Hertz Will Change Gold Plus Rewards Expiration and Fee Policies

Updated: July 15, 2024, 8:45pm CDT

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Table of Contents

Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Expiration Policy Changing
Removal of Award Cancellation Fees
Points Transfer Option
Devaluation of Hertz Rentals
Final Thoughts

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Hertz is no stranger to controversy, and the mixed bag of changes announced for its Gold Plus Rewards program is sure to cause conflicting emotions for travelers.

The silver lining is that Hertz is giving us notice this time, unlike the overnight changes in 2023 that left many members with a zero-points balance overnight. At the end of 2024, Hertz will implement changes to policies on points expiration, cancellations on award bookings, and sharing points with others.

Let’s jump into the details to help you prepare.

Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Expiration Policy Changing

Prior to a 2023 change, Hertz Gold Plus Rewards points expired after 18 months without activity on your account. Now, points expire after 12 months without activity.

That policy will change again on December 31, 2024. Points will expire 5 years after they’re earned, regardless of any activity on your account. Earning or redeeming points in your account will no longer reset the clock to keep your points alive, so make sure you redeem them within the 5-year timeframe.

Hertz Tesla Model Y colors — Electric vehicles at a Hertz lot in Orlando. Image Credit: Chris Hassan

Removal of Award Cancellation Fees

Starting on September 1, 2024, Hertz will remove cancellation fees on bookings using points. If you cancel the reservation before pick-up time, there won’t be any cancellation fees for award bookings.

Points Transfer Option

Hertz Gold Plus members now have the option to transfer points to a family member once per year. That member must have their own Gold Plus Rewards account to be eligible.

Devaluation of Hertz Rentals

Though Hertz hasn’t released anything on this publicly, Frequent Miler has an interesting analysis of changes to Hertz’ award calendar. For those unaware, Hertz has both Standard and AnyDay Rewards — the latter costing double the price of Standard bookings using your Hertz points.

Without any fanfare, Hertz has drastically reduced the number of Standard rental days showing on its award calendar. After analyzing the award dates for more than 25 Hertz locations, Frequent Miler found that all of these locations have very few Standard award dates.

In fact, all properties were showing either of these numbers:

249 AnyDay rental dates (68.22% of the year)
256 AnyDay rental dates (70.14% of the year)

That means just 30% of Hertz rental dates are available at the cheaper Standard rates, on average.

Bottom Line:

Using Hertz points at the cheapest rates is becoming rarer. If you see Standard dates, snag them while you confirm your travel plans.

Final Thoughts

Hertz is making changes to its Gold Plus Rewards program again. Positives include sharing points with others and the removal of cancellation fees on award bookings. Negatives include a firm date on points expiration and a reduction in Standard award dates.

If you have Hertz points, ensure you have a plan for using them before they expire. And now that cheaper award bookings are harder to find, you should grab them when you see them — especially since you can cancel without a penalty after confirming your travel plans.