Hertz may just be the most unethical company on Earth. They have a long history of no-notice changes, but the latest takes the cake.
- In 2019 they changed the expiration policy on points without notice, requiring a rental every 18 months instead of 24 months.
- They also devalued points without notice in 2019.
- In 2022 they devalued points again without notice.
- Last year they changed the expiration policy on points again without notice, requiring a paid or award rental every 12 months instead of 18 months.
And starting on 12/31/24, all points will expire 5 years from when they were earned, regardless of activity. You can book rental cars for future travel, but if you need to cancel the rental, your points may immediately expire.
They also designated the vast majority of the year as a peak date, to raise award costs even more.
It’s one thing to require activity to keep them alive, but Hertz always advertised that points would never expire. To apply an expiration to them retroactively is dirty pool.
Personally, I purchased Hertz points through Daily Getaways a few times over the years, though I never got around to redeeming most of them.
I dug back into the Internet Archive and confirmed that the Terms and Conditions of those sales said that points would never expire as long as you maintained account activity.
I contacted Hertz and Daily Getaways. Hertz told me to go pound sand and that my points would all be wiped out on 12/31/24, even though they were purchased with the promise that they wouldn’t expire.
However, Daily Getaways actually refunded the price paid for the points for purchases that I made dating back to 2013 via a check that they sent to me! Good thing I saved the email receipts. That’s truly incredible customer service!
If you purchased points from Daily Getaways and haven’t been able to redeem them, you can write to them for help at help@dailygetaways.com. Let us know what happens!
Personally, I’ll be happy to ditch Hertz completely after this. After all, who wants to wind up in jail for renting a car?
At least there’s some truth in advertising. When a company tells you that it hertz to do business with them, believe them!
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41 Comments On "Hertz Just Keeps On Devaluing, But Daily Getaways Purchasers May Be In Luck!"
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If I have 1.5 million points from 8 years ago in my account on 12/31/24 that will be wiped away?
And if yes, should I contact a lawyer to sue them?
This is absurd!
Yes. How did you get so many points?
Sure. You can also try contacting your state’s attorney general.
I would imagine that they are going to point to some obscure detail of their bankruptcy proceedings that only required them to maintain non pecuniary debts for a limited length of time.
I stopped using them a few yrs back when i had a few horrible rental stories
Please let us know if you sue.
@dan All the rental companies are all the same and they’re all terrible services terrible The only advantage the national has is that their cars are a little bit nicer and there’s a better selection but that comes with a higher price and they’re only in airports and there’s no codes for under 25 that come out anywhere near worth it to Hertz
Haven’t rented from them since 2013 when had a bad experience
They actually called me last year saying I never returned a car in Denver. It took a bunch of calls to get it straightened out. I guess I should be happy I wasn’t arrested.
The law firms representing Hertz have been making huge money lately.
It’s tough work, but good money.
What rental co do you use Dan
National
isn’t National one of Hertz chain rentals?
No
I agree that National is the best USA car rental company, but they have become increasing difficult to use discount codes with. And without a very good discount code, they are very expensive compared to their competitors. A shame.
Same here, National is amazing. BTW, do you know if they allow early returns on non pre paid rentals and not charge the unused days?
They do, unlike the other guys.
I’ve always used hertz because I was under 25 and they had under age fee waived with AAA and I have president circle there and now I’m using them on my vacation to use up my worthless points by them. which rental company would you suggest I start using and would I be able to states match?
(I had a horrible experience with avis and will never use them again)
National is generally much better than Avis/Hertz.
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/elite-status/get-car-rental-elite-status/
Hertz lets you transfer your points to another account, I wonder if I transfer them maybe the 5 years will start again and then that would be a good hack to save your points. Just transfer them and then transfer them back!
Can someone look into this idea and let me know if it works?!
Worth a shot, but I wonder if you’ll be able to tell before 12/31 if it will work or not?
I find national to be the most expensive. Is there a specific code you use?
Executive status allows you to book a midsize and drive out with any vehicle in the lot. That pretty much negates any price differences.
90% of the time, if I book a mid-size Hertz it’s 25-40% cheaper than National. Sometimes more.
I switched from Hertz to Sixt.
same here
Only upside i find with hertz is there are some codes out there that can significantly bring down the cost to a more fair price, i wounder if the other guys have similar codes to bring down the costs.
There are codes for all agencies.
Infuriating. I used to rent exclusively with Hertz but since Covid, they’ve gone down the tubes. Now I rent only National besides for one time I couldn’t get a big enough car so I rented with Avis and someone went through a stop sign and totaled the van. No it’s back to National only. I tried booking my last few trips with Hertz in LGA and EWR to try to deplete the points but every reservation says not available with points. Smh.
try sixt
I lost a lot of points recently since they switched the policy from 24 months to 18 and then 12 all within the 24 month time frame…. I was keeping track for the 24 months.
I accumulated a lot of points since I used to be constantly on the road and was a loyal customer but there is nobody home on the corporate level and the branch I always use respects my loyalty but there is nothing they can do to assist me to get my points back.
Time to make new friends….
Does renting by enterprise count towards a free rental in National?
It’s a separate program at the moment.
-1
Rentals at Enterprise do count towards National free days. Just use you National number when making the booking.
How is Enterprise?
I find it to be more expensive than National (partner company) but it never hurts to compare.
What hertz charges for a rav4 at Sixt you’ll get an X5
Nothing beats Turo unless you want to return at a different location. Can’t beat getting into your car at baggage claim. No shuttle, no lines, no fees or upsells. They usually win on price as well.
Not after no credit card insurance, limited miles, and other fees.
If you have any rental status there’s no lines or upsells either.
The problem with Turo is that many airports like LAX and orlando do now allow them to pick you up from the airport so you have to take a shuttle or arrange transportation to a off site location and then pay for the parking fee to exit the parking lot. The airports that do allow it make it a automatic winner over the rental companies even with the other fees.
Dan,
I hear you with the status. I have no dog in this fight but I want to make the oilem aware of the benefits of Turo. More and more airports have no cars near the airport, shuttle required, sometimes two shuttles. Sometimes the wait and the shuttle(s) combined can be over 90 minutes. On a short trip (like same day return flight) that can be brutal. Also, since COVID, I have had almost every problem you can name with legacy car rental companies, and it didn’t matter which company. I have had 2-3 hour lines, no car available even though I had a reservation, broken cars, cars not logged as returned, cars that showed 0 mileage when I got the car (impossible) and I got charged 4-5k for 18k miles that I never drove etc. I tried President’s Circle about a year ago and the “free” options were lousy. They wanted an extra $100+ per day for the good cars. The car I chose gave me problems on the highway, I had to go back to a Hertz to exchange, only airport locations on a Sunday night, out of my way, they claimed I didn’t fill the tank, (I did about 100 feet away), they yelled at me and said nothing wrong with the car, just ridiculous for a “President”. I like cc insurance too, but everyone in my family is covered through our regular car insurance and that covers us the same when we rent. I used to bring toll transponders (like EZpass) with me to avoid the $5-15 per day that rental agencies charge on top of tolls. Turo, on the other hand, you can often literally walk out of baggage claim with or without luggage, jump in your car and go. And same on the return. Pull up to departures, hand the guy the key and go catch your flight. For tolls, they charged me the exact tolls I used on their transponder. Don’t want to stop for gas, they will charge you a fair price not Biden $15 a gallon. I don’t plan on going back to legacy unless it’s a one way rental where I have no choice. But continuous thanks for all the deals and travel advice!
Turoguy
Got my check today together with a whole list of people (Names, Emails and Addresses) who’s refunds were processed in the same batch.
Thank you!