“A heads up on the Hertz deal next week if you were going to cover it. In past years, this was an amazing deal and I purchased it several times. But Hertz just implemented (last day or two unannounced) one of the biggest devaluations I’ve ever seen (awards costs increased 50-67% across the board). The deal for next week is now completely inaccurate and misleading in its description (not their fault – Hertz did this completely underhandedly). As example, the 16,500 rewards now costs 25,000. The 13,200 reward doesn’t even exist as weekend rewards were eliminated. A lot of people try for that one but should be warned . . .”
Massive Devaluation of Hertz Gold Plus Rewards 2019 With No Notice or Warning Whatsoever
That warning was posted by David — who is a reader of The Gate — in the Comments section of this article pertaining to the Daily Getaways deal for Best Western earlier today.
These unannounced changes are in addition to the changes in the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards which came into effect in January of 2019.
For your convenience in calculating value for yourself, here is a complete list of the rewards for which you can redeem your Hertz Gold Plus Rewards frequent renter loyalty program points if the destination of your car rental is in the United States — along with a comparison of the former reward redemptions:
| Daily Rentals |
Previous Standard Rewards
|
New Standard Rewards
|
Percent Increase
|
Previous AnyDay Rewards
|
New AnyDay Rewards
|
Percent Increase
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Free Rental Day |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2 Free Rental Days |
|
|
|
|
||
| 3 Free Rental Days |
|
|
|
|||
| 4 Free Rentals Days |
|
|
|
|||
| 1 Free Rental Day – One-Way |
|
|
|
|||
| 2 Free Rental Days – One-Way |
|
|
|
|||
| 3 Free Rental Days – One-Way |
|
|
|
|||
| 4 Free Rental Days – One-Way |
|
|
|
|||
| Specialty Vehicles 1 Free Rental Day |
|
|
|
|||
| Specialty Vehicles 2 Free Rental Days |
|
|||||
| Specialty Vehicles 3 Free Rental Days |
|
|||||
| Specialty Vehicles 4 Free Rental Days |
|
| Weekly Rentals |
Previous Standard Rewards
|
New Standard Rewards
|
Percent Increase
|
Previous AnyDay Rewards
|
New AnyDay Rewards
|
Percent Increase
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Free Weekly Rental |
|
|
|
|
||
| 2 Free Weeks of 8-14 Days |
|
|
|
|||
| 1 Free Weekly Rental – One Way |
|
|||||
| Specialty Vehicles Free Weekly Rental |
|
|||||
| Specialty Vehicles 2 Free Weeks of 8-14 Days |
|
|
||||
| 1 Free Weekly Rental – Hertz Prestige Collection Vehicles |
|
|
|
|||
| 2 Free Weeks of 8-14 Days – Hertz Prestige Collection Vehicles |
|
|
||||
| 1 Free Weekly Rental – Hertz Adrenaline Collection Vehicles |
|
|
|
|||
| 2 Free Weeks of 8-14 Days – Hertz Adrenaline Vehicles |
|
|
||||
| 1 Free Weekly Rental – Hertz Green Traveler Collection Vehicles |
|
|
||||
| 2 Free Weeks of 8-14 Days – Hertz Green Traveler Collection Vehicles |
|
| One Way Rentals |
Previous Standard Rewards
|
New Standard Rewards
|
Percent Increase
|
Previous AnyDay Rewards
|
New AnyDay Rewards
|
Percent Increase
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Free Rental Day – One-Way |
|
|
|
|||
| 2 Free Rental Days – One-Way |
|
|
|
|||
| 3 Free Rental Days – One-Way |
|
|
|
|||
| 4 Free Rental Days – One-Way |
|
|
|
|||
| 1 Free Weekend Rental Day – One-Way |
|
|||||
| 2 Free Weekend Rental Days – One-Way |
|
|||||
| 1 Free Weekend Rental – One Way (Max. 4 Days) |
|
|||||
| 1 Free Weekly Rental – One Way |
|
|
|
| Specialty Cars |
Previous Standard Rewards
|
New Standard Rewards
|
Percent Increase
|
Previous AnyDay Rewards
|
New AnyDay Rewards
|
Percent Increase
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Specialty Vehicles 1 Free Rental Day |
|
|
|
|||
| Specialty Vehicles 2 Free Rental Days |
|
|
||||
| Specialty Vehicles 3 Free Rental Days |
|
|
|
|||
| Specialty Vehicles 4 Free Rental Days |
|
|
||||
| Specialty Vehicles 1 Free Weekend Rental Day |
|
|||||
| Specialty Vehicles 2 Free Weekend Rental Days |
|
|||||
| Specialty Vehicles 3 Free Weekend Rental Day |
|
|||||
| Specialty Vehicles 4 Free Weekend Rental Days |
|
|||||
| Specialty Vehicles Free Weekly Rental |
|
|
||||
| Specialty Vehicles 2 Free Weeks of 8-14 Days |
|
|
New to Hertz Gold Plus Rewards
The following awards were not initially listed on the suddenly former redemption charts — although using points for discounts was introduced on Friday, November 30, 2018:
| Use Points for Discounts | Standard Rewards | AnyDay Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| $5.00 discount |
|
200
|
| $7.50 discount |
|
300
|
| $12.00 discount |
|
400
|
| $20.00 discount |
|
500
|
| $30.00 discount |
|
600
|
| $180.00 discount — New |
|
3,600
|
Summary
Weekend awards have apparently been suddenly wiped off of the charts — surmising that all former weekend awards are now available at standard weekday redemption rates.
Although technically not illegal, implementing these changes to significantly devalue the Gold Plus Rewards program overall without an advance warning — or any notice at all, for that matter — is downright sneaky and unethical of Hertz in what I consider one of the worst devaluations of a frequent travel loyalty program in recent memory.
Thank you for the warning, David. I appreciate it.
Photograph ©2017 by Brian Cohen.
As requested by Pang — who is a reader of The Gate — listed below are the former awards in countries other than the United States:
