Hertz #1 Gold Club ?s

[Eeyore2U]

We are looking into joining this. Does it give anything besides the pick up/drop off? Any discounts or frequent user benefits?

TIA

 

[drusba]

Hertz Gold costs $50 a year. It gives you the ability to go right to your car. It also has an awards program where you accumulate points from use and can then use them to apply to merchandise, freguent flyer miles for airlines, other awards. It also provides various coupons and upgrades at many times.

Nevertheless, I do not view Hertz as the ideal choice to escape going to the counter, particularly at Orlando. At Orlando, Hertz is located away from the airport and thus you have to take a shuttle. National, Avis, Dollar, all of which also have programs you can join to escape going to the counter (National's Emerald Club, Avis Preferred, and Dollar Fastlane), are at the airport. Moreover, you can join the Avis and Dollar programs for no annual fee, and, if you are a Disney Club member, you can join National's for no annual fee (otherwise $50 ayear). Also, if you are a Disney Club member, you can get close to 20% off any National rental. Finally, Hertz usally has the highest rental rates of any of the car rental agencies.

In other words, if you have not joined any of these types of programs before and are just looking for one so you can avoid the counter, consider the others I mentioned above rather than Hertz. (Note, I have all the above programs; I do not have to pay the $50 fee for Hertz because I am a member of an organization that can get the Gold card with fee waived.)

 

[safetymom]

I am a Hertz #1 Gold 5 Star member. The fact that you can bypass the counter and go straight to your car is a big plus. They typically don't offer a discount but they do have some coupons that you can enter to get an upgrade, a free day, etc.

Look around because some places will let you join #1 Gold for Free. If you rent a premium car at some of their locations you will get #1 Gold for free.

I used to use National at MCO but am going back to Hertz because the selection has declined and the quality of the cars have gone downhill. With Hertz I can take a short bus ride and get in my car and drive away.

Go for it. Kathy

 

[safetymom]

If you belong to AAA they give nice discounts on Hertz rentals. Also my USAirways preferred card gives me Hertz discounts making them very reasonable. At Christmas National was cheaper but most times they are about the same.

I was sad to see how the Emerald Aisle has changed. So a few extra minutes is worth it to me.

 

[mousehut101]

yeah, defintatly go for Hertz. Its worth the extra $20 for the service and the quality you recieve. They ALWAYS have the same consitency...unlike the onsite car rentals which are franchised...(Avis is owned by Avis of Florida and so is Dollar and Budget...none of them or actually CORPORATE locations...which is a down side.)

 

[pbhunt]

safetymom, sorry, off topic, but I've been off reading the cruise boards lately......What has been going wrong with the Emerald Aisle at National lately? We leave in 36 days, is there something I should know about?

 

[safetymom]

They filed for bankruptcy months ago. I am not sure that is what is causing the problem but there were hardly any cars on the Aisle when we were there at Christmas. We had reserved a full size and there was only one of them on the Aisle. The check coolant light kept coming on in the car.

I realize with Hertz you have to take a bus but when I get there my car is ready for me to pul out. Don't have to stop at the counter either. I think it is worth going back to Hertz at MCO until National gets better.

 

[pbhunt]

Lack of cars on EA is not really a new issue, it's aways been hit or miss at MCO. Mechanical problems and upkeep would certainly be an issue. Thanks for your reply.

 

[CarolA]

While Hertz in Orlando is a corporate location, not all their Florida or other locations are corporate owned. Basically I have rented extensively from all the major rental car companies except Alamo and at ALL of them I have several horror stories. (Including the Hertz location where I walked to my Gold card location indicated on the screen and there was no car! While I was standing there the attendant walked up and handed me a contract and said he did not know where my car was and WALKED OFF! That was a fun one, but I wound up with a caddy after finding the manager!)

My point is that if you come on a board like this and ask for a response on a rental car or airline company you will always get some negatives and some positives. All of them have bad days!