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Old Dec 14, 2005, 8:47 pm
  #1  
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Sold Out - I'm PC

I just looked at renting a car over Christmas and the website said it was sold out. Um... I am President's Circle, doesn't that mean that I am guaranteed a car? How can they be sold out?

Did something change or does the guarantee not apply to holidays?
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Old Dec 14, 2005, 9:14 pm
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I'm not sure the answer to your question & not sure exactly about the PC benefits as I'm a lowly 5*, but you may want to try extending your rental (maybe to 7+ days or something) and seeing if it gives you a rental car - then book it & then drop your rental down to what you actually need to due to a change in your plans. This has worked for some folks in the past since Hertz sometimes puts minimum lengths of rental on cars.
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Old Dec 15, 2005, 12:04 am
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Have you tried calling Hertz directly? Maybe for whatever reason the system is not recognizing you as PC... When I was PC, the only time I ever invoked the guarantee was from the airport terminal. It worked. Technically, the guarantee gives them 2 hours to find you a car, but in practice I was on the road in under an hour in both of the cases I used it (once in DEN, once in ORD).
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Old Dec 15, 2005, 2:18 am
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Luckily I've never had to face this situation, and didn't even realize this benefit existed, so I'm glad to hear about it.

Sounds like calling would be the best way to invoke it.
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Old Dec 15, 2005, 8:48 am
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I just spoke to the supervisor at my HLE. She said as far as she has been told the guarantee is still in existence for PC's. Why the web wouldn't let me book was a mystery to her. If I want the car she can put the reservation into the system and get it for me... the override still works in her system.

Maybe to invoke the guarantee we have to use the phone. This is only the second time I will have used it, and as the last time was at least 2 yrs ago, I can't remember what I did to get my car.
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Old Dec 15, 2005, 10:47 am
  #6  
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Note that the guarantee only applies to corporate-owned facilities. If it is a franchise location (like many HLE's and even some airports are), then the guarantee does not apply.
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Old Dec 15, 2005, 2:54 pm
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When you invoke the guarantee, do your corporate benefits still apply? I know with some hotel chains - when you use your platinum guarantee benefits, you have to pay the full rate versus using your corporate discount?

Just curious - I'm pretty certain I'll hit 40+ rentals next year & we use Hertz, Enterprise, and National - but I'm planning on using only Hertz. I'm at about 26 this year & most were personal rentals, so with my new job, 40 shouldn't be a problem at all!
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Old Dec 15, 2005, 3:43 pm
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Yeah my corporate benefits still applied. I got my usual discount so no complaints at all.
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Old Dec 15, 2005, 3:43 pm
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Originally Posted by bhatnasx
When you invoke the guarantee, do your corporate benefits still apply? I know with some hotel chains - when you use your platinum guarantee benefits, you have to pay the full rate versus using your corporate discount?

Just curious - I'm pretty certain I'll hit 40+ rentals next year & we use Hertz, Enterprise, and National - but I'm planning on using only Hertz. I'm at about 26 this year & most were personal rentals, so with my new job, 40 shouldn't be a problem at all!
Hertz allowed me to apply my corp rate in both cases, but in both cases I made it clear I wanted the first car available, so I was paying $42/day for a compact one time and (I think) the most bare-bones economy car on the lot the other time. So it's not like I was driving off with a great deal, but they did allow me to use the CDP code, which was good for all of the insurance coverages.
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Old Dec 15, 2005, 5:41 pm
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Originally Posted by bhatnasx
When you invoke the guarantee, do your corporate benefits still apply? I know with some hotel chains - when you use your platinum guarantee benefits, you have to pay the full rate versus using your corporate discount?
I have actually used a free rental day voucher in Manhattan with a one hour advance notice when they had been booked solid for about two months (the Saturday after Thanksgiving). The rate otherwise would have been about $125 per day. So, yes, from what I have seen, all the corporate rates and benefits apply as a PC member.
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Old Dec 17, 2005, 9:04 pm
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As noted in post #6 the PC benefit of guaranteed reservation is only good at corporate locations - and in my experience it usually involves a phone call to the rental station. I have been denied a car because of lack of inventory at non-corporate locations in spite of my PC status.
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Old Dec 18, 2005, 9:30 pm
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Yes, guarantee still applies

Just used it this Wednesday. The web site showed sold out, my standard trick of making a 3-day reservation (while intending to return it after 1 day) wasn't working, but a phone call to the location got me the car at the usual rate I pay there
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