Have had two bad experiences with Hertz lately.

One feature they have, that I love...is bypassing the rental counter, getting in a car, and going. Does anyone else offer this?

Yes, most of the companies offer this:

https://blog.autoslash.com/skip-the-...ental-counter/

Sure - National would be a good alternative for you if you are used to Hertz.

Getting in what car?

If you're Hertz Gold, you get to choose any car in the Gold line (if you don't reserve the very lowest class cars, I think).

But if you're Avis Preferred, these days they simply assign you a car (they used have equivalent Select & Go, but it seems to be mostly gone now).

So if you just want to get in your assigned car and go, lots of companies can do that.

But if you want to be able to pick a car yourself and then go, you have to choose a car company that allows that like Hertz does.

And thus you have to specify which of these you want if you're coming from Hertz, which does both.

Agree with you that Hertz service has become a real challenge and when you call their service desk you are on hold forever. Ask for a manager and they put you on hold for nearly an hour even if you are President's Circle. Ever since the bankruptcy and emergence from that, they just do not seem like they care about the frequent travelers. I have been told by other frequent travelers that National is the place to go now.

As a former happy President's Circle member for 100+ Hertz rentals over the years, I think you might prefer National's Executive Club. I certainly prefer National Exec now, I got fed up and ditched Hertz in 2019, and haven't looked back.

Hertz reward program basically became garbage overnight, and their service has only deteriorated with time. https://www.flyertalk.com/articles/b...valuation.html

The only area I miss Hertz is their Dream Car Collection which I enjoyed thoroughly, but I can only imagine it has suffered negatively from Hertz fleet selloff and bankruptcy last year. Otherwise, National Exec is superior in nearly every way, particularly rewards and service.

If you have Hertz President's Circle, you may be able to status match to Executive here:
https://status.emeraldclub.com/

Don't forget to drive it like you stole it!

Like many companies, especially in the service industry, it has been difficult for car rental companies to hire front line staff. This, combined with tighter controls on spend and budgeting have led to shortfalls in coverage- spilling over here into customer service. I do agree that EHI seems to have maintained a closer service and staff level relative to the pre-pandemic volumes.