Hertz is an American car rental company that is based out of Estero, Florida. They have over 10,000 locations across more than 150 countries. Hertz is the second largest US car rental company (by sales, locations, and fleet size) and they own both Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental.
What is Hertz Gold Plus Rewards?
Hertz Gold Plus Rewards is the loyalty program of Hertz. The program allows you to earn points on eligible $1 spent with Hertz and use those points for free rentals. You'll also receive other benefits including complimentary car upgrades, free additional drivers, and more.
How do you sign up for Hertz Gold Plus Rewards?
You can sign up for Hertz Gold Plus Rewards membership for free by going to hertz.com and clicking Login/Sign-Up at the top of the page. You'll then see the option to Join For Free.
This will require you to enter your name, email, phone number, credit card info, and driver's license info. You'll also be required to come up with a password for your new account.
Do note that the credit card info is just for when you rent cars with Hertz. This allows you to easily skip the counter and go straight to your rental without standing in long lines (and they do get long) at the rental counters.
How to earn Hertz points
Hertz Points are earned by booking car rentals directly with Hertz via hertz.com, the Hertz mobile app, or over the phone using the Hertz reservations line. For every eligible dollar you spend with Hertz, you will earn Hertz points based on your level in the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards program.
Membership level | Points earned per $1 |
---|---|
Gold | 1 |
Five Star | 1.25 |
President's Circle | 1.5 |
Booking your rental through a third party such as expedia.com or carrentals.com will typically not earn you Hertz Points.
How many points will I earn on rentals?
Use our point earning calculator to estimate how many Hertz points you can earn on rentals based on Hertz Gold Plus Rewards status.
Membership level | Points earned |
---|---|
Hertz Gold Member | 0 Hertz Points |
Hertz Five Star Member | 0 Hertz Points |
Hertz President's Circle | 0 Hertz Points |
Redeeming Hertz points for free car rentals
Redeeming Hertz points for free car rentals are based on rental length, vehicle type, and whether or not the rental falls on a "peak day" for any given Hertz location.
Hertz lists the full redemption table on their website that breaks down the cost of free rentals by length, vehicle type, and location.
Rental length
The options for rental length are daily rentals, weekly rentals, and one-way rentals.
- Daily Rentals: Hertz daily rentals are day-to-day rentals that have a max of up to 4 rental days (otherwise it's considered a weekly rental).
- Weekly Rentals: Weekly rentals with Hertz are considered to be rentals that are 5 days or longer.
- One-Way Rentals: Hertz one-way rentals are rentals in which the pick-up location and drop-off location are different. These type of rentals can be on the expensive side depending on the distance between the two destinations and vehicle type.
Vehicle type
There are four vehicle types you can choose from when redeeming Hertz points: standard, specialty, Hertz Adrenaline Collection, and Hertz Prestige Collection.
- Standard: These are your standard vehicles. This is everything from compact to premium vehicles.
- Specialty: These fall under Luxury (Lincoln Towncar or similar), MidSize SUV (Ford Explorer or similar), Minivans (Ford Freestar or similar), or Convertible (Chrysler 200 Convertible or similar).
- Hertz Adrenaline Collection: These are head-turning, heart-pumping, high-performance versions of America’s favorite muscle cars like the Chevy Camaro SS, Ford Mustang 5.0 GT Premium, and Dodge Challenger R/T.
- Hertz Prestige Collection: These are a unique line of high-end, luxury vehicles like Mercedes, Infiniti, Volvo and Cadillac.
Peak and non-peak rentals
Based on the date and pickup location, the rental will either fall under standard rewards or anyday rewards.
- Hertz Standard Rewards: Use your points to book any days at a Hertz location that is not a blackout date. These are consider to be non-peak times.
- Hertz AnyDay Rewards: Hertz AnyDay Rewards costs double the points of a Hertz standard reward. These rewards can be booked during "peak dates" with Hertz meaning no blackout dates will apply.
Peak dates are by location. Thankfully, Hertz has a Find AnyDay Rewards Dates tool that can be used to see the Peak Dates for any given Hertz location.
Cancellations & Hertz points
If you book a reservation using Hertz Points and you cancel it within 24 hours of booking, all Hertz Points will be returned to your account. If you book a reservation and cancel it more than 24 hours before pick-up time, the following points will be forfeited:
- Gold Member: 50%
- Five Star Member: 25%
- President's Circle Member: 0%
If you do not cancel your reservation prior to pick-up time and the vehicle is not picked up on the rental day, all points will be forfeited regardless of your membership level in the program.
How many points for a free rental?
With our Hertz points calculator, you can easily determine the number of free rental days you can redeem with your Hertz Gold Plus Rewards points. Simply input your points balance and let the calculator do the rest!
Reward Chart | Standard Rewards | AnyDay Rewards |
---|---|---|
Daily rentals (up to 4 days) | ||
Standard Rentals | 0 free rental days | 0 free rental days |
Specialty Vehicles | 0 free rental days | 0 free rental days |
Hertz Adrenaline Collection | 0 free rental days | 0 free rental days |
Hertz Prestige Collection | 0 free rental days | 0 free rental days |
Weekly Rentals | ||
Standard Rentals | 0 free rental weeks | 0 free rental weeks |
Specialty Vehicles | 0 free rental weeks | 0 free rental weeks |
Hertz Adrenaline Collection | 0 free rental weeks | 0 free rental weeks |
Hertz Prestige Collection | 0 free rental weeks | 0 free rental weeks |
One-Way Rentals | ||
Standard Rentals | 0 free rental days | 0 free rental days |
Standard Rentals | 0 free rental weeks | 0 free rental weeks |
Hertz points value
Based on our analysis, Hertz Gold Plus Rewards points are worth about 5 cents each on average. This means that 100 points would be worth about $5 in cash value.
Now do note that this is just my average valuation and what I think you should strive for minimally when redeeming them. It's not hard to get significantly higher than that when it comes to point value.
When redeeming points, you'll get the most value out of your points by aiming for the most expensive vehicle that falls within the range of eligible vehicle types.
For example, take a look at these one day rental prices:
Electric vehicle aside, these will cost you 950 points per day to rent. The cheapest rental is the Economy 2/4 door which will offer about 7.8 cents per point. The most expensive vehicle, the small SUV, will give your points 11.5 cents in value.
Why get the Economy 2/4 door when you can get a larger and more spacious vehicle for the same award price? Not to say you should aim for the biggest and most expensive every time because you still have to pay for gas, but you should at least go up to what you can comfortably afford.
Convert Hertz points to dollars
Use the Hertz points value calculator to determine the average cash value of your Hertz points based on our valuations.
Average cash value: | $0 |
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Hertz Membership Levels
Hertz Membership has a 3-tier rewards program which consists of Gold, Five Star, and President's Circle. Your Hertz Membership level is based on either total rentals with Hertz during the calendar year or how much money you've spent with Hertz during the calendar year.
As you move up in levels, you'll receive additional benefits when booking with Hertz as well as a few benefits with partners. Once you earn a certain level of status with Hertz, it will be good for the remainder of the year in which it was earned and all of the subsequent year.
Hertz Gold Member
Hertz Gold is the first membership level in the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards program and automatically granted when you sign up for an account. Here are the benefits:
- Earn 1 point for every $1 spent with Hertz.
- Ultimate Choice (Wide Selection): Book a midsize class vehicle or larger and you'll be given access to a range of vehicles based on your membership level.
- Free additional driver: Add your spouse or domestic partner as an additional driver for free.
Hertz Five Star
Hertz Five Star Status is the second membership level in the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Program. It is granted after 10 eligible car rentals or after spending $2,000 with Hertz.
Here are the benefits Hertz Five Star offers:
- Earn 1.25 points for every $1 spent with Hertz (a 25% bonus).
- Receive a one-car-class upgrade when booking rentals directly with Hertz (subject to availability).
- Ultimate Choice (Wider Selection): When picking up your Hertz rental, you'll be able to choose any vehicle in the Five Star section of the Hertz Ultimate Choice lot at no extra charge.
- Free additional driver: Add your spouse or domestic partner as an additional driver for free.
Hertz President's Circle
Hertz President's Circle status is the third and highest membership level in the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards program. It is granted to those that have 15 eligible rentals or have spent $3,000 with Hertz.
Here are the benefits of President's Circle:
- Earn 1.5 points for every $1 spent with Hertz (a 50% bonus).
- Receive a guaranteed one-car-class upgrade.
- Ultimate Choice (Widest Selection): You'll receive the widest selection of vehicles from the Hertz Ultimate Choice lot.
- Free additional driver: Add your spouse or domestic partner as an additional driver for free.
- When you call in to the Hertz, you'll be sent to a dedicated Hertz Rewards Line.
Transfer Hertz points
You can transfer your Hertz Points to a spouse or domestic partners who also has a Hertz Gold Plus Rewards account living at the same address as you. Your spouse or domestic partner will need to have had at least one rental activity in the prior 18 months which means that a Hertz point was either earned or redeemed during that time frame.
In order to transfer points, you will need to call the Hertz Rewards Desk and ask for a transfer of points. You should see the transfer reflected with 24 hours. Hertz sales specialists can see the transfer instantly and can apply them to a future reservation if you need to book travel immediately after transferring points.
There's no limit to the amount of points you can transfer and no limit to the amount of times you can transfer to a member's account.
Hertz Partners
Hertz offers the ability to earn airline miles, hotel loyalty points, and more when spending with their partners. Several programs also offer complimentary Hertz Five Star or Hertz President's Status which can be a big benefit if you're loyal to renting with Hertz.
Hertz airline partners
Hertz has over 40 airline partners. This includes but is not limited to:
- Aeromexico
- Air France
- Alaska Airlines
- American Airlines
- Delta Air Lines
- Frontier Airlines
- Southwest Airlines
- Spirit Airlines
Hertz hotel partners:
Hotel loyalty points can be earned instead of Hertz Points when staying at certain chains. Here's the list of hotel partners:
- Accor ALL
- Caesars Entertainment
- IHG One Rewards
- Marriott Bonvoy
Other Hertz partners
There are a handful few other partners that allow you to earn rewards or save money when booking rentals with Hertz. Those partners are:
- AAA
- Beverly Hills Rent A Car
- Expedia
- PlatePass
- VisitFlordia.com
- Veterans Advantage
- Viator
Buying Hertz points
Hertz Points can be purchased from the Hertz Website at a rate of $0.20 per point. You can buy as little as 50 Hertz Points for $10 and as many as 10,000 Hertz Points for $2,000.
In order to buy Hertz Points, you must have at least 500 Hertz Points in your account. Buying Hertz Points requires you to print a form, fill it out, and fax it to them.
This form is founded on the Purchase Points page which you can get to by clicking on your name after you've logged into your Hertz account.
Should I buy Hertz points?
Hertz Points are clearly nowhere near a value of 20 cents per point. I've been able to easily find redemptions that can give me a little over half that value, but nothing quite that high. Paying a few dollars to top off your account might be worth it, but buying lots of Hertz Points will more than likely be a bad idea unless you can redeem your points for more than 20 cents each.
Earn cash back on Hertz rentals
You can earn additional rewards on top of your Hertz Points when you use cash back and shopping portals. This is an easy way to triple dip on rewards and maximize your earnings when booking with Hertz and shopping online in general.
Cash back and shopping portals are pretty easy to understand and they all work the same.
- Start at the cash back or shopping portal website of your choice.
- Find Hertz and click Shop Now to start a new session.
- You'll be taken to hertz.com to book your car rental as normal. Be sure to log into your Hertz Rewards account.
- Once you've booked and completed your Hertz rental, the cash back site will be notified.
- Cash back, miles, or points will be credited to your portal account.
When going through cash back and shopping portals, you'll end up earning rewards with the portal, rewards with the credit card you're using, and Hertz Rewards Points all on a single booking.
I highly recommend reading up on using cash back portals for all travel and online shopping as it's helped me earn a significant amount of money in the past few years.
If you don't have an account with any of the leading cash back portals, you can help out the site and earn bonus cash back on your first purchases by signing up using the links below.
FAQs
How much are Hertz Points worth?
Hertz Points are worth around 5 cents on average when redeemed for standard rental cars, but you can easily get significantly more in value.
What's the best way to use Hertz Points?
The best way to redeem Hertz Points is for standard rentals which start at 950 Hertz Points per day.
How many Hertz Points do you need for a free rental?
Hertz Rentals start at 950 points for standard vehicles (compact-premium), 1,900 points for Specialty Rentals, 2,787 for Adrenaline Collection rentals, and 3,167 for Prestige Collection rentals.
Can you transfer Hertz Points to other Hertz members?
Yes. You can transfer Hertz Points to a spouse or domestic partner who is also a Hertz Gold Plus Rewards member living at the same address as you.
How do you earn Hertz Points?
Hertz Points are earned renting cars with Hertz. You'll earn 1 Hertz Point per $1 spent with the chance to earn bonus points based on your Hertz Membership Level.
How many membership levels are in the Hertz Gold Rewards program?
There are 3 membership levels in the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards program: Gold, Five Star, and President's Circle.
How do you get Hertz Five Star Gold status?
You can qualify for Hertz Five Star Gold after 10 rentals with Hertz or $2,000 in spend with Hertz during a calendar year.
What are the benefits of Hertz Five Star Gold status?
Hertz Five Star status comes with benefits such as car rental upgrades, bonus hertz points, a one-car-class upgrade when booking, and the ability to choose any vehicle in the Five Star section of the Hertz Ultimate Choice lot.
How do you get Hertz President's Circle status?
You can qualify for Hertz President's Circle Status after 15 rentals with Hertz or $3,000 in spend with Hertz during the calendar year.
What are the benefits of Hertz President's Circle status?
Benefits of Hertz President's Circle status include 50% bonus points, guaranteed car rental upgrades, and the widest selection of vehicles from the Hertz Ultimate Choice lot.
What is Hertz Ultimate Choice?
Hertz Ultimate Choice allows you to decide what to drive. When you pick up your midsize class vehicle or larger, you'll be given access to a range of vehicles to choose from based on your membership status level.
What Hertz benefits do you receive as an AMEX Platinum Card member?
AMEX Platinum cardholders receive a one-car class upgrade when renting a car with Hertz and a discount on base rates. Cardmembers can use Hertz CDP# 211762 on hertz.com when booking.
Is there a fee for joining the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards loyalty program?
No. The Hertz Gold Plus Rewards program is free to join.
Can I earn other rewards booking rentals with Hertz?
Yes. Many rewards programs allow you to book rental cars at Hertz via their portal. So you can earn Delta SkyMiles, Singapore KrisFlyer Miles, Southwest Rapid Rewards Points, and more booking car rentals.
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