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Double Points and a Discount for Hertz Rentals

By | Published March 29, 2012 11:38 am
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Through May 31, members of the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards program can earn double points and a $15 discount on a two-day weekend rental or double points and a $20 discount on a weekly rental.

The offer applies to economy through full-size vehicles, rented from participating locations in the U.S., Canada, U.K., France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Puerto Rico.

The bonus may only be earned one time per Gold Plus member.

Deal or No Deal

Since choosing to earn Gold Plus points means that you cannot earn airline miles or hotel points for a given Hertz rental, the first question is whether to take advantage of this offer or an alternative bonus available through a different loyalty program.

And, as always, there are plenty of bonuses on offer through a host of airline and hotel programs. For example, Delta SkyMiles members who rent from Hertz can get a discount of up to 40 percent, plus 250 bonus miles for two-day rentals or 2,000 bonus miles for rentals of five or more days, through June 30.

It’s impossible to make apples-to-apples comparisons between the offers, since Delta’s program is structured differently than Hertz’s.

Gold Plus members earn one point per $1 spent on Hertz rentals.

On the award side, Gold Plus points may be redeemed for free Hertz rental days, starting at 500 points for a free weekend day. Alternatively, points may be exchanged for miles or points in the following programs: Aeroplan, Alaska Airlines, American, Amtrak, Delta, Frontier, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue, Marriott, Priority Club Rewards, Southwest, Spirit, and US Airways. For most airline programs, the exchange rate is 600 Hertz points for 500 miles.

Exchanging Hertz points for airline miles yields less than one mile per $1 spent, a pretty poor return, even with the double-points offer. In Delta’s program, with the bonus you’d earn 350 miles for a one-day rental, which amounts to five miles per $1, assuming a $70 rental rate.

On the other hand, if the goal is free rental days, a freebie for as few as 500 points — after spending $250, factoring the Hertz bonus — is likely to be a better deal than you’ll find through an airline or hotel program. In Delta’s program, a free weekend day for a Hertz economy car picked up at Los Angeles International Airport would set you back 6,811 miles.

Bottom line: For airline miles, you’ll probably do better citing your frequent flyer program membership number when renting from Hertz. To earn free days, rent as a member of Hertz’s Gold Plus program.

Reader Reality Check

Do you participate in Hertz’s program?

If so, do you use your points for free rental days or exchange them for points in other programs?

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