Hertz Gold Plus Rewards 2019 Changes

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Hertz Gold Plus Rewards has announced they’re making several changes and enhancements to their loyalty program which take place next year.

The biggest change is they’re raising the rental requirements to earn Five Star status to 12 rentals or $2,400 spend (excluding taxes and fees). On a positive note both Five Star and President’s Circle members will now earn a higher points bonus; 25% and 50% respectfully.

Similar to World of Hyatt who introduced Milestone Awards, it seems like Hertz is also offering some added awards for customers hitting milestone rentals. President’s Circle members after hitting 15th, 20th and 40th will receive Hertz Valet service, and after your 30th and 40th rentals you’ll be able to upgrade to any available car on the lot.

a man in a car

Here’s a full rundown on all the new Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Changes:

Changes in point earning and expiry:

  • Increasing point multipliers:
    • Five Star: From a 10% bonus to a 25% bonus
    • President’s Circle: From a 25% bonus to a 50% bonus
  • Updating Five Star qualification status from 7 rentals or $1,500 spend (excluding taxes and fees) to 12 rentals or $2,400 spend (excluding taxes and fees).
  • Changing points expiration from 24 months of inactivity to 18 months of inactivity.
  • Eliminating select activation bonuses including sign-up bonus and 15th rental bonus.

A better, faster experience:

  • Offering Hertz Fast Lane powered by CLEAR – a free service that gets you through the exit gate in 30 seconds or less. Currently available at our Atlanta airport location, we will roll out more than 40 new locations in 2019.
  • Offering Five Star for a Day for Gold members that reach 8 rentals and President’s Circle for a Day for Five Star members that reach 16 rentals so you can experience next tier benefits.
  • Offering you the chance to upgrade to any available car on the lot after your 30th and 40th rentals.
  • Guaranteeing President Circle’s members their requested vehicle is available with at least 24-hour notice at our airport locations. Previously, we required at least 48-hour notice.
  • Providing Hertz Valet, our airport terminal drive-back service, for President’s Circle members after 15th, 20th and 40th rentals at select airport locations.

Flexible redemption options:

  • Introducing Cash + Points: Use a combination of points and currency – instead of one or the other – to pay for rentals and vehicle upgrades.
  • Offering new ways for you to earn and use points beyond rentals – including unique and exclusive access to Hertz+ experiences and Hertz Rewards – our auction platform.
  • Offering you the chance to use your points to redeem for luxury vehicles in Hertz Dream Cars Collection. (Effective mid-January 2019)
  • Lowering enrollment age from 21 to 18. (Effective mid-January 2019)

What are your thoughts on these changes from Hertz? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. 

Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or suggestions expressed on this site are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed.

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Comments

  1. How about just letting me use points for rentals of more than 5 days or letting me guarantee an automatic transmission rental in Europe?

  2. Almost doubling the qualification to hit 5 star in return for a 15% reward point increase hardly seems worth it. I could get on board with raising to 10 from 7. I expect to see much higher quality vehicles in the 5 star section going forward. 12 rentals to get a malibu or a jeep is a joke.

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