Hertz to good to be true?

admiral · Post by **admiral** » Tue 12 Jan 2010 21:07

I inputted the CDP number assosiated with AA Ireland, which gives me 10% discount, however it does not give me the other discounts mentioned 20% 30 % free extra driver etc

Archies Beard · Post by **Archies Beard** » Tue 12 Jan 2010 22:20

We paid £110/week for a 5 door Fiesta to carry 3 people - less than £34pp for all travel plus petrol. If I saw it advertised for less by some one other than a big name like Hertz I would think there has to be a catch. I never got any discount that was their price.

Good enough for me. I also have my own annual car hire insurance at £49 pa

admiral · Post by **admiral** » Wed 13 Jan 2010 14:54

Rang Hertz re AA discounts, they mentioned sometimes these are advertised on the AA site, so best to look there, when booking a car

Re gold card

If its not possible to hard code the aa discount into your profile, ring hertz and get thru to gold card section, they may help

Nigel and Karen · Post by **Nigel and Karen** » Mon 25 Jan 2010 16:58

Just got back and had to return car empty, car computer said 17 km of fuel left in tank. money refunded to my cc while I was away

polremy · Post by **polremy** » Mon 25 Jan 2010 17:32

Nigel and Karen wrote:Just got back and had to return car empty, car computer said 17 km of fuel left in tank. money refunded to my cc while I was away

You could have gone round a few roundabouts on that!

Nigel and Karen · Post by **Nigel and Karen** » Mon 25 Jan 2010 19:40

Was tempted, thought of turning the air con on as well

Ian · Post by **Ian** » Mon 25 Jan 2010 22:50

Would someone who thinks they have a good grasp of the best strategy for booking with Hertz please give us all a summary. I can't get my head around it from reading this thread.

As a number 1 club member I just book through the standard Hertz site. I don't get any special rate unless there is a promotion on - but I always get an upgrade. The car is full of fuel when I pick it up and I return it full. There are no extra charges.

On the odd occasion I get seduced by the link to book with Hertz through the Ryanair site. I get a slightly cheaper rate for the car, I get my upgrade as usual, the car is full of fuel when I pick it up. BUT I have to return the car empty (I think Serge mentioned this early on in the thread) - Because they will charge you for a full tank. (read the computer printed ticket you get with the contract it tells you what the fuel charge will be)

So unless you know you can arrive back at the airport with an empty tank - you will be worse off if you book through Ryanair.

Please let me know if I have got this wrong.

sue and paul · Post by **sue and paul** » Mon 25 Jan 2010 23:58

We are Hertz 1 club gold members. We always book through the Ryanair site. Sometimes we get an upgrade. We always take the car back full. We finished our last rental on Jan 4th this year, and will soon be renting again, and will report back on the latest. So this is a little different from Ian's experience. We find that the quote is always more if we go through Hertz own website.. There doesn't seem to be enough consistency for a plan to get the best deal. We just juggle around until we get the best on that day

Nigel and Karen · Post by **Nigel and Karen** » Tue 26 Jan 2010 14:57

Aug last year was the first time we had to buy a tank and return it empty.

sue and paul · Post by **sue and paul** » Tue 26 Jan 2010 16:13

and yet on 4 Jan 2010 we could take it back full to Birmingham airport. As I say, there is no consistency to enable a cunning plan for clever booking!!

john · Post by **john** » Tue 26 Jan 2010 18:04

I've never ,ever been asked by Hertz to bring a car back anything other than full.

Allan · Post by **Allan** » Tue 26 Jan 2010 19:58

john wrote:I've never ,ever been asked by Hertz to bring a car back anything other than full.

John the petrol charge applies when renting in Gerona but they don't put the same condition when renting at Stansted

When booking a car collected from Gerona, the terms and conditions say
This is a discounted rate and is subject to an additional mandatory fuel purchase. To avail of this rate, you must purchase a full tank of fuel from Hertz when you pick up the vehicle. No refund for unused fuel will be made
Their further information goes on to say

If your rate is quoted with a mandatory fuel purchase charge, your vehicle will be provided with a full tank of fuel which will be charged when you pick-up your vehicle.

Where a mandatory fuel purchase charge is applied to your rental you should aim to return the vehicle with as little fuel as possible because there will be no refund for unusued fuel.

This charge should amount to approx. EUR 40.00 - EUR 80.00 (excluding tax) depending on the vehicle model and price of fuel at the time of hire and will be in addition to the Approximate Total Price quoted for your rental.

Please note that by paying this fuel purchase charge you do not need to refuel the vehicle prior to your return and will not be charged any refuelling service charges by us.

Eamon Avis · Post by **Eamon Avis** » Tue 26 Jan 2010 20:30

That's right Allan. The trick at Girona is to book through the Ryanair site more than 30 days in advance and get the early booking discount and then on return judge the fuel for the car to conk out as you pass through the Hertz car park barrier and then get the Hertz girl to push it into the parking place for you.

john · Post by **john** » Tue 26 Jan 2010 20:35

Is it just at Girona Allan ?

Had a car through Ryan/Hertz in Lanzarote last week. Also Granada last year and they both wanted it back full.

Allan · Post by **Allan** » Tue 26 Jan 2010 20:51

john wrote:Is it just at Girona Allan ?

Had a car through Ryan/Hertz in Lanzarote last week. Also Granada last year and they both wanted it back full.

I very quickly tried a few airports, Malaga,Palma,Lanzarote

All of which had the buy a fool tank condition.

I tried Perpignan and a couple of other French ones and there was no fuel restriction so it looks like it is just in Spain.

This is using the RyanAir/Hertz link - the condition doesn't apply when booking direct with Hertz.

It might be of course that local concessions of Hertz choose to ignore the fuel restriction preferring to avoid the hassle of refilling the cars. I am merely quoting the stated conditions

john · Post by **john** » Tue 26 Jan 2010 21:46

I'm sur that is the case,Allan.

Both Norwich and Leeds one down at half time,BTW.

There......how to get football into a Car Hire thread,Rog!

Santiago · Post by **Santiago** » Wed 27 Jan 2010 00:28

I like football but this is getting a bit silly.

Ian · Post by **Ian** » Wed 27 Jan 2010 09:14

Thanks Allan,

What you have quoted is exactly what happens at Gerona.

I have just been online to my credit card account and Hertz have taken exactly the amount of cash quoted as a fuel charge at the time of picking up the car. This amount presumably is set according to the car make/size/group?– so for the diesel astra was 53.37 euros at 1.0263 per litre.

We were on a short trip so only managed to use half a tank of fuel which would probably have been cheaper than 53 euros.

So for Hertz users booking through Ryanair and using Gerona airport you would have to return the car empty to have got a reasonable deal. For most people this is not a practical proposition and would be best avoided. (Unless someone wants to set up a Hertz fuel siphoning cooperative oustide Gerona airport).

Pete F · Post by **Pete F** » Wed 27 Jan 2010 15:27

Ian wrote:(Unless someone wants to set up a Hertz fuel siphoning cooperative oustide Gerona airport).

Now there's a fine idea! Make sure you get a diesel, then flog it on to Frogbus!!

I'm picking up a Hertz car from Béziers for the first time next week. No fuel restrictions mentioned so far; I'll see what happens at the airport...

john · Post by **john** » Wed 27 Jan 2010 16:04

Allan wrote:
john wrote:Is it just at Girona Allan ?

Had a car through Ryan/Hertz in Lanzarote last week. Also Granada last year and they both wanted it back full.
I very quickly tried a few airports, Malaga,Palma,Lanzarote

All of which had the buy a fool tank condition.

I

Taken from Hertz's site re Lanzarote:

The Mandatory Fuel Purchase charge does not apply in the Canary Islands.

That's presumably why I was not asked to do so at Arrecife airport.

ryanm63 · Post by **ryanm63** » Sun 31 Jan 2010 16:40

At our house in Millas a few weeks back and hired from Hertz at Girona. Told about the 'bring fuel back empty policy'. Had a great week, travelled down the coast on one day and Carcassonne on another. Fuel gauge was on quarter on leaving for the airport... red light came on about 10 minutes from the airport and bagan flashing on entering the airport grounds... phew!..... yes I think I got my monies worth!... on a slightly different point. I was thinking of travelling into Carcassonne, but the hire cost was way more than Girona... is this normally the case, that France is more expensive than Spain to hire? Malcolm

Allan · Post by **Allan** » Sun 31 Jan 2010 16:50

I looked up rentals in May, June & July

In May Carcassonne was cheapest, in June and July Gerona was around 10% less than Carcassonne.

I think its a bit like plane tickets, the prices vary with supply and demand.

john · Post by **john** » Sun 31 Jan 2010 16:55

That certainly always used to be the case, Malcolm ,when we used to hire cars on visits before we lived here permanently. Of course we don't need to now. I got the impression recently,from our visitors, that the gap had narrowed,and there wasn't much in it nowadays.

But there really is no other way than to check flight and car hire prices for the days you want to travel,and do the maths! One thing iis without question; flight prices to/from French airports are more expensive than to Spanish ones,as,like Britain,France sees airport taxes as a wheeze to rip off the air passenger,whereas Spain doesn't. These can often offset any saving on Car hire,particularly for short trips.

Pete F · Post by **Pete F** » Tue 09 Feb 2010 16:49

Pete F wrote: I'm picking up a Hertz car from Béziers for the first time next week. No fuel restrictions mentioned so far; I'll see what happens at the airport...

Well, that was just fine. I'd booked through Ryanair, got an upgrade (not sure why), the tank was at 3/4 and I was asked to bring it back about the same! Very refreshing after various Girona experiences.

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