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New Hertz program takes a page from National

A new Hertz program lets renters bypass the rental counter and select their own car. (Image: Jim Glab)

Rental car giant Hertz, which has been struggling financially in recent years, has been quietly rolling out a new program that looks a lot like competitor National Car Rental’s Emerald Club Aisle – except the Hertz program is available to all renters.

Called Ultimate Choice, the new Hertz program started last winter and by this month will be available at almost three dozen U.S. airport locations.

With Ultimate Choice, Hertz customers are no longer assigned a specific car. Instead, they go to the car zone shown on their reservation – based on the vehicle category they booked — and select any car they want, from a variety of makes and models.

A customer who decides to upgrade at the last minute can do so by going to the Premium Upgrade zone and selecting a higher-category car. The upgrade fee is $35 a day (or $25 for Hertz Platinum and President’s Circle members), with changes processed at the exit gate.

The layout of a typical Hertz Ultimate Choice lot. (Image: Hertz)

Members of Hertz’s Gold Plus Rewards loyalty program, including Gold, Five Star and President’s Circle members, have access to “a select group of cars with enhanced features,” Hertz said, located at special pickup zones based on tier status. The same upgrade fees apply for those cars.

National’s program, available to members of its Emerald Club – which is free to join, like Hertz’ Gold Plus Rewards — also lets customers bypass the rental counter and proceed directly to the Emerald Club Aisle, where they can select any car.

Hertz has been struggling in recent years, especially after it bought Dollar Thrifty in 2012, with its global revenues on a steady decline (from $8.9 billion in 2014 to $8.2 billion last year). By contrast, the revenues of National’s parent, Enterprise Holdings, grew from $17.8 billion in 2014 to $20 billion last year. The privately-held Enterprise Holdings also owns the Enterprise and Alamo rental brands.

National parent Enterprise Holdings has been trying out hourly rentals. (Image: Enterprise)

All the big rental companies have been facing a competitive challenge from ride-sharing operators Uber and Lyft, which are handling a growing share of business travelers’ ground transportation needs. They have responded by testing some new concepts of their own, like Enterprise CarShare, an experiment from Enterprise Holdings that lets customers rent cars by the hour from special parking areas in major metropolitan areas, without the need to visit a rental office.

But Enterprise CarShare hasn’t been doing well. This month, company is closing down its CarShare operations in Boston, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, Salt Lake City and Washington D.C., citing low consumer demand. It remains in operations in some 18 other cities.

Have your rental car habits changed in recent years? Which is your preferred provider… and why? Please leave your comments below. 

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Comments

  1. I have always had the best luck with Alamo. I always get the economy car I asked for, they make it very simple to pick up and return. Any other companies I have used, for instance National, never had the car I chose, and made dealing with the rental process a bad experience.

  2. “Have your rental car habits changed in recent years? Which is your preferred provider… and why?” Yes. And — now — none.

    For many years, I was quite loyal to Silvercar . . . IF they were in the marketplace where I was flying. Getting a brand new Audi A4, *never* needing to even speak to an employee — just scan the QR code on my phone and have the car unlock — at a flat $49/day was AWESOME! But when their arrangement with Virgin America expired and I was no longer getting a host of miles/points with every rental, my preferred provider changed.

    Now, it’s whichever one has the least expensive vehicle in the class I need to rent — sometimes it’s Dollar, other times Budget or Alamo . . . even Sixt!

  3. Thanks to rideshare, it’s very rare that I rent cars now (a handful of times each year). I did so recently at MSP as the Hertz rate through AutoSlash was simply irresistible, and having a car would make it easier to hotel hop every night for the Marriott Megabonus. Knowing that MSP had switched to Ultimate Choice, I came expecting the absolute worst. I’ve heard mainly horror stories about President’s Circle members like me finding only terrible cars available. Fortunately, I was able to snag an Infiniti QX, which worked well for the long weekend. However, I was again reminded that the consolidated rental facilities are another huge detriment to the rental industry. It took nearly an hour to get from the gate to the facility. If I’d been in a real time crunch (or physically challenged), rideshare would’ve been much easier. I’m still not sold on UC, and I can see how it’s having the opposite effect and causing folks to switch to National.

  4. That assigning of cars I liked when the contract was done and everything was good to go. The process of waiting at the gate drives me nuts. I have debating leaving Hertz to go to national.

  5. I experienced this bum’s rush recently at PHL. Hertz had, indeed, warned me, but I hadn’t read the notices. By the time my wife and I figured out what was going on, all of the full-sized cars — which we had paid for — were gone. The Hertz attendant told me to take a car from the President’s collection. I claimed a car, but while my wife was shlepping our bags over from the 5-star row, a guy through his suitcase into the trunk of the car I had claimed. I told him I had already claimed the car, so he pulled his bag out and made a sarcastic remark. The process made me imagine what it’s like to be a shopper when the store’s doors open on Black Friday. It sucks.

  6. So National’s program works well, well thought out, I have used it. I am thinking of switching to National & Enterprise based on input from business friends very positive experiences. Last month was on a trip and made last minute Hertz local appointment near hotel. My two credit cards did not go through at the counter so they refused to rent to me, recently moved, Hertz had wrong zip on file although I had updated by profile! Took Lyft to an Enterprise location, was in and out in 20 minutes. Had a rental from Hertz at SJC last month which has been trialing the new program. Getting to the car is quick, but they have secured check out lanes, about six cars waiting, so rather than front load, they rear load the waiting time. The gates jammed also, slowing things even more. Had similar problem in Las Vegas last Sept. Hertz was out of my class, elected smaller Ford Focus. Wait of 4-5 cars at the gates, than my contract had not been updated so the guard had to wait for Hertz employee, took about five minutes at gate in addition to 25 minutes at garage counter prior to pick up (Hertz had not assigned me a car). My last two rentals from Avis, my preferred company, have not been better. Both delayed at counter for discount code, in one case was given a car that was already rented out. Would not be surprised if Hertz and Avis are seeing falling revenue.

  7. We recently ran into this new Hertz promo at DCA. On a Saturday afternoon, they were out of our car class (I booked the lowest-priced compact, as usual). After a short wait, we ended up grabbing the very first car they brought, because there was no choice, and there were 3 or 4 other parties behind us, and waiting for something better or different could be an uncertain proposition. So, while I welcome Hertz trying better ways to service customers, they still need to work out some kinks, imho.

  8. I usually don’t like the cars assigned or the “upgrades” Hertz have given me. Having a choice makes it so much easier. Tried this recently in Dallas, glad Hertz is copying National

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