Guide to Hertz points: Their value and the best ways to earn and use them

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Hertz by far has the best rewards program for car rentals. Hertz has locations all over the world, tons of partnerships with travel companies, and great rates. In this post, we’ll break down everything you need to know about Hertz points including earning, redeeming, and how to get elite status. 

Hertz points value

With Hertz’s lowest tier, called Gold, points are worth $1. This means, if you rent a car for $400, you’ll be earning 400 Hertz points. This is the most basic level of earning and redeeming, and it’s free to sign up.

Hertz also has ways to earn elite status in their program, which makes points worth more. We’ll break down exactly how to get to each level of elite status later in this post. For now, remember that at Hertz Five Star level, every $1 spent is worth 1.25 points, and at Hertz President’s Circle every $1 spent is worth 1.5 points. 

Best ways to earn Hertz points

Best credit cards to use at Hertz

While you can count on Hertz to provide the car rental, they can’t offer you protection in case of an accident. To do that, you’ll want to use one of the best credit cards with car rental insurance to earn your Hertz points. When you pay for your Hertz rental with one of the cards on this list — like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card — you’ll earn Hertz points while also being fully insured. Paying for your Hertz rental with a credit card not on that list is a risk you shouldn’t be willing to take. 

Get Hertz elite status

Another great way to earn Hertz points is by getting to one of their elite status tiers. While there are qualifications for both their Five Star and President’s Circle levels, anyone is eligible to earn the statuses; you just need to be a frequent car renter. Once you’re in one of those categories, you’ll earn Hertz points at 25% or 50% of the rate of Gold status. 

Join Hertz Free-To-Go membership

Hertz Free-To-Go membership comes with an excellent earning rate and a lot of perks. For an annual membership fee of just $99/person, you’ll earn 2X Gold points. The membership also gets you a 10% guaranteed discount and a $2/gallon fixed refueling rate. With all these perks, the membership is not only one of the best ways to earn Hertz points, but it also could be the best way to rent from Hertz in general. 

How to redeem Hertz points

Redeeming Hertz points is a simple process, but be careful of the two redemption levels. Here’s the breakdown on how to do it exactly.

Step 1: Log on to the Hertz website and under “Start Your Reservation” select your pick-up location.

Step 2: Select time/type of rental. Keep in mind, weekdays, weekends, weekly rentals and one ways all have different prices. 

Step 3: Pick the class of car you want to rent. You might have to click the type of rental you want on the award chart to see the class in the description. But either in the description or title, you will see “Compact”, “Premium”, “Prestige”, “Specialty Vehicle” or something similar. These titles refer to different categories of cars.

Step 4: Standard vs. AnyDay Rewards. This is the tricky part. Hertz has two levels of redemption, standard, and AnyDay. Standard prices are lower, but they are restricted to specific dates. As the name implies, AnyDay points can be used AnyDay but cost almost double the number of reward points. 

Once you make your selection in all of these categories, you can redeem your Hertz points for a rental car. 

Earn Hertz points status

As mentioned earlier in this post, Hertz has two elite status levels: Five Star and President’s Circle. At Hertz, the most basic status is called Gold. To get Gold status, all you have to do is sign-up. At the Gold level, $1=1 point. Lucky for us, in 2021, Hertz changed their qualifications for customers to achieve elite status. That means it’s easier than ever before to earn all of the perks and benefits that come with Hertz’s two elite tiers. 

Five Star is the lower of the two elite statuses, and to get there, you have to complete 10 Hertz rentals or spend $2,000 in car rentals. At the Five Star level, $1 = 1.25 points, so you’re earning 25% more points than at the Gold status. Additionally, you’ll also get a one-class car upgrade if your rental location has them in stock. 

Hertz’s top-tier elite status is called President’s Circle. To qualify for President’s Circle, you must complete 15 Hertz rentals or spend $3,000 in car rentals. At this level, $1=1.50 points, so you’ll be earning 50% more points here than you would at Gold status. Plus, at this level, one-class car upgrades are guaranteed, and you’ll get the widest selection of rental cars out of any customer. 

Do Hertz points expire?

Hertz points do expire, but only after 18 months of no rental activity. Hertz categorizes both earning and redeeming points on a rental as activity, so even if you just rent a car and don’t use points to get it, the 18-month clock resets, and you have another year and a half to redeem your points. Keep in mind, Hertz does not classify making a reservation or point transfer to one of their travel partners as activity on the account, so if this is all you do in 18 months, you will lose your points. 

Bottom line

Hertz should be your car rental company of choice. With their straightforward points system and easy ways to earn and redeem, you can’t go wrong with Hertz. Plus, this year, they’ve made it easier than ever before to get to one of their elite statuses, which means more awesome perks and benefits coming your way. The next time you need a rental car, consider Hertz.