rdlmitedu

A friend of mine who works for IBM (though an acquisition a few years ago) recently mentioned that National had gotten dramatically (2x) more expensive when renting cars with the IBM CDP. Did IBM recently change rental car companies (Hertz?), did the contract expire, or did something else happen? I suggested my friend just use Amex or Chase Sapphire/Visa Infinite rental codes for now, but the rates aren't anywhere near as good.

AutoSlash

IBM has had contracted with Hertz for many years. They are some of the best around. Hertz, National, and Enterprise have been IBM preferred suppliers for many years. It's certainly possible that IBM and EHI (the parent company of Enterprise and National) have renegotiated their agreement based on the volume of business going to Hertz vs. EHI. I can tell you that IBM's rates with Hertz are still quite attractive.

bocastephen

On the whole, I find Hertz rates to be much lower than National across the board - for example, I am able to use one of the state employee discounts for National, which was one of the lowest rate codes available, yet just by using my AAA discount with Hertz, I could save another $30-50 per week over that deeply discounted National rate. If Hertz wasn't so stingy on PC upgrades and didn't hand out junky high mileage cars, I would consider switching away from National....actually after I requalify for EE in a month or so, I will probably move most of my rentals for the next few months to save on cost, assuming I can get a decent car out of them.

bworrell

I found the IBM corp rates with IBM to fluctuate a bit this year between the old (2017) prices and a few dollars more this year. Lately, it's gone completely away and is super expensive.

MissJ

Yeah, last time I was on a project with IBM we had to use Hertz. The discounts were crazy good. National was never an option that I knew of on the projects that I worked on.

Jstarion

I work for an IBM owned company and I think this sucks... all of the sudden it goes from $30 a day for a midsize to $85.... I wonder what's up, anyone from national have the info??? I'm really sad about having to go back to crappy old hertz.

NDDomer86

Interestingly enough, the rates for Enterprise seem to have dropped slightly...

seawolf

Changes to corporate approved vendors would have been announced internally. There is no reason why anybody eligible to use this code would need to come to FT to ask about it.

Fendi80

Absolutely agree, and yes Beneplace did explain that the IBM preferred partner was Hertz, all employees know.

Discounts for IBMers 01/19/2018

Auto Enthusiast

Stupid move, IMO. Hertz recently closed a lot of neighborhood stores. Avis/Budget has a similar location strategy. But rather than close some stores, they apparently combined Avis, Budget, and Budget Truck brands together in the same building. So now there are some suburban areas where it's a 30 min drive to the nearest Hertz, and much closer for Avis/Budget.

Often1

Why wouldn't OP or anybody else entitled to use the rate check with IBM or their employer.

Additionally, why would an authorized user care? If IBM chooses to realign, it is presumably a corporate decision which includes an analysis of bottom line impact. Whether one rental costs a bit more (or a lot more) is not likely to move the needle far for IBM.

AutoSlash

But this thread is about Hetz and National? I'm sure you'd agree that Hertz has far more neighborhood stores than National (which has almost none).

bocastephen

I think the OP has a valid complaint - the Hertz experience compared with National is a rude wake-up call for those of us familiar with the National way of doing things. National offers a discount code for IBM retirees, but the rates are not that great. I have a substantial discount with Hertz, but never use them - first, the rate can vary wildly from $100/week all in, then jumping to $300/week all in with the same coupon and user code, and it's completely random. Second, Hertz will refuse to upgrade PC members beyond a couple rate classes, so booking a midsize gets you a full size and nothing more, while at National I can book a midsize and get a full size or a Mercedes or Cadillac. Hertz cars tend to be older, higher mileage, and not well maintained even for PC members while National cars appear newer, lower mileage and better maintained.

While I am sure IBM could care less about who is unhappy about the change, the OP can search online and uncover hidden corporate "personal use" codes that will work at National and have no insurance attached, so no risk. I understand Flyertalk turned into "fight club" with regards to National codes, but there are many resources on the web to uncover new opportunities if one is so inclined, all without being lectured on being "entitled".

Auto Enthusiast

I agree, but IBM has discounts with everyone. Someone said IBM officially announced Hertz is preferred, but Avis/Budget in many ways would have made more sense, or at least equal preference. This of course assumes you're renting at home, rather than an airport where all vendors are present.

And yes, you could use Enterprise neighborhood stores for some, but not all, scenarios. But it's not, nor intended to be, a streamlined customer experience.

pitflyer

I was formerly an IBM employee, when I started we could only use Hertz. Then at some point it transitioned to Hertz and National -- and maybe even some of the others. At a big company like that the travel policy is always subject to change. I vaguely remember the difference between 'corporate use' codes and 'personal use' codes (I remember saving a list off the Intranet) but not sure if the personal use codes (no corp insurance) is something I would use at this time with no connection to IBM. Anyway, wait a few years and it will swing again the other direction.