Today we have a Reader Question about the Hertz Presidents Circle membership conferred through the benefits portfolio of the American Express Platinum Card and how these tier advantages can be applied.
Readers are encouraged to send us questions, comments, or opinions by email, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. We’ll try to cover them here several times a week.
American Express has added Hertz Presidents Circle status for their U.S. card members in November 2022 and many have taken that benefit up and either signed up fresh or upgraded existing memberships.
You can access American Express Platinum Rental Car Privileges here.
Our reader Marty asked the following:
I signed up for the Hertz Presidents Circle benefit through Amex Platinum almost immediately after I got the card [through THIS link] and the account was upgraded accordingly.
Now, the question is how I benefit from it. My workplace, a F500 company, constantly books my cars through some travel agency or consolidator that makes it impossible to add my Hertz number and the associates keep telling me these bookings can’t be paired with Hertz Gold Rewards. What do you think?
It’s indeed a booking source problem our reader faces here, and as his example shows, even large companies fall into these traps. often not realizing their employees lose out on certain savings and benefits, mainly by saving time and cost.
Whatever portal Marty’s company uses looks like it acts as a consolidator or at the very least a third-party seller. Bookings for car rental agencies generally need to be reserved directly with the respective company or through a travel agent with proper GDS access that allows access to the booking system for the car rental agency.
The following memberships are available to Amex Platinum members:
- Avis Preferred Plus Status
- Hertz President’s Circle Status
- National Emerald Club Executive tier status
Since our reader specifically asked about Hertz I’ll focus on that but the principle remains the same.
Let’s not focus so much on the discount code that comes with alleged savings and a 4-hour grace period that can indeed be useful but the general program benefits. Third party bookings through consolidators or travel agents such as Expedia don’t count for the program, and you won’t be able to enjoy the express rental/upgrade privileges with either company.
Be careful when booking through Amex Travel as well as their surface is basically just an Expedia booking machine and it will show up accordingly for the car rental company. Always book direct through the website, phone or with a qualified travel agent who knows how to reserve a car directly through the GDS of the car rental company (same goes for hotels – stay away from Amex Travel except for Fine Hotels & Resorts and the International Airline Program).
Sometimes agents will do it out of courtesy, but you still need to see a counter. The only way to ensure it’s immediately attached to the booking and benefits are conferred is by adding it to the eligible booking on time (at the point of reservation).
Another misconception is that hotel and rental car companies will confer these benefits simply by presenting the Amex Platinum Card and that isn’t correct. The member needs to actively sign up for the partners loyalty program, which is then assigned the advertised tier status. Using this loyalty membership whenever making new reservations is absolutely imperative or else no benefits will be given.
Conclusion
Having Gold Plus Rewards status speeds up the rental process and likely yields an upgrade too, although since the introduction of the Gold Choice lane at major airports not as generous as in the past as Hertz has become very liberal, giving out the status through promotions like these and status matches.
Hertz only used to upgrade by one category, but now with Gold Choice you can pick any car in the respective lane. I usually rent from them at LAX and while in the past I’ve gotten some nice cars including premium SUV’s the last time I was there in July they only had trash with mileage and lots of damages.
Amex Platinum holders should first sign up for a President’s Circle account through the benefits section of their online account or upgrade existing accounts through the same link. You can then make bookings directly with the rental agency. I’d like to emphasize once again that third party bookings do no work together with car rental status. And remember: ALWAYS BOOK DIRECT!