Hertz has made a massive devaluation to the Gold Plus Rewards program within the last two days and provided zero notice. It seems that the devaluations are from 50-70%. Daily get aways is still advertising the old rates when selling Hertz points. For full tables on how bad the devaluation is I highly recommend reading The Gate article.
When loyalty programs make changes without notice it just means that I’ll never trust them again (although I generally don’t trust most award programs to begin with). Imagine if you had been saving points for a perfect redemption, only for the cost of that redemption to double without any notice. We shouldn’t be surprised when it comes to Hertz, they did change points to expire after 18 months instead of 24 months without notice as well.
I hade 4800 points almost enough for 2 weeks I called the gold rewards desk and I got them to compensate me and give me enough points for 2 weeks so I ended up with 7500 points
Hertz is still the cheapest option for me out of all the major rental companies (National, Alamo, Enterprise), and their service has been consistent enough for the occasional rental I need. My last rental somehow earned 0 points though – not sure if it’s related to this (possibly some system update with this devaluation).
Apparently there is a box you have to check when making the reservation saying you want points, but I thought it was checked by default. I ended up with 2 reservations with no points earned last fall that I never noticed until recently. Not sure if Hertz will do anything about it.
I have found them to be good about retroactively crediting points or miles, and even when there is a glitch and points are credited instead of miles, to retract them and push the miles over.
I called the Loyalty Department today as I have over 25,000 points (rent 24/7/365 with Hertz) to ask for a one time adjustment for lack of notice. The representative was very polite, even took 30 minutes to research and call me back since I’ve generated a lot of individual revenue with Hertz. She indicated it was an executive decision that came down from the top and that no leeway was being given in terms of courtesy adjustments. Like previous poster stated, best to earn and burn. My fault for letting so many point pile up. Long story short, I lost 2 weeks worth of free rental. I understand rewards programs change all the time, but the lack of notice is a slap in the face.
Ouch, are you going to move rental car companies?
No, I won’t. I have a very stable relationship with my local Hertz rep. (been renting with him 24/7/365 for about 5 years) He and the district manager allow me to upgrade to an L or L4 (full size SUV or recreational SUV category) with a Q4 (midsize SUV) reservation. I used to be able to do it with a premium car rental (not sure what the category label is now), but corporate cracked down on multiple level upgrades a few years ago at least in my area. I also am able to get month-to-month rolling rentals (have to because of AMEX Premium Car Rental Protection being limited to 42 consecutive days) without having to take the vehicle in for inspection. My rep. allows me to do everything over the phone. That relationship is what will keep me with Hertz most likely for life unless costs shoot up to the clouds. Since I drive about 700 miles each week, for me the cost is much cheaper than owning a vehicle (especially a new one). Some of the 5 year cost of ownership comparisons are astounding on Kelly Blue Book. A more extreme example was of a Chrysler 300. The tool indicated I would pay about $30,000 more over the course of 5 years for owing a vehicle vs the amount I would pay in rental fees over the same 5 years.
Wow, what if you bought used instead of new?
It’s a good point, but with the miles I drive it wouldn’t be worth the constant maintenance (Hertz is nice enough to cover oil changes). I’m not mechanically inclined whatsoever and there are a multitude of horror stories out there about mechanics shafting customers (not saying they’re all bad, just many of them). I’ve only had a few minor repairs with Hertz vehicles (headlight and hatchback hinges) and the dealerships treated me like a king because I had a Hertz vehicle. That peace of mind and the minimal downtime I’ve had compared to if I owned a used vehicle is worth a lot to me. Plus, got to be honest, I’ve been completely spoiled by driving new vehicles over the last 5 years and having the opportunity to try out several types of sedans and SUVs (I rent a 2nd vehicle during vacations from the airport I fly into with my points and leave my primary rental home. Lol, I’ve got some crazy looks from airport reps on that. “Well, we see that you already have a vehicle rented with us”).
Makes sense
Just be grateful that they don’t have you arrested for “stealing” their cars!
I’m still not clear on this. Will the Amex Plat provide CDW coverage on award rentals if I use it to pay incidentals on the award?
these appear to be the US rates, not sure if their rates for other regions were also devalued or not. 🙁 also not sure if they expand their blackout anytime calendar or not either.
Yeah, I’m rethinking Hertz now. Kinda locked into it locally as through a job I have a sweet CDP rate at one of the only local rental places left. What a shit show. Lost basically $300 in value on this.
At least 600 points still gives $30 off. With my employer CDP it appears that is the best use of points for me from now on.
I just made a reservation last week.. I looked up when the last Hertz devaluation was and it was 2013 so I figured they were due to devalue soon, so I decided to use points. However that time they at least gave notice.
Never trust loyalty programs and always earn and burn!
I made a couple of reservations recently and used the $30 off on both of them (which I had never seen previously and was pleasantly surprised to find). I use Hertz to get to and from the airport because it’s much cheaper than other alternatives with my employer’s CDP (good rate, no mileage and no drop charge). I have Hertz Local Edition near my house that I use which is very convenient. Prior to the $ off options, the points were pretty useless to me given my normal usage.
I noticed that I somehow did not get points for a couple of rentals last year. Sadly they were more than 6 months ago so it seems like I can’t ask them to fix it but maybe I will anyway since I am currently Gold and Five Star (not sure if that will matter).
I believe it offered it to me as an option when booking a reservation (if not, say you want to use points when booking). And it ends up being worth more than $30 since you save taxes on that amount.
Thanks
MisterBill – I am just not seeing it as an option in the dropdown menu when I say I want to use points. I see 1 free weekly rental, 2 free rental days, 3 free rental days, etc., but nothing with a % off. Maybe it’s something only some people get.
Looks like these % off coupons are gone for good.
https://thegate.boardingarea.com/did-hertz-remove-yet-another-feature-of-gold-plus-rewards-with-no-advance-notice-or-warning/
National/Enterprise all the way. National is my go to though. A free day is a free day, whether it is round trip or one-way.
Haven’t used Hertz or Avis in YEARS. This just ensures I won’t use them in the future.