Auto Enthusiast

as those of us choosing Hertz comprehend we pay a surcharge for selection & customer service

Actually many of us comprehend we pay a surcharge for a similar selection and indifferent/incompetent customer service. Lol.

umieesa

I'm so angered by this change actually. What a huge slap in the face! I have 3 weekly reservations in Hawaii I made on points and I was told that if I choose to cancel any of them now after 24 hours from the time of booking I''ll also forfeit 50% of my points! I'm only lucky that 1 of 3 was for an suv and I was able to get it at the old points rates, but now if I want to make any changes they can't be done online and have to be done on the phone and no one seems to know what to do if I want to switch car types (permitted within the category type). The reps themselves don't seem to be fully up to date with the recent changes. I had to hang up on one and call back to get someone who actually tried to help (wasted almost an hour on the phone).

I have been loyal to hertz for years and they can be sure after these rentals I'll be diverting my business elsewhere.

MASTERNC

The points cancellation policy makes zero sense. If I cancel a hotel reservation or a Southwest flight I booked with points within a reasonable period ahead of the reservation, I get all my points back. Now I get penalized for booking a specialty vehicle in advance to make sure I get it when I need it. I saw a popup when making a reservation but thought it said I lost those points if I cancelled within 24 hours of pickup. You can bet I am writing Hertz on this one. I hope I don't have to cancel my reservation for Christmas (I booked a minivan to take two elderly relatives to my parents' as I do every year, but my brother who lives near said relatives talked about possibly hosting this year).

Dave Noble

There are numerous schemes which impose penalties for cancellations. South West may have no penalty, but AA, for example, will charge $150 to redeposit miles on a cancellation 24 hours after ticketing.

MASTERNC

cestmoi123

Basically, they're treating points reservations like prepaid reservations.

Dave Noble

There are penalties on prepaid rates ( these vary depending on country where booked )

Hertz has decided to put restrictions on points bookings - there doesn't have to be an ability ro recover them - just need to make a business decision on whether you think the restrictions are worth the collecting of points ; will you get better value collecting FF miles and only booking pay later rates - or just using another car hire company will be better

It is not the only scheme that has penalties

Auto Enthusiast

True, but as the pace of change accelerates in society, people have less time and patience for long-winded self-service processes. Consumers often find they need more speed and flexibility. Companies with rigid, early cancellation policies are finding themselves increasingly vulnerable to on-demand services.

The situations where someone would/can waste time picking up, parking, refueling, and returning rental cars are dwindling. There will always be a few specific, non replaceable use cases, such as a vacation roadtrip, but that's probably not enough to stay in business.

bedelman

A week later, this problem remains. No dollars-off redemptions in any of my attempts to book with Hertz Rewards. Only the crazy-poor-value newly-devalued ordinary redemptions. Super annoying.

klanfa

Have you tried calling in? I personally call the PC line whenever I can't book a reward online, but the regular rewards desk should be able to get it done as well.

Dave Noble

If it is no longer an award, as suggested by its absence from the reward chart, telephone reservations agents will not be able to do it

The agent might be able to confirm whether the award still exists

s0ssos

Hertz has the worst customer service of the big agencies.
And cars are becoming bigger and more spacious.

MASTERNC

Interestingly enough, Hertz's Twitter agents claim the cancellation penalty for points reservations only takes effect if you cancel less than 24 hours before pick-up. This is despite me sending them the link to the policy on the Hertz website. You bet I captured that conversation to fight Hertz if I have to cancel and they don't restore all my points.

Auto Enthusiast

I think I see signs Hertz is already feeling the consequences of diverted future business after the points devaluation. I noticed some markets show them to be the lowest price, and not necessarily by just a few dollars either, where they tend to be the most expensive by far. That's for both one-way and simple roundtrip use cases, as well.

It also seems that when competitors are sold out, Hertz is not, even when in the past they would have been the 2nd (after National) to do so. And even then, Hertz pricing is lower than it normally would have been. Interesting.

Hertz is probably gambling this is a temporary and small loss. As with everything so shortsighted they do, I doubt it will be.

sokolov

Same here. I don't need to rent all the much, buy whenever there was choice, I picked Hertz and, yes, paid a little more. I was saving up my points for a nice holiday on a Canadian island.

The devaluation hit Canada as well, not just the US.

I currently have one rental booked. Tomorrow, I'll go back to Autoslash and pick a cheaper brand than Hertz.

I understand that programs change and prices rise. But how they did this is awful.