Free gas promo is not so free!
 

I did a one week rental at my usual HLE location and used the free tank of gas PC coupon #113120. The way it is done is they deduct the price of the gas off the base rate, then it is subtotaled. The CDP discount is taken off, then the gas price is added back on. Then the taxes, etc are added to that. In my case, my HLE took care of me & took off the extra amount as an adjustment to make it to my original amount. My HLE gets a 10/10 for service! I can even leave my personal car in their parking lot if I need to. It is only 2.7 miles from our house so we usually walk between home & HLE for some good exercise. :)

If you are at a high tax location such as Phoenix, Austin, DFW, etc, the effect is worse.

Bottom line: Bring out your printouts when you turn in the car so you can show them the price you're quoted.

I've had the same problem. I've been renting most weekends from my HLE since the beginning of the year, often using the free gas promotion. More than half of the time, they've performed the calculations as you describe above, which ends up minimizing the effect of the CDP discount and forces me to pay tax on "free" gas.

Usually, they adjust the total to get it roughly the same as what I was quoted, but they refused to do so this past week and I had to pay 22% more than I was quoted in my confirmation e-mail. I tried calling the Hertz billing department for clarification, but they just routed me back to the HLE. The person I spoke with at the HLE was going to investigate and get back to me, but hasn't yet.

Anyone else been successful in avoiding this "free gas" tax?

Hertz will most certainly adjust the total to your original estimate. A reservation printout helps.

Unfortunately the system is setup to calculate the tax before deducting the cost of gas causing the confusion. There is really no way for them to go around this other than by manual tax calculation and adjustment.

Saving $50 instead of $54 is not a big deal after all.

I would be satisfied with any discount at all. My total goes up 30$ anytime I try and use a free gas code.

Interesting. My research went another way. I quoted a 4-day weekend with and without the free-tank PC. With the PC added $30. So my take on this is that the gas isn't free, as the PC adds $30 to the total rental. I didn't check to see if it changed for each car size, such as did it add X-amount for a compact, and 2x for a full-sized SUV ("free" increases with vehicle tank size?). All it does is make it easier to pre-pay for the tank.

I figure they're going to make a fortune on this one. It's real easy to return a car with a totally full tank... just hit the closest gas station to the rental return, and fill to F. It's real difficult to figure out how to return the car with a totally emtpy tank, or at least the tank on E. So people are going to return the car with a half-tank, and loose half their value. Then again, some might like removing the stress of having to return the car with a full-tank (especially as the moment of return can be stressful enough, especially if late to a flight), so that might be worth $30 to some, even if they bring it back with a 1/4 tank.

Steve B.

This conversation is moot now that the Free Gas promo expired March 31st, right?

Edit to add: answering my own question, the Free Gas promo for AAA members has been extended to June 30th.

You don't have to be a AAA member to use the free gas promo. From the "Deals By The Day" section of the Hertz site:

https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/speci...jsp&Category=D

Weekly Rental MCO
 

Last Thanksgiving we had SUV for a week in MCO and I used the free gas promo since I knew I would already snag a good upgrade for #1 Gold. It just said on the rental contract that fuel was paid and there were no accounting smoke and mirror tricks that would cause the tax to go up as in OP. I don't know if it was due to FL or the fact that it was the weekly rental (versus the weekend promo you mention) but it was nice and no hassles. I was surprised to find that the cargo space in the RAV-4 was considerably less than my CR-V.

Everytime I have used this coupon (3 times), my total has been about $10-$15 higher than I had originally been quoted. However, I rented last weekend and the total upon return was around $30 higher so I went to the rental desk to get it adjusted. When Hertz overcharges me by $10, I don't bother inquiring because I usually am running late (and I didn't notice what was happening until I read this thread after the first 2 rentals), but I had time and $30 was worth spending a few minutes. Anyway, the counter agent had no idea what to do and after about 5 minutes handed me a revised receipt showing a total charge of $66 (original quote was $126, quote when I returned was $156). So that made up for the 3 previous and the next few rentals using this coupon.

Should I see anything about the fuel on my reservation? I usually avoid "free" gas promos because it adds a nice bit of money on to the reservation, but in this case its only about half of what a tank would actually cost me so I am going to give it a try.

On the free tank promo what does availability mean:

Warning Messages:

First tank of gas included in rate
Extra day charges apply after 2300 Monday
Present coupon to return representative
Minimum Age 25 outside US - Exceptions may apply
COUPON WILL APPLY BASED ON AVAILABILITY

The total rate for your SPECIFIC RATE was calculated based on
the following:

Promotional Coupon: 113120 will be applied at the time of the rental
CDP Discount Plan: AAA WEB ID
Your rate has been discounted by 39 %
Rate is Guaranteed
Base Amount:
Weekend Days: 4 Weekend days at 32.01 USD
UNLIMITEDFREE MILES

How is coupon availability come into play? If they have gas you get credited for it but if not, you are out of luck.:confused: Normally do not use the free tank because don't drive enough but my wife is staying longer and will be dropping it off very early in the morning and I do not want her to try and find a gas station at that time.

just used the promo @ Orange County, CA (SNA)
reserved @ $16.79/day (Mazda 6)
original estimate for 3 days was ~$62.
Estimate on pickup receipt was ~$77 ($20.99/day + tax on ~$70 gas)
Final Receipt after 3 days was ~$83 to my credit card.
Called Hertz billing 2 days later, the nice lady refunded ~$22 to get to my original estimate @ $62.

Very quick, i was ready for a fight, but didn't need the brass knuckles after all.. :D

Clearly a deceptive practice
 

The mathematical sophistry is absurd. If I don't get an adjustment I am going to sue them in small claims.