I've been tempted, but I've never been able to get National's rates down as low as Hertz goes when using the AmEx Plat / USAA CDPs. Any tips for getting more competitive rates from them?

I status matches to National but haven't tried them out yet as the rates I get from Hertz and the AAA discount have be far better than what I can get at National, at least for where I've been looking.

I got matched to the Executive Elite level. My employer has Corporate rates with both National and Hertz so I'll get reimbursed. For personal travel, I'll just switch to Priceline or do my best to Uber/Lyft/public transit it.

+1 would love tips on this. I've been Executive Elite with National but their rates are consistently far higher at DFW, DCA, and SDF (essentially the only places I rent) than I can get with Hertz or Avis using the right coupon and/or promo codes.

I've used National a handful of times and have gotten good cars but nothing that wowed me, whereas Hertz does give me the occasional random Infiniti Q50 or Mercedes C-class on a regular plain-jane premium booking, even if Hertz customer service is awful most of the time.

How does Hertz Ultimate Choice work with SXM?

I always select SiriusXM when I reserve a car. How can I make sure that I select a car with SiriusXM under Hertz Ultimate Choice, apart from opening every desired car and checking if it has SXM or not (which may be hard/impossible to judge due to lack of SXM reception in the garages)?

What happens if I selected SXM in my reservation and picked a car without SXM? Will I still be charged the fee?

What about the reverse situation? You didn't reserve SXM but you pick (unknowingly or not) an Ultimate Choice car which has SXM. Will the SXM fee be tacked on to your rental record?

In the first scenario, you will most likely be assigned a car in a reserved space that has SXM. You will, of course, be entitled to choose from the UC are but there will be no guarantee that it will have SXM.

In the second scenario, if the vehicle in the UC area has any options like NeverLost or SXM you will get them for free. Any vehicle in the UC area corresponding to your status and reserved vehicle class is available at no extra charge.

I've been told that NeverLost is extra, but SXM is included if you choose a car with those options. I also have a smartphone, so I would never choose one with NeverLost but that's neither here nor there.

I picked up a car with NeverLost in UC and was not charged extra, but I guess YMMV, although honestly I would be surprised if the policy was to charge since it would just cause confusion.

Hertz often refers to 'midsize' in their requirement to qualify for Ultimate Choice.

However, there is no car class called 'midsize'. It's either intermediate (C) og standard (D). I think it's a little bit misleading or at least confusing.

Can anyone clarify?

Midsize=Intermediate

Thanks ^

You could reason that the presence of NeverLost in a car is visible in the garage while the presence of SXM is not. Even a visible Satellite Radio button on the radio does not automatically mean that SXM is activated on that car. But even then it remains confusing, and there should probably be additional wording on the Ultimate Choice product page if they're going to charge extra for those add-ons if they were not reserved.

Is it just me, or does "Ultimate Choice" sound like a good name for a hearse rental program?

It's easy to forget though that the vast majority of Hertz customers are not FT'ers or savvy about car rentals in general, and even if they saw an EverLost in a car, they may not make the connection that it would carry an extra charge. I'd be very surprised if Hertz would expect people to somehow figure this out on their own, and it's has not been my experience that Hertz would charge additional for an NeverLost equipped vehicle in the UC area.

It's the same thing if you are non-Plat and you reserve a PCAR or an LCAR. They will block it for you since there is no guarantee there will be something from your reserved class in UC. As mentioned previously, you are obviously permitted to pick anything you want from the UC section instead. As to whether there will be something more desirable than you assigned vehicle in the UC area remains to be seen.

Got it - although I only had reserved a premium (G class) so at least they are guaranteeing me a nice upgrade.