Hertz Gold Plus Rewards is Hertz’s loyalty program, which is like a frequent flyer program for rental cars. It’s free to join and you can use it to earn free car rentals.
This guide explains what you need to know about earning and using points and making the most out of your Hertz Gold Plus Rewards membership.
Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Benefits
Joining the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards program is free and can offer some great benefits. You can earn 1 point per dollar and redeem your rewards for car rentals. Any type of car rental can be booked with rewards, including one-way rentals and luxury vehicles from the Prestige and Green collections.
The Hertz Gold Plus Rewards earns rewards points for car rentals. Image Credit: HertZThe benefits you get when you join the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards program include:
- Free membership with no annual fee
- Counter-free pickup at select locations
- No point expiration as long as you have earned or redeemed points through rental activity within the previous 18 months
- Mobile alerts with your exact rental car and its location before you arrive
- Members-only cars with enhanced features from Hertz Ultimate Choice
- Drop and go car return with eReturn
- Free points transfer to a spouse or domestic partner who is also a Hertz Gold Plus Rewards member and permanently resides at the same address
- Pay no additional driver fee for a spouse or domestic partner in the U.S.
- Members’ only discounts
You can use your Hertz Gold Plus Rewards points on many different classes of vehicles, including Prestige and Adrenaline vehicles. Image Credit: HertzHertz Gold Plus Rewards Status Levels
Five Star Status
In order to achieve Hertz Five Star status, you need to meet one of the following criteria in a 12 month period.
Once you have achieved Five Star status you will enjoy the following benefits in addition to all of the standard Hertz Gold Plus Rewards benefits:
- One car-class upgrade to a full-size class vehicle (only at participating locations and subject to availability)
- 25% bonus on Gold Plus Rewards Points on all qualified rentals
- Expedited vehicle pick-up at over 1,000 locations worldwide
- Freedom to choose a different vehicle on the spot at no extra charge with Hertz Ultimate Choice
President’s Circle Status
You need to meet one of the following criteria in a 12-month period to achieve Hertz President’s Circle status:
- 20 or more rentals
- At least $4,000 spent
While this might sound like a status level that will offer great benefits, it’s largely the same as Five Star status. Some new benefits differentiate it more than in prior years:
- 24-hour advance reservation airport guarantee
- Guaranteed one-class upgrade
- 50% bonus on Gold Plus Rewards Points on all qualified rentals
- After each of your 30th and 40th rentals, a one-rental free upgrade to any available car on the lot
- After each of your 15th, 20th, and 40th rentals, a one-rental Hertz Valet terminal drive back at select airport locations
Bottom Line: Hertz offers 2 elite levels of membership: Five Star and President’s Circle. Status can be earned through the number of rentals, dollars spent, or through Delta Air Lines status.
How to Earn Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Elite Status Without Renting a Car
Earn Hertz Status Through Delta Air Lines Status
You can earn complimentary Hertz status based on your Delta Medallion status.
Hot Tip: If you hold the invitation-only Centurion Card from American Express you will receive Hertz President’s Circle status.
Earn Hertz Status Through Hotel Status
If you are a member of Marriott Bonvoy and have Platinum Elite status, you are eligible for Hertz elite status. Click here to register for a status match. Your new status can take up to 5 days to become effective.
Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status Level | Complimentary Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Status |
Titanium Elite | Five Star status |
Ambassador Elite | President’s Circle status |
Hot Tip: If you have status with another car rental company you can often get an elite status match.
Earn Status and Benefits Through American Express Platinum Cards
If you have The Platinum Card® from American Express, you might have seen the car rental privileges section offering complimentary memberships in Avis Preferred, Hertz Gold Plus Rewards, and National Car Rental Emerald Club Executive. This can be a little misleading as far as Hertz membership is concerned.
While the complimentary membership sounds nice, membership in Hertz Gold Plus Rewards is free to anyone, so the membership itself isn’t much of a perk. There are, however, some nice benefits you can receive by booking your Hertz rental using your Platinum Card from American Express.
Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Benefits Offered Through The Amex Platinum Card
The Amex Platinum Card offers a few benefits to its members that could be useful when renting a car through Hertz.
These same benefits are also available through The Business Platinum Card® from American Express.
- Get a 10% bonus on Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Points earned through rentals
- Get a free car-class upgrade (based on availability)
- Enjoy a 4-hour grace period on rental returns in the U.S. This only applies to time and mileage charges, and won’t include any optional charges like car seats, navigation systems, or insurance.
- Get special rates only available for cardholders (at select locations worldwide).
You must be enrolled in Hertz Gold Plus Rewards and use code CDP #211762 when making your reservation to take advantage of these benefits. Your Amex Platinum Card must be used as payment for your reservation (or payment for taxes and fees on free rental redemptions).
The Amex Platinum Card offers benefits and discounts in the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards program. Image Credit: HertzEarn Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Status Through Status Match
While the Amex Platinum Card doesn’t offer any direct elite status with Hertz Gold Plus Rewards, you can get status through their tier status matching program. You will need to join National’s Emerald Club Executive program through your American Express card to take advantage of the matching program.
Once you are a member of the Emerald Club Executive program from National, you will need to submit a status match form to Hertz. The status match form can be found here. After the process is complete, you should receive Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Five Star status.
How to Earn Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Points
Rent a Car
You will earn 1 point for every qualifying dollar spent on your qualifying Hertz rental anywhere in the world. In addition to earning points on the base price of your rental, you will also earn points on extra charges including:
- Hertz NeverLost®
- SiriusXM®
- Gas
- Insurance options
- Additional mileage charges
- Car seat charges
You won’t earn any points for toll charges that you are billed for.
Hot Tip: You may not be able to earn points or enjoy elite status if you make your car rental booking through a third party site (like Expedia, Orbitz, etc.) so be sure to book directly with Hertz if points and status are important to you.
Purchase Points
Purchasing points can occasionally be a good idea, but should only be done with a very specific redemption in mind. Hertz points are available for 20 cents each with a minimum 50-point purchase.
Hertz Gold Plus Rewards points are not worth 20 cents each, but a purchase could make sense if you just need a small number of points to make a redemption. You must have at least 500 rewards points in your account to purchase points, and you can’t purchase more than 10,000 rewards points in a single calendar year.
Log in to your account to purchase points. Click on “My Account” in the upper right-hand corner, then select “Rewards account activity” in the drop-down box. Select “Points Purchase” from the menu. You will see instructions on how to fill out the request form to fax in. It’s not an easy process to purchase points, so be sure it makes sense for your situation before proceeding.
You can purchase Hertz Gold Plus Rewards points for 20 cents each. Image Credit: HertzHow to Use Your Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Points
Rental Car Reservations
Use your Hertz Gold Plus Rewards on a reservation by logging into your account and selecting “rent a car” on the top left-hand side of the website. Fill out your destination, pick up and drop off dates and times, and choose the car type you want. Underneath the “car rental type” selection box, you will see where you can check the box that says “Use my Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Points.”
Image Credit: HertzHot Tip: For all rentals in North America using points, a 24-hour advanced reservation is required.
Once you hit “submit,” you will see a list of available cars and prices. However, you won’t be able to see any points yet. This can be confusing, but hang in there and continue with the booking process. Once you get to the “Review & Book” step, you will be able to see your options to use your points.
At the top of the page in a yellow outlined area, you will be able to see all of your options for using your Hertz Gold Plus Rewards points. Depending on how many points you have and the cost of the rental in points, you can choose to use points for 1, 2, 3 or more days. You will notice that the cash total will change depending on how much of the rental you plan to pay for with points.
You can use your Hertz Gold Plus Rewards points for your entire reservation or just part of it. Image Credit: HertzPay attention to the number of days you are renting. When searching for a 2-day rental, there is still an option to use 3 days’ worth of points, which would waste an entire days’ worth of points if you’re not careful.
In May 2019, Hertz massively increased the price of their awards and entirely removed weekend rental discounts. One-day rentals now start at 750 and can vary based on car type, location, and length of rental. For a full list of rental prices in points, click here. Otherwise, these are the basics:
Length of Rental | Standard Rewards Pricing in Points | AnyDay Rewards Pricing in Points |
1 free rental day | 750 | 1,500 |
1 free rental day (one-way) | 1,500 | 3,000 |
1 free weekly rental | 3,750 | 7,500 |
Reward Cancellation Penalties
Hertz now has penalties that apply to all reward bookings:
- Cancel within 24 hours of booking – full points refund
- Cancel after 24 hours of booking up to pick-up time – Gold member 50% penalty, Five Star member 25% penalty, President’s Circle no penalty
- No show or cancel after pick-up time – no refund, all points forfeited
Taxes and Fees
Even if you are paying for your entire car rental with points, you will still be required to pay all taxes and fees. When you are considering which credit card to use to pay for your the taxes and fees on an award rental (or for the entire rental if you aren’t using points), don’t forget to choose a card that earns multiple points per dollar on car rentals.
These cards will earn 2x points/$1 spent at any Hertz location on top of the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards points you will earn:
Earn 3x points/$1 spent on your Hertz car rental with these cards:
Standard Rewards vs. AnyDay Rewards
Standard Rewards cost fewer points than AnyDay Rewards but are subject to blackout dates. If you want to rent during times like holidays, local events, or during a high demand season, you might have to use AnyDay Rewards, which don’t have blackout dates. Blackout dates vary by location.
Hot Tip: The credit card you use to pay for your rental must be included in your profile in order to receive Hertz Gold Plus Rewards benefits.
Cash + Points
Hertz now offers Cash + Points rentals. Search for your rental to see available offers.
Where Can I Use My Points?
While Hertz has locations worldwide, there is a shortlist of countries where you can redeem rewards. There are many other countries where you can earn Hertz Gold Plus Rewards points, but these are the only ones in which you can use those points for car rentals:
- United States (including Puerto Rico and St. Thomas USVI)
- Canada
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Brazil
- United Kingdom
- France
- Germany
- Norway
- Denmark
- Sweden
- Finland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Spain
- Belgium
- Luxembourg
- The Netherlands
Transfer Your Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Points
Transfer Points to Your Spouse
You can transfer your Hertz Gold Plus Rewards points to your spouse or domestic partner for free as long as you meet the following criteria:
- Your spouse or partner must be a Hertz Gold Plus Rewards member
- They must permanently reside at the same address
There is no limit on the number of points you can transfer to your spouse.
Final Thoughts
The Hertz Gold Plus Rewards program is free to join and offers many benefits.
Whether you are an infrequent renter or a seasoned traveler, you will enjoy benefits like being able to skip the counter to go directly to your car and not having to pay extra to add your spouse or domestic partner as a second driver. You can use your points for free car rental days, or transfer them to hotel, airline, and train partners. And while elite status is available, this is a good program even for infrequent car renters as many of the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards benefits are offered to all members.