Consolidated "Renting at PIT; What Kind of Cars to Expect?" Thread
 

Beware - Hertz at PIT still has the dreadful last-gen Chevy Impala. Apparently Chevy kept making the old model for company fleets and rental companies, so it may technically be a 2016 model but it's the old version. I'm not sure what group they're classified under.

during my last visit in LA - october 2016, I was very surprised to get this "old" Impala. Dreadful is the right word :(

I don't see a consolidated PIT thread so I'll post here - PC member at PIT, rented hybrid/E6, received 2017 Ford Fusion Hybrid. Pretty barebones, no leather or nav.

I saw another old Impala at PIT today with California plates. I can't believe they're still sticking it on people.

PIT had the Shelby GT-H today. It had Indiana plates.

Also, I was at the reservation desk and saw on the board with the keys an envelope with a space number and "special car!" written in sharpie on it. I peeked at the space when I walked by, it was a Dodge Challenger Hemi.

This is old news, but when I did a last-minute rental from them around 18 months ago all they had were various SUVs - 10 or so of them!

PC member - I reserved a full size at PIT and got a 2017 Toyota Avalon, which is classified as an ICAR/luxury. It had 16k miles and a funky smell. I was glad to get the upgrade but no way this should be classified as a luxury car. It has leather and a relatively decent engine in sport mode but no nav. It's just a suped-up Camry. It should be a premium/G. If I rented a luxury car and got that I'd be ticked. Luckily I got it as an upgrade.

Strolled through the lot again, nothing too interesting except a Dodge Challenger R/T. Most of the unique cars at PIT seem to come from out-of-state since it's a relatively small airport for a large city.

Hertz's website says Ultimate Choice is coming to PIT by the end of the year!

At my last rental I asked the counter agents at PIT when they are starting Ultimate Choice, they told me the week of Thanksgiving.

I asked the same question to the station manager about 10 days ago when I picked up my one-way from PIT to MCO (he was wearing an Ultimate Choice shirt) and he said they were doing training now and should be live "mid-November."

I stole one of PIT's Fusion Hybrids. It's now in Florida. There were two more in the lot when I left, though, so who knows--maybe that'll be an option in the UC aisle. ;)

I just wonder where on earth they're going to put UC and how they're going to lay it out in that tiny space they have.

I think there's an empty row between Hertz and National if I recall correctly, so they may be using that. They don't appear to have begun construction (they need to gate it and install a booth like National).

On Saturday they were working on construction for Ultimate Choice at PIT. It looked like one of the exit booths was finished and they were working on the other. Gates going up too. They also had the ground painted with directions to each section and some new signs up.

I was at the airport this week, didn't have a Hertz rental but I looked at the lot and UC appears to be up and running, and the selection seemed very impressive. It's laid out with PC closest to the airport, followed by Five Star, followed by Gold. UC takes up two rows running the length of the garage, the other rows are for specific reservations. It was surprisingly full despite being Thanksgiving week. I saw two Ford Expeditions in Gold - quite unexpected. PC had several Infiniti sedans with out of state plates, and some higher trim Malibus and Altimas. Better selection than I was expecting. My only qualm is that the website doesn't say anything about UC when you try to make a reservation at PIT so I'm wondering if they're still assigning cars and launching it later. But the lot seemed completely finished with new signage and gates.

Ultimate Choice is up and running at PIT. Took a stroll through the lot, noticed a couple quirks.

It works like most other locations - go straight to the garage and your name is on the board. Board looked like 50% PC, 40% FS, 10% Gold.

It's a small lot. Two rows, roughly 40 spaces by my count. There are only 2 upgrade spaces. The only car there was a Land Rover Discovery with out of state plates.

Presidents Circle -- Saw several full size sedans (Toyota Camry, Ford Fusion Hybrid, Nissan Altima). Mostly base trim levels. There was also a nicely equipped Kia Sedona and a base Kia Sorento.

Five Star -- Mostly midsize sedans like the Nissan Sentra and VW Jetta. A couple Kia Souls and a Nissan Rogue.

Gold -- Empty except for a couple Kia Souls, an Optima, and a Ford Escape.

They seemed to have moved all their Hyundai Sonatas to reserved spaces. Don't know why that is or if it will remain that way.

Thanks for posting, m907. Lots of good info.