I only book TO airports. I found booking FROM airports problematic simply because I don't know exactly when I will need the car, at least not one day in advance. You cannot make same day booking for OW.

I received full compensation for the Hertz rental, but it took a bit more effort than normal. I was told 24/7 compensation is going to be changed for failed one-ways very shortly. The new policy will be reimbursment for out-of-pocket expense LESS the cost one would have paid for the 24/7 with a cap of $50.

So, if the one-way would have been $25 and the cost of the taxi was $30, 24/7 will only reimburse $5.

That actually seems fair, and I always wondered why they were seemingly too generous with their reimbursements (basically making it almost free if they couldn't deliver). On the other hand, with all of the hassle that you've had to deal with each time 24/7 has failed to work (and even the hassle you've had when they DO work!), I think there should be an extra $10 thrown in...

What's happened to Hertz 24/7 in London?

There used to be quite a few locations in my area (NW6) within walking distance, but I tried to book a car today and found every location within 2-3 miles of me has vanished.

In fact, looking at the map of locations I would say 2/3 to 3/4 of all the London location have disappeared. Only a handful of Central London locations are left, although all the B&Q and Costco ones seem to still be there.

I last used them around 2 months ago and there was no problem finding cars at all then!

Are they shutting down 24/7 in London or is this some kind of temporary glitch?

Looks like they are exiting the carshare business in my eyes... Many cities have no 24/7 cars and there have been reports saying that Hertz sent them emails saying they are no longer in their area.

A great shame if so.

Zipcar are in need of some serious competition in this city, having already absorbed all their other real rivals. Prices are sharply higher and overall availability of cars lower compared to 2-3 years ago when there were more players on the scene.

I think the problem with 24/7 is that it was never marketed very seriously here outside of Hertz's own channels (I think I signed up after seeing it on Hertz's own website) - compared to Zipcar's near-saturation advertising. And the target market for carshare isn't necessarily the same as that of traditional rentals.

Definitely agree- Hertz should be targeting 18-21 yr olds in college, especially those in major cities like DC and New York imo. Many students in a metro area will stay in that metro area after graduating and continue using the particular carshare service they used in college.

ZipCar's pricing has definitely gone up since the acquisition by Avis. 9/10 times I rent a car from DCA now on the weekends when I need a car. I can generally get a Prius or nicer car for ~$25 to $30/day and spend maybe $15 or $20 on gas... Beats the hell out paying ~$100 for a day with Zipcar especially since I get a cleaner, nicer car.

Enterprise CarShare seems to be gaining some ground, at least in the DC area from what I can tell, but still lacks the number of locations that ZipCar has.

It appears they have "turned off" one-way rentals for just about every remaining market via the website and mobile app for the time-being. Not surprising, as they obviously were having problems getting their act together.

Their Facebook site alludes to a "brand relaunch" later this year. Wonder if that means yet another name for this dog of a product.

Another brand relaunch? Fourth time is a charm I guess?

An article in Crain's Chicago Business indicates that they may partner with Walgreens for parking spaces, as they did with Lowe's.

"The pilot program in Chicago let customers rent a car via the Hertz site or app. After completing the transaction, customers received a numerical code to type into a keypad from outside the driver-side window or front windshield. The keypad, inside the car, is sensitive enough to pick up the strokes through the glass. The code opens the door; the keys are waiting inside."

they already started doing that -- I don't know about the suburbs, but there are a couple in the loop somewhere

It's a shame. 24/7 has gone from DC. Used to be a spot right around the corner. Now when I use the app to check availability in the District, nothing comes up.

what section of DC are you? I see a decent number of ZipCars and Enterprise CarShares in Foggy, Dupont, etc. Prices are comparable IIRC but have a smaller selection of non ICAR category cars.

They have also appear to have permanently abandoned the one-way rental market, which was my only use for them.

I just came across this article which says Hertz will stop operating the 24/7 car sharing service in USA due to lack of profit.

http://www.autorentalnews.com/channe...g-service.aspx

It will continue to operate outside of USA though.