Here’s a deal I can pass up.
And for the life of me, I can’t imagine who would find this worthwhile. But obviously someone does (or Hertz must think they will).
For just $450 a year, I can join the Hertz No. 1 Club President’s Circle. (Put another way, that’s $37.50 a month.)
What’s that get me?
Wow: Preferred parking space assignments. Guaranteed one-class car upgrades. A free one-day, non-peak rental day for every 15 rentals. A 25 percent bonus on No. 1 awards points. And — undefined, but at that price they’d better be spectacular! — “exclusive members-only offers with limited blackout dates.”
Oh yes. Here’s the only one that might be valuable (at least to me) — although for $450 a year the darned car ought to be gold-plated. “Guaranteed availability during our busiest periods on just two hours’ notice.”
Thanks for all of the above, but please count me out.
The timing of the e-mail was auspicious for Hertz, because I was inordinately ticked off at Avis, my regular car-rental company, and was seriously considering “which company is next?” (A very gracious Avis customer service rep took some of the unhappiness out of my most-recent experience with them, though, I will quickly add.)
So Hertz could have won my business. But for every one of those perks except the bonus 25 percent on points — big whoop, as some people might say — and the guaranteed availability when they’re sold out, I already get that treatment from at least two rental car companies. I rent cars 40 to 50 times a year, probably putting me in the top one-half-of-one-percent of all individual renters. Therefore, I ought to be treated well. Not just if I spot them an extra $450 a year.
Gimme a break!
