The Hertz Gold Plus Rewards program is one of the best rental car programs due to its great elite status program and easy to use points.
In this post, we will cover everything you need to know about the different status levels of Hertz Gold Plus Rewards and how to earn and redeem points.
Hertz Gold Plus Rewards
You can join Hertz Gold Plus Rewards for free by providing your email, address, driver’s license number, and credit card information.
Gold Plus Rewards Benefits
Gold Plus Rewards has several nice benefits for their base Gold members including the ability to earn points, expedited check-in and returns, a free additional driver (spouse or domestic partner), and Hertz Ultimate Choice.
One Point Per Dollar
Gold Plus Members earn one point for every dollar spent on car rentals, excluding taxes and other fees.
Expedited Vehicle Pickup
One of the main reasons why you should join the Hertz Gold Rewards program is so you can pick up your car faster.
At many airports, you can bypass the counter completely and go to your car.
At neighborhood locations, you can still save time since all your information, preferences, and credit card are stored with Hertzs.
Free Additional Driver
All Hertz Gold Plus members may add their spouse or domestic partner for free to rentals.
If you want to add a non-spouse to rental, you will have to pay the standard additional driver fee.
Exception: No additional fee for any authorized driver if you booked the USAA rate, or the AAA rate and both drivers are AAA members.
Five Star Status for a Day
After you completed seven (7) qualifying rentals in a calendar year, you are eligible for Five Star status for a day, which gets you bonus points, upgrades, and a better selection of vehicles in the Five Star Ultimate Choice aisle.
Ultimate Choice
Hertz introduced Ultimate Choice at many airport locations to compete with National’s Emerald Aisle, which allows you to choose any car in the aisle as long as you booked an intermediate car or higher.
Hertz divides Ultimate Choice locations into different areas based on your status (Gold, Five Star, or President’s Circle) with the best cars placed in the President’s Circle area.
Hertz Five Star Elite Status
The mid-tier status with Hertz is Five Star elite status, which offers nice benefits a 25% points bonus and upgrades.
How to Earn Five Star Status
You can earn Hertz Five Star elite status by booking 12 rentals or spending $2,400 in a calendar year.
You can also earn Five Star status by having:
Hertz 5 Star Elite Status Benefits
Five Star elite members get the benefits below plus the Gold benefits of:
- A free additional driver for spouse or domestic partner.
- Ability to pick your car at Hertz Ultimate Choice airport locations.
- Ability to redeem points for free rentals and other rewards.
25% Points Bonus
Hertz Five Star members earn 1.25 points (25% bonus) for every dollar spent on car rentals excluding taxes and fees.
Upgrades if Avaliable
Five Star members are eligible for upgrades if available at non-Ultimate Choice locations.
President's Circle for a Day
You can receive the benefits of President’s Circle for one day when you complete fifteen (15) qualifying rentals in a calendar year.
Hertz President's Circle Elite Status
The top-tier status with Hertz is President’s Circle elite status, which offers valuable benefits such as a 50% points bonus, and guaranteed upgrades.
How to Earn President's Circle Status
You can earn Hertz President’s Circle elite status each year by either:
- Completing 20 rentals OR
- Spending $4,000
You can also earn Hertz President’s Circle status by holding:
- Delta Platinum Medallion Status
- Delta Diamond Medallion Status
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
If you want Hertz President’s Circle, opening the Capital One Venture X card is a great deal.
With the Venture X, you get President’s Circle status for you and up to four authorized users.
Plus, a $300 travel credit, primary rental car insurance, free access to 1,300+ airport lounges, 10,000 miles every account anniversary, and 10x miles on hotels and rental cars books through the Capital One Travel portal.
- bonus_miles_full
- $300 Annual Credit for Bookings through Capital One Travel
- 10,000 Miles for Each Account Anniversary
- Hertz President’s Circle Elite Status
- Airport Lounge Access (Priority Pass, Capital One, & Plaza Premium)
- 10X Miles on Hotels and Rental Cars, and 5x Miles on Flights Booked with Capital One Travel
- 2X Miles on All Other purchases
- $395 Annual Fee
Enrolling in President's Circle via the Venture X
If you already have the Capital One Venture X card, you can easily upgrade your Hertz Gold account to President’s Circle status.
All you have to do is
- Sign into Capital One
- Click “Redeem” in the Rewards box
- Click “Benefits” at the top of the page
- Click “Hertz President’s Circle Status”
- Fill out your information in the screenshot below.
Hertz President's Circle Benefits
President’s Circle members enjoy the benefits below plus the Gold and Five Star benefits above of:
- A free additional driver for spouse or domestic partner.
- Ability to pick your car at Hertz Ultimate Choice airport locations.
- Ability to redeem points for free rentals and other rewards.
50% Points Bonus
President’s Circle members earn 1.5 point per dollar (50% bonus) on rental rates excluding taxes and fees.
Guaranteed Upgrades
President’s Circle members are guaranteed upgrades to the next available car class or the ability to choose a car from the President’s Circle Ultimate Choice aisle if you booked an intermediate car or higher.
However, my experience as a President’s Circle member is that neighborhood (non-airport) locations frequently don’t honor the guaranteed upgrade and rather try to up-sell an upgrade instead.
Dedicated Hertz Rewards Line
President’s Circle members can reach a customer service agent faster by calling the dedicated phone number 1-888-444-8600.
Hertz Platinum Elite Status
Hertz has an invite-only elite status called Platinum, which you could previously buy into for $1,350 per year.
You can also get Hertz Platinum status with the American Express Centurion (Black) Card, which is an invite only card with a $5,000 annual fee.
The Centurion Card is similar to the American Express Platinum ($550 annual fee), but with added benefits such as airline elite status, a CLEAR membership, and Equinox Destination Access membership.
Hertz Platinum Benefits
Hertz Platinum status has some unique benefits on top of the President’s Circle benefits:
- Upgrades to a luxury car class.
- Car pickup and drop off at the airport terminal upon request at participating airports, which bypasses having to ride the rental car shuttle.
- Guaranteed reservation even on short notice.
- Four hour grace period on all rentals
- Free ski/snowboard racks and child sets.
Status Match to Hertz Gold Rewards
You can match your status with another car rental company to Hertz for Five Star or President’s Circle status.
All you need to do is fill out your information and provide proof of your elite status at Avis, Enterprise, or National.
American Express Platinum Benefits
The American Express Platinum and Business Platinum cards offer useful additional benefits for cardmembers when they use rate code “211762“ including:
- A four-hour grace period on rentals in the United States. (normally only 30 minutes).
- A free car-class upgrade (subject to availability).
- A special rate for cardmembers.
- A 10% points bonus on rentals.
The official policy is that you need to pay using the Platinum card, but I regularly use the Platinum rate code and pay with my U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve or Chase Sapphire Preferred since those cards offer primary rental car insurance and the Platinum only offers secondary insurance.
But you should bring your Platinum card with you just in case they request to see it to verify the rate.
Earning Hertz Gold Plus Points
There is currently only one way to earn Hertz points, which is through car rentals.
Earning Points with Car Rentals
You earn 1 point for every qualifying dollar spent on a qualifying Hertz rental anywhere in the world, excluding taxes and other fees.
In the example below, you would earn 162 points from the $162.20 rate, but you would earn no points on the $31.68 in “Fees and Surcharges” and $11.18 in “Taxes.”
You can also earn points on extra charges such as:
- SiriusXM
- Gas
- Insurance
- Additional mileage charges
- Mobile GPS
- Car seats
- Ski racks
- Five Star – 1.25 cents per dollar spent.
- President’s Circle – 1.5 cents per dollar spent.
Redeeming Hertz Gold Plus Points
Using Points for Car Rentals
The best way to use Hertz points is for car rentals, which you can easily redeem from the payment screen.
You can also call Hertz at 1-800-704-4473 to make a reservation. Occasionally, the online system incorrectly displays that you don’t have enough points for a reservation.
The required number of points depends on whether your date is considered a “Standard Reward” or an “AnyDay Reward.”
You can see the AnyDay Rewards dates by entering your rental location into this Hertz Calendar Tool.
AnyDay Rewards are twice the price of Standard Rewards, so always try to redeem points during non-peak dates.
You can find the number of points needed for a free rental day in the Hertz award chart below.
A “Standard” rental includes any car from Compact to Premium cars.
| Rental Type | Standard Reward | AnyDay Reward |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 750 points per day | 1,500 points per day |
| One-Way | 1,500 points per day | 3,000 points per day |
| Specialty Vehicles | 1,500 points per day | 3,000 points per day |
| Adrenaline Collection | 2,200 points per day | 4,400 points per day |
| Prestige Collection | 2,500 points per day | 5,000 points per day |
| Weekly Rental | 3,750 points per week | 7,500 points per week |
| Weekly Rental (One-Way) | 7,500 points per week | 15,000 points per week |
My favorite way to use Hertz points is with one-way rentals, which can be $400+ per day.
You are still required to pay the taxes and fees of the rental, which in the example below is $24.27.
Although Hertz operates in over 150 countries, you can only redeem points in the twenty countries listed below.
You can earn and redeem Hertz points in the following countries
- United States
- Canada
- Puerto Rico
- U.S. Virgin Islands
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Brazil
- United Kingdom
- France
- Germany
- Norway
- Denmark
- Sweden
- Finland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Spain
- Belgium
- Luxembourg
- Netherlands.
Rentals in Switzerland will earn points, but members can’t redeem a reward there.
Rewards Cancellation Policies
If you need to cancel your points booking, the following cancellation policy applies:
- Cancel within 24 hours of booking – full points refund.
- Cancel after 24 hours of booking up to pick-up time:
- Gold = 50% penalty.
- Five Star = 25% penalty.
- President’s Circle = full refund.
- No show or cancel after pick-up time = no refund.
Transferring Hertz Points to Airlines and Hotels
We generally do not recommend transferring Hertz points to airlines because Hertz points are worth at least five times more than an airline or hotel point.
However, the ability to transfer points to airlines and hotels is currently paused due to Hertz’s Chapter 11 reorganization.
But here is the list of Hertz transfer partners, which may resume in the future:
- Alaska Airlines (600 Hertz points = 500 Alaska miles)
- American Airlines (600 Hertz points = 500 American miles)
- Amtrak (600 Hertz points = 500 Amtrak points)
- Delta Airlines (600 Hertz points = 500 Delta Skymiles)
- Frontier Airlines (600 Hertz points = 500 Frontier miles)
- IHG Rewards Club (600 Hertz points = 1,000 IHG points)
- Marriott Bonvoy (600 Hertz points = 1,000 Marriott points)
- Southwest Airlines (600 Hertz points = 1,200 Southwest points)
- Spirit Airlines (600 Hertz points = 500 Spirit miles)
- United Mileage Plus (600 Hertz points = 500 United miles)
The Verdict
The Hertz Gold Plus Rewards program is currently my favorite Hertz elite and rewards program.
I wish Hertz ran more points promotions like National and improved elite status recognition at neighborhood locations, but overall it’s better than other rental car programs.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Confirmed one-car-class upgrades at participating locations
- 50% bonus on Gold Plus Rewards® points on all qualified rentals
- Expedited vehicle pick-up at over 1,000 locations worldwide
- No stopping at the counter at over 50 airports
- Mobile Gold Alerts
- eReturn
- Freedom to choose any vehicle in the President’s Circle section of the Hertz Ultimate Choice lot on the spot at no extra charge
- No additional driver fee for a spouse or domestic partner in the U.S.
- Hertz Gold Plus Rewards® points for free rental days around the world
- Access to exclusive and unforgettable experiences through Hertz+
- Dedicated President’s Circle call center line.
- One-car-class upgrades at participating locations (subject to availability).
- 25% bonus on Gold Plus Rewards® points on all qualified rentals.
- Expedited vehicle pick-up at over 1,000 locations worldwide.
- No stopping at the counter at over 50 airports.
- eReturn
- Freedom to choose any vehicle in the Five Star® section of the Hertz Ultimate Choice lot on the spot at no extra charge.
- No additional driver fee for a spouse or domestic partner in the U.S.
- Hertz Gold Plus Rewards® points for free rental days around the world.
- Access to special and unforgettable experiences through Hertz+.
Yes. You can transfer points to your spouse or domestic partner for free as long as he/she is a Hertz Gold Plus Rewards member and resides at the same address.
Yes, but Hertz sells them at a high rate of 20 cents per point with a minimum of 500 points and a maximum of 10,000 points purchased in a calendar year.
You can call Hertz with your questions about the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards program by calling 1-888-999-4900 (Monday through Friday 7 AM to 9 PM Central Time).
