise carshare vehicles popping up around the place.

Mine disappeared, but a new site that's actually a bit closer just popped up. None of the cars in my part of town are on-street; they're all in paid private lots. Apparently Enterprise won some of the on-street spaces in DDOT's 2011 auction, but they may have subleased some until their recent launch.

BTW, among the paid-lot-parked cars close to me are two at the Hyatt Capitol Hill; took a good 15 minutes of negotiating with the valet staff to get in/out of the garage, including tailgating one to enter. It was a bit nerve-wracking, seeing as we're paying by the minute for the cars.

Not to thread jack, as I am new to this 24/7 program by Hertz.

But I was wondering how does the Hertz 24/7 (aka HOD) actually benefit from a "total cost of rental" point of view?

I do see clear benefits of 24/7 as a backup alternative route for location convenience/flexibility/emergency rentals of all sort of scenarios, but just in the context of "total cost savings for a single rental" transaction, I just don't see any cost savings. Am I misunderstanding the program?

Example, even for a short 3 hr rental, I cannot see it being any cheaper than renting a car for a day, and being able to still returning it within a day. Given the use of corporate discounts and coupons etc, a one day rental charge transaction (and even returning it earlier) beats the cost of a 24/7 3 hr rental, right? What am I missing?

My apologies for this, if I completely got this wrong....

Each user has to weigh whether to use car sharing or car rental for their specific trip. Here's an example calculation:
http://www.carfreebtv.com/?p=273

H24/7 cars in most cities are mostly at staffed locations, so no, there's not much of a convenience benefit in those cities. In other cities, they're much closer, available 24h a day, are available without reservations or forms, include insurance, and available at somewhat predictable rates. That additional convenience, and the ability to only use the car for a single errand, may make it more economical. Or not.

Note that Hertz 24/7 vehicles do NOT include third party liability insurance beyond the state-mandated minimums (and there is no way to purchase SLI/LIS for Hertz 24/7 rentals). And those minimums are generally much lower than most folks would recommend.

The big advantage of Hertz 24/7 is the convenience at the unstaffed locations. My apartment building, for example, has three or four Hertz 24/7 cars parked right outside in a driveway. One swipe of a card or fob and I can be on my way. It can take an hour to pick up a "regular" Hertz car by the time I take the subway to the nearest location, wait on line to give my license and credit card to the guy at the counter (no Gold service at this location), wait for someone to pull the car out of the garage, and drive home to pick up my family.

It looks like 24/7 now has a $35 flat charge for one-ways; I got hit with it this morning when I dropped my car off at LGA. I don't remember seeing this disclosed and I think it's wrong to tack it onto existing reservations.

$60 Manhattan to LGA is twice the cost of a taxi, so if this charge is going to stick, I'll stop using 24/7.

Did you call customer service to confirm? You should complain.