Spouse as an Additional Driver
 

I am picking up in France at CDG at the end of July and would like my wife to be added as a driver. I am a Gold member and the Hertz website states that my wife can drive for free. I just happened to check with Hertz when asking about something else and the Hertz representative said that I had to pay 35 Euros, or thereabouts to add my spouse. The Hertz website mentions no such charge.

By the way, I tried using the on line chat function only to be told that they could not answer the question above. If Hertz is listening, I am not sure what the point of the live chat is if the agents do not have access to the basic information for which I am looking.

Thank you and regards.

It's supposed to be free, we have never had any issue with it costing. You don't need to add them, they can just drive the car. Per the FAQ's on the website:

Add additional driver for Gold member

How would I add an additional driver if I am a Gold Member?

If the person to be added on is your spouse, domestic partner or coworker, they are considered authorized operators and can operate the Hertz car without being added on. However, if they are not your spouse, domestic partner or coworker, you and the additional driver will need to go to any Hertz location to sign an Additional Authorized Operator (AAO) form to legally operate the Car. There is an additional fee for each Additional Authorized Operator (AAO). Click here for AAO fee information.

The confusion may be because they did not hear spouse and gold, only additional driver. There may be a fee for an additional driver, but since you don't have to add your spouse as an additional driver, there is no fee.

Confirm it for France - this is one of those things that could easily vary by location.

I'm pretty sure, but not 100% sure, that Avis and Hertz allows spouses to drive the car for free. I'm very certain in the U.S. because I've asked and done it many times, including in the past 2 months with both agencies. But like I said, it's very possible that France or the EU in general could be different and if you hit that general "chat" thing with someone from Oklahoma City or Dallas, they may not have the slightest clue at all.

I needed to rent a car in the EU once with the intent to drive it out of the EU. It took me forever to chase down exact rules and policies for different agencies. In the end, Hertz Germany worked - but not after lots of conflicting information from different Hertz people: they limited their nicer German cars to EU-only but gave me a small Korean car and told me to go pretty much wherever I liked in it. :)

Anyway, the lesson learned is that you have to dig, probably translate a French-language website, or talk to someone over there to get a straight answer.

According to the Hertz website (doesn't matter which country's), the fee is EUR 37.43 incl. tax per additional driver.

Reservations>Qualifications & Requirements>CDG>Additional Driver/Operator:

For a more detailed answer with regard to #1 Club Gold in France, you'll need to check:

Hertz.fr>Customer Support>Contact Us (at the bottom of the page)>Frequently Asked Questions>Add Additional Driver for Gold member

I could not look this up, as I cannot read (or speak) French!

This quote is from the Hertz US website for US rentals and does not necessarily apply to rentals in other countries.

In the US the spouse is an additional driver and doesn't need to be added or paid for

But what happens in France .....

I would write them an email to have something solid (if needed)

Doing some very general googling, I found a couple of basic Q&A sites that refer to the fact that extra drivers in Europe nearly always generate a fee, whereas in the U.S., the "free spouse" thing is more common.

Not that these sites are necessarily accurate - for example, one site says that National and Hertz charge extra for spouses in the U.S., which isn't true so long as you're willing to give them enough personal data to become a member of their respective frequent-renter club.

But looking at the fine print for all of Avis, National, and Hertz...the words "U.S. and Canada" are always in there somewhere.

It sounds like you'll have to pay the 37 euros if she really needs to drive.

Thank You
 

Thanks to all of you who responded. Getting a sensical answer out of Hertz appears to have its challenges. I will email them and see what happens. At the end of the day, for the small Euro cost, I will go ahead and purchase the insurance at the Hertz desk at CDG. I am also planning on purchasing the Amex Premium Car Rental Protection after I confim what Liability (damage to a third party) cover is provided by Hertz.

Again thank you.

Last time we went, we checked with Hertz here and were told that there was no charge for the spouse. We got to Nice and they said that they knew nothing about that and if we wanted the spouse to drive, we had to pay. YMMV

Hertz (and the other companies) need to be clearer with the advertising - they consistently fail to mention that polices are very different from region to region.

The "free spouse" thing applies in N America but does not apply in Europe. As you'd be signing a rental contract in France, governed by French law, it's the French terms and conditions that apply, no matter what is advertised on the US web site.

I'd been asking the question of Hertz about free partners/spouses (we live in Spain but will be renting in USA).

The reply I got said we would qualify for spouse as free extra driver but when renting in USA.

(Just found the Email from them "We can confirm that the Additional Operator rule explained previously is only applicable to any Gold Member renting in the US.")

Again thank you to all for your responses. With regard to rcspeirs comment, I entirely agree that Hertz and others ought to be clearer with their advertizing and on-line information, which, on the "spouse issue" is to say the least, opaque.

Yikes!
 

I just checked with the Hertz international desk by phone about adding my spouse as an additional driver in Switzerland. I was told that it would cost 9.25 CHF per day (#1 Gold and AAA notwithstanding--darn the "fine print").