Hertz President's Circle Member Experiences (2017-Onward)
Jul 5, 2018, 7:15 pm
#391
Moderator: Hawaii-based airlines & Hawai'i forums
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Ka ʻĀpala Nui, Nuioka
Programs: NEXUS/Global Entry, Delta, United, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott, and Hertz
Posts: 18,041
Jersey City Harborside HLE
Reserved: F
Received: Q4 2018 Toyota RAV4 LE AWD with NJ plates and 7,200 miles on the odometer. Base trim so pretty boring car to drive. The front of the car (including the windshield) was covered in bug splatter; I had to pull over at a gas station and put some elbow grease on the squeegee to be able to see clearly. I mentioned this when I returned the car and was given a $10 credit.
Reserved: F
Received: Q4 2018 Toyota RAV4 LE AWD with NJ plates and 7,200 miles on the odometer. Base trim so pretty boring car to drive. The front of the car (including the windshield) was covered in bug splatter; I had to pull over at a gas station and put some elbow grease on the squeegee to be able to see clearly. I mentioned this when I returned the car and was given a $10 credit.
Jul 6, 2018, 8:25 am
#392
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: Delta Diamond, Marriott Ambassador & Lifetime Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, United Silver
Posts: 6,334
I booked a full-size rental on points for the Hertz airport branch at PLN, which is a corporate location.
Small operation, but generally decent service and a good selection of cars. I arrived about 20 minutes after my scheduled pick-up time, but no car was assigned. I was asked to produce ID and a credit card. Ugh.
I was then assigned a Chevy Malibu, but asked about something else as they had a couple of Buick LaCrosse cars, a nice four-door Jeep Wrangler, a Chevy Surburban, and a couple of Infiniti cars. The desk offered me a Mazda, claiming it was a luxury car. I declined. They then said I could pay more for the Jeep. I declined and politely reminded them I'm a President's Circle and would appreciate a complimentary upgrade since they had several cars available. They then gave me a Buick LaCrosse with about 5,000 miles on it. It's OK, but seems like a basic trim. No moonroof, but it had decent leather and working Sirius satellite radio.
Small operation, but generally decent service and a good selection of cars. I arrived about 20 minutes after my scheduled pick-up time, but no car was assigned. I was asked to produce ID and a credit card. Ugh.
I was then assigned a Chevy Malibu, but asked about something else as they had a couple of Buick LaCrosse cars, a nice four-door Jeep Wrangler, a Chevy Surburban, and a couple of Infiniti cars. The desk offered me a Mazda, claiming it was a luxury car. I declined. They then said I could pay more for the Jeep. I declined and politely reminded them I'm a President's Circle and would appreciate a complimentary upgrade since they had several cars available. They then gave me a Buick LaCrosse with about 5,000 miles on it. It's OK, but seems like a basic trim. No moonroof, but it had decent leather and working Sirius satellite radio.
Jul 11, 2018, 7:39 am
#393
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: Delta Diamond, Marriott Ambassador & Lifetime Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, United Silver
Posts: 6,334
Booked a full-size for at the DTW branch; received Cadillac CTS with 30,000 miles on it.
Jul 17, 2018, 2:43 pm
#394
Join Date: May 2013
Location: New York
Programs: UA Silver, Marriott LTPP, Hertz Five Star
Posts: 1,079
Went to FWA and they gave me a used Nissan Sentra, 26K miles, with odd shifting and white marks (chipping) on the windshield. License plate was bent. A Chicago residential daily permit dated a few days earlier made it clear that it was a one way that the ORD manager wanted to get rid of. Not happy at all.
PC lane at MSP is pretty good though. At peak times you have to wait a few minutes, but there's usually a healthy mix of ICAR, FCAR, some SUVs, and some premium sedans (like the Buick Lacrosse). Took a Kia Sportage with AWD this week.
With Ultimate Choice you're at the mercy of your arrival time and the location to get an upgrade, but if you wait you're more likely to get an upgrade. The smaller Hertz posts vary in quality. BOI always either upgraded me to larger well trimmed standard SUVs or premium vehicles (usually Buicks). Others (like MLI) gave the mandatory one upgrade most of the time. Others (like FWA) don't seem to care about the benefits of PC at all... totally inconsistent.
PC lane at MSP is pretty good though. At peak times you have to wait a few minutes, but there's usually a healthy mix of ICAR, FCAR, some SUVs, and some premium sedans (like the Buick Lacrosse). Took a Kia Sportage with AWD this week.
With Ultimate Choice you're at the mercy of your arrival time and the location to get an upgrade, but if you wait you're more likely to get an upgrade. The smaller Hertz posts vary in quality. BOI always either upgraded me to larger well trimmed standard SUVs or premium vehicles (usually Buicks). Others (like MLI) gave the mandatory one upgrade most of the time. Others (like FWA) don't seem to care about the benefits of PC at all... totally inconsistent.
Jul 29, 2018, 12:37 pm
#395
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: Delta Diamond, Marriott Ambassador & Lifetime Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, United Silver
Posts: 6,334
Hertz PLN
July 2018
I booked a full-size car and received a text message notification about three hours before arrival that I had been assigned a 2019 Dodge Durango.
The Durango turned out to have about 2,000 miles on it, no moonroof or no navigation system but it did have Sirius XM satellite radio, which was nice. I didn't use the heated seats or heated steering wheel as it was summer but did put 2,200 miles on it.
The only other options on the PLN lot, other than smaller cars, were two Chevrolet Tahoe SUVs and one Chevrolet Impala sedan. They usually have a couple of Chrysler 300 sedans and sometimes a Ford Mustang.
July 2018
I booked a full-size car and received a text message notification about three hours before arrival that I had been assigned a 2019 Dodge Durango.
The Durango turned out to have about 2,000 miles on it, no moonroof or no navigation system but it did have Sirius XM satellite radio, which was nice. I didn't use the heated seats or heated steering wheel as it was summer but did put 2,200 miles on it.
The only other options on the PLN lot, other than smaller cars, were two Chevrolet Tahoe SUVs and one Chevrolet Impala sedan. They usually have a couple of Chrysler 300 sedans and sometimes a Ford Mustang.
Jul 30, 2018, 6:23 am
#396
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: NYC
Programs: DL PM, Marriott Gold, Hertz PC, National Exec
Posts: 6,736
NYC HLE
PC
Booked: Premium (G)
Received: Chrysler 300 (I) About 5k miles, S trim. Had a 300 last weekend at ORD as well, although that was the trim with AWD and the adaptive cruise, which was definitely a nice touch. For such big cars (and they also _feel_ big), they don't feel that roomy inside, and the trunk, while large, is not enormous. Also, fuel economy is terrible (got about 23mpg in primarily highway driving).
Overall, I prefer the Impala.
PC
Booked: Premium (G)
Received: Chrysler 300 (I) About 5k miles, S trim. Had a 300 last weekend at ORD as well, although that was the trim with AWD and the adaptive cruise, which was definitely a nice touch. For such big cars (and they also _feel_ big), they don't feel that roomy inside, and the trunk, while large, is not enormous. Also, fuel economy is terrible (got about 23mpg in primarily highway driving).
Overall, I prefer the Impala.
Jul 31, 2018, 4:35 am
#397
Join Date: May 2014
Location: HEL
Programs: AY Gold (OWS), Hertz PC, Sixt Plat, Hilton Gold
Posts: 275
MUC
Hertz PC member
booked BMW 3 aut. GPS
received Volvo XC60 (X6 class) aut. with only 5000 km on the clock
I was driving to Italy and therefore I contacted Hertz´ CR well in advance as according to their rental rules BMW and MB cannot be driven to Italy.
I don¨t know what would have happened, if I would have received a BMW/MB and I would have told the cleck at Gold booth when exiting the gold area that:
"BTW, we´re heading to Italy."... Luckily this issue was taken into account in advance and I received a really nice upgrade.
Kudos, Hertz!
Hertz PC member
booked BMW 3 aut. GPS
received Volvo XC60 (X6 class) aut. with only 5000 km on the clock
I was driving to Italy and therefore I contacted Hertz´ CR well in advance as according to their rental rules BMW and MB cannot be driven to Italy.
I don¨t know what would have happened, if I would have received a BMW/MB and I would have told the cleck at Gold booth when exiting the gold area that:
"BTW, we´re heading to Italy."... Luckily this issue was taken into account in advance and I received a really nice upgrade.
Kudos, Hertz!
Jul 31, 2018, 4:48 am
#398
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: Delta Diamond, Marriott Ambassador & Lifetime Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, United Silver
Posts: 6,334
Hertz TVC
July 2018
Booked a full-size and received a text message notification about an hour before scheduled arrival that I had been pre-assigned a Toyota Highlander. Upon arrival, I received a second text message notification that my car had been changed to a Land Rover Discovery.
The Discovery was kind of basic -- must be the entry-level trim -- but had Sirius XM satellite radio. It had 27,000 miles on it.
July 2018
Booked a full-size and received a text message notification about an hour before scheduled arrival that I had been pre-assigned a Toyota Highlander. Upon arrival, I received a second text message notification that my car had been changed to a Land Rover Discovery.
The Discovery was kind of basic -- must be the entry-level trim -- but had Sirius XM satellite radio. It had 27,000 miles on it.
Aug 6, 2018, 11:57 am
#399
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Dallas
Programs: AA ExPlat, Marriott Ambassador, Hilton Gold, Hertz PC
Posts: 121
Once you hit 20 rentals generally how long does it take for your account to update to PC?
Aug 7, 2018, 4:06 am
#400
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: MUC
Programs: LH SEN, Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador, Hilton Gold
Posts: 520
Hertz LIS
Had booked one of the smallest car categories available (A - Opel Adam or similar, 2-3-door, manual transmission) for a 10-day one-way from Lisbon airport to Faro airport, and was upgraded to a W Category (Special, Economy Elite). Ended up with a three-month-old Mini Clubman One with automatic transmission and about 4000 km on it. Very happy with the upgrade especially given that Hertz Portugal is a licensee. For any Gold members renting from Lisbon airport, you can go directly to the garage and there is a dedicated counter.
Had booked one of the smallest car categories available (A - Opel Adam or similar, 2-3-door, manual transmission) for a 10-day one-way from Lisbon airport to Faro airport, and was upgraded to a W Category (Special, Economy Elite). Ended up with a three-month-old Mini Clubman One with automatic transmission and about 4000 km on it. Very happy with the upgrade especially given that Hertz Portugal is a licensee. For any Gold members renting from Lisbon airport, you can go directly to the garage and there is a dedicated counter.
Aug 7, 2018, 9:34 am
#401
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 104
Any rescent rentals from Spain? Have a reservation for Alicante next week.
Aug 7, 2018, 2:27 pm
#402
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: DTW / SJC
Programs: AA EXP, DL DM, Marriott Titanium, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 764
Aug 8, 2018, 7:26 am
#403
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Dallas
Programs: AA ExPlat, Marriott Ambassador, Hilton Gold, Hertz PC
Posts: 121
Aug 8, 2018, 7:29 am
#404
Company Representative - AutoSlash and HotelSlash
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: autoslash.com | hotelslash.com
Posts: 5,666
They only update status monthly. It depends on where you are in the monthly cycle when you complete your 20th rental. It could be as little as 1 day to update or as many as 31. Don't waste time calling customer service as they have no way of forcing the status through (I speak from experience here). You just have to wait it out.
Aug 9, 2018, 1:37 am
#405
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: DTW / SJC
Programs: AA EXP, DL DM, Marriott Titanium, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 764
They only update status monthly. It depends on where you are in the monthly cycle when you complete your 20th rental. It could be as little as 1 day to update or as many as 31. Don't waste time calling customer service as they have no way of forcing the status through (I speak from experience here). You just have to wait it out.
I completed my 20th rental on 8/6 and became PC on 8/7, so it doesn't make sense that some who completed 20 rentals on 8/2 would still be 5*.