May 19, 2019, 4:20 pm
Last edit by: FlyinHawaiian
January 2021 Update, courtesy of CalItalian:
Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty are now permanently combined in the Hertz facility until the move in a couple of years to the under construction consolidated car rental facility/garage a mile to the west on the corner of Arbor Vitae and La Cienega.
Returns do not allow agents to check in cars and provide in-person receipts; it has to be emailed. Contracts will not be closed until the vehicle has been sanitized. Be sure to take a photo of your dashboard (fuel gauge/mileage) and any other photos of the vehicle before you leave it in case there are any issues.
Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty are now permanently combined in the Hertz facility until the move in a couple of years to the under construction consolidated car rental facility/garage a mile to the west on the corner of Arbor Vitae and La Cienega.
Returns do not allow agents to check in cars and provide in-person receipts; it has to be emailed. Contracts will not be closed until the vehicle has been sanitized. Be sure to take a photo of your dashboard (fuel gauge/mileage) and any other photos of the vehicle before you leave it in case there are any issues.
Consolidated "Renting at LAX; What Kind of Cars to Expect?" Thread
Oct 24, 2017, 7:12 pm
#92
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 785
I returned my vehicle from last Tuesday, Oct. 10 today at LAX around 10 am. I immediately rented another vehicle from the President's Circle area.
President's Circle was fairly full at 10:15 am. They were constantly bringing in vehicles while I was there checking out various SUV's in the aisles.
As I've stated previously, I'm always looking for the largest SUV.
This week, I had a choice of a Yukon, Expedition and Suburban. All had between 25K & 31K miles but all were very well maintained. I chose the Suburban. I an on another very low small (midsize) pickup truck (IPAR) rate.
Most of the vehicles in President's Circle were C-F but there were plenty of other SUV's of all kinds and a few minivans, too. It's been very warm recently so I saw no convertibles in PC, except Ultimate Series, today.
President's Circle was fairly full at 10:15 am. They were constantly bringing in vehicles while I was there checking out various SUV's in the aisles.
As I've stated previously, I'm always looking for the largest SUV.
This week, I had a choice of a Yukon, Expedition and Suburban. All had between 25K & 31K miles but all were very well maintained. I chose the Suburban. I an on another very low small (midsize) pickup truck (IPAR) rate.
Most of the vehicles in President's Circle were C-F but there were plenty of other SUV's of all kinds and a few minivans, too. It's been very warm recently so I saw no convertibles in PC, except Ultimate Series, today.
Oct 24, 2017, 11:31 pm
#93
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Los Angeles, California
Programs: IHG Diamond Elite, Hilton Diamond, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 3,531
Flying into LAX Thursday morning (~11am). I currently have a Large Pickup Truck reserved (SPAR) @ $255 for a 10 day rental. Did you ever see a SPAR on LAX's lot recently? In a perfect world, they wouldn't have one and, I'd be able to get into a Yukon/Suburban/Tahoe, or another decently large nicely equipped SUV (or even a nice sedan)... Debating on if I want to hold onto the SPAR rental at $255 or "downgrade" to a 7 passenger SUV (Pathfinder or similar)... I'm thinking the SPAR might be my best bet on scoring something nicer... Any thoughts?
Nissan Pathfinder is dirt cheap for Thursday, $137.27 AAA base rate for 10 days before any coupons + tax/fees.
Really, since Ultimate Choice they don't give many good upgrades on vehicles they assign.
Oct 25, 2017, 7:01 am
#94
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 785
I've seen plenty of SPAR's on the lot at LAX recently. I'll be there on Wednesday morning - the day before your rental - to turn in my current rental - a Suburban that I got from President's Circle one week ago. I'll post back Wednesday afternoon how many SPAR's I see. They're parked between the President's Circle area and the exit gate.
Nissan Pathfinder is dirt cheap for Thursday, $137.27 AAA base rate for 10 days before any coupons + tax/fees.
Really, since Ultimate Choice they don't give many good upgrades on vehicles they assign.
Nissan Pathfinder is dirt cheap for Thursday, $137.27 AAA base rate for 10 days before any coupons + tax/fees.
Really, since Ultimate Choice they don't give many good upgrades on vehicles they assign.
Oct 25, 2017, 12:48 pm
#95
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Los Angeles, California
Programs: IHG Diamond Elite, Hilton Diamond, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 3,531
Hmm - my planned upgrade scheme might not work out then. It's been a while since I've rented through Hertz (no longer travel on business, when getting PC was easy, now I'm struggling for 5*) Thanks for the flag on the AAA rates, but I'm not a AAA member and I'm still underage by rental car standards, so USAA is probably my best bet. Thanks for scoping out the trucks at LAX for me - any insight on how well they are spec'd would be amazing too
There were a total of 9 vehicles in President's Circle today. That's the second worst I've ever seen. I like large SUV's and I had a choice of a Ford Expedition and a Toyota Sequoia (I took the Expedition which has just over 9000 miles). There was one other small SUV, the rest were full size vehicles. There were no vehicles in the upgrade area whatsoever. While I was there for 20 or so minutes the number of 9 vehicles stayed constant with a few vehicles taken out and at the same time replaced. Nobody seemed interested, this time, in the large SUV's.
There are a number of out of town Dodgers and Astros fans here for the World Series. That may have been the reason why the Hertz lot was emptier than I expected today. I saw a few of them myself at Hertz LAX this morning.
BTW, I've never seen an SPAR or IPAR in President's Circle. Use to see them when there was Gold Choice at LAX, though.
Oct 25, 2017, 7:04 pm
#96
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 785
I was there at 10:30 am this morning - Wednesday - to return my vehicle from last week and pick up a new one. I saw a total of 1 SPAR's. There may have been others on the lot elsewhere (I viewed from driving in through the assigned area next to President's Circle) but I didn't see any others and I looked for them. Today I was reserved in an IPAR. That was assigned but I went to President's Circle and selected another vehicle. I could see from Arbor Vitae St. on the way to return that it was going to be pretty bad.
There were a total of 9 vehicles in President's Circle today. That's the second worst I've ever seen. I like large SUV's and I had a choice of a Ford Expedition and a Toyota Sequoia (I took the Expedition which has just over 9000 miles). There was one other small SUV, the rest were full size vehicles. There were no vehicles in the upgrade area whatsoever. While I was there for 20 or so minutes the number of 9 vehicles stayed constant with a few vehicles taken out and at the same time replaced. Nobody seemed interested, this time, in the large SUV's.
There are a number of out of town Dodgers and Astros fans here for the World Series. That may have been the reason why the Hertz lot was emptier than I expected today. I saw a few of them myself at Hertz LAX this morning.
BTW, I've never seen an SPAR or IPAR in President's Circle. Use to see them when there was Gold Choice at LAX, though.
There were a total of 9 vehicles in President's Circle today. That's the second worst I've ever seen. I like large SUV's and I had a choice of a Ford Expedition and a Toyota Sequoia (I took the Expedition which has just over 9000 miles). There was one other small SUV, the rest were full size vehicles. There were no vehicles in the upgrade area whatsoever. While I was there for 20 or so minutes the number of 9 vehicles stayed constant with a few vehicles taken out and at the same time replaced. Nobody seemed interested, this time, in the large SUV's.
There are a number of out of town Dodgers and Astros fans here for the World Series. That may have been the reason why the Hertz lot was emptier than I expected today. I saw a few of them myself at Hertz LAX this morning.
BTW, I've never seen an SPAR or IPAR in President's Circle. Use to see them when there was Gold Choice at LAX, though.
Man I wish UC was around when I used to rent cars weekly... Would've come in handy all the times I've been stuck in Corollas and Mazda 3's
Oct 29, 2017, 2:37 am
#97
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Los Angeles, California
Programs: IHG Diamond Elite, Hilton Diamond, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 3,531
Drove by Hertz LAX on Saturday, October 29 about 3:30 PM. President's Circle looked pretty bad. About a dozen vehicles total. Most were midsize SUV's. No vehicles in the upgrade area.
Oct 29, 2017, 8:40 am
#98
Join Date: May 2016
Location: AMS
Programs: Hertz PC
Posts: 24
I was there at 3:30 ! Three Rogues, seven Sonata's, one Impala. Took one Rogue, the other two were grabbed within 5 minutes. Asked a CSR and he said there was nothing he could do. I'm thinking about driving by this evening to see if I can swap the Rogue for something bigger (idle hope, maybe?)
Last edited by Exar; Oct 29, 2017 at 8:54 am
Oct 29, 2017, 8:56 am
#99
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Programs: United 1K, Hilton Diamond, National Executive Elite, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 690
I was there at 3:30 ! Three Rogues, seven Sonata's, one Impala. Took one Rogue, the other two werr grabbed within 5 minutes. Asked a CSR and he said there was nothing he could do. I'm thinking about driving by this evening to see if I can swap the Rogue for something bigger (idle hope, maybe?)
Oct 31, 2017, 5:20 pm
#100
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 213
I was ready to pay (2 day rental, so was expecting $50 extra total), but I figured it was a "don't ask and hope for the best" type of situation.
The fee was not added on at the end either. I don't think that would be fair if they did that. The price on your contract should be the price you pay.
Nov 1, 2017, 10:36 pm
#101
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Los Angeles, California
Programs: IHG Diamond Elite, Hilton Diamond, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 3,531
Wednesday, November 1 about 11:30 am. Returned my SUV from last week. Rented another for one more week. Always looking for large SUV's from PC.
I could see from Arbor Vitae driving by Hertz towards the entrance on Airport Blvd. that there were a few SUV's but not a lot of vehicles in President's Circle.
After returning, which took a little longer than normal since they couldn't print receipts today (only email), I walked over to PC.
I just missed getting a Nissan Armada. All the other SUV's left were midsize or standard. 3 or 4 Santa Fe's being the most of any one kind. A number of vehicles were brought in and others moved around in PC while I was there. Plus there were a number of PC customers looking for vehicles.
I stuck around for about 20-25 minutes hoping for more vehicles to be brought out. I was not disappointed. All of the sudden, they brought in 8 Yukon's, Suburban's and Expedition's (all T6). Most had Colorado plates. Took a Yukon XL one of the agents outside who I chatted with recommended. All had 20K to 30K but were in excellent condition.
It was also heaven today for anyone who likes Mustang Convertibles. Everytime a customer would take one, another one or two would be parked.
Not one upgrade vehicle in PC the entire time I was there.
I took a look at Five Star while I was waiting for more vehicles. Pathetic. Had nothing but mid and full size vehicles.
5 or 6 per lane at exit but it went pretty fast.
I could see from Arbor Vitae driving by Hertz towards the entrance on Airport Blvd. that there were a few SUV's but not a lot of vehicles in President's Circle.
After returning, which took a little longer than normal since they couldn't print receipts today (only email), I walked over to PC.
I just missed getting a Nissan Armada. All the other SUV's left were midsize or standard. 3 or 4 Santa Fe's being the most of any one kind. A number of vehicles were brought in and others moved around in PC while I was there. Plus there were a number of PC customers looking for vehicles.
I stuck around for about 20-25 minutes hoping for more vehicles to be brought out. I was not disappointed. All of the sudden, they brought in 8 Yukon's, Suburban's and Expedition's (all T6). Most had Colorado plates. Took a Yukon XL one of the agents outside who I chatted with recommended. All had 20K to 30K but were in excellent condition.
It was also heaven today for anyone who likes Mustang Convertibles. Everytime a customer would take one, another one or two would be parked.
Not one upgrade vehicle in PC the entire time I was there.
I took a look at Five Star while I was waiting for more vehicles. Pathetic. Had nothing but mid and full size vehicles.
5 or 6 per lane at exit but it went pretty fast.
Nov 3, 2017, 8:58 am
#102
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 393
Does it make sense to go with an RCAR/GCAR or try my luck with the premium upgrades? Haven’t rented Hertz since they have rolled out Ultimate choice but it seems like the paid upgrades are a shot in the dark regarding what you might get but reports look like LAX might be slightly better with regards to options
Nov 3, 2017, 11:42 am
#103
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Los Angeles, California
Programs: IHG Diamond Elite, Hilton Diamond, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 3,531
Does it make sense to go with an RCAR/GCAR or try my luck with the premium upgrades? Haven’t rented Hertz since they have rolled out Ultimate choice but it seems like the paid upgrades are a shot in the dark regarding what you might get but reports look like LAX might be slightly better with regards to options
Nov 7, 2017, 9:45 am
#104
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: DTW
Posts: 46
Sunday evening around 6pm. PC was full of assorted full-size, mid-SUV and full-SUV but they were all low spec models. Rogue, Pathfinder, Sonata, Fusion, Equinox etc. Not a single car had leather seats. Upgrade had 6 Infiniti Q50/Q70s and Ultimate had a Mercedes SLK. Lots of staff out looking after people. All of the nice cars were in reserved spaces.
Nov 8, 2017, 1:05 am
#105
Join Date: May 2016
Location: AMS
Programs: Hertz PC
Posts: 24
Besides, I was only asking, not demanding or complaining. The Rogue (base level but with Sirius) had abused misaligned front suspension. Swapped at LAS for a QX60 (thank you, Hertz LAS!).
Monday evening (looking from a distance): a couple of Expeditions, a Santa Fe and a few more Rogues. Full PC lot from what I could tell.