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When it comes to renting a car, there are several factors to consider such as cost, vehicle options, and customer service quality. Another aspect to consider is the rewards program offered by the rental company. Below, I will provide a comparison of Avis Preferred and Hertz Gold Plus rewards. Both programs aim to enhance the overall rental experience by offering perks and benefits and the ability to earn points or free rentals. But how do they differ? Read on to see the differences and similarities between these two major car rental rewards programs.
Avis Preferred Rewards
Avis Preferred Rewards is the loyalty program offered by Avis. Avis Preferred Rewards members have access to a range of benefits and privileges that make renting a car with Avis a little smoother. Features include priority service, expedited rentals, and upgrades. With every qualifying rental, customers can earn points that can later be redeemed for free car rental days. Additionally, as you achieve higher tier levels within the program, you achieve the more benefits and points members will earn. Furthermore, customers also have the choice to opt for earning airline miles or hotel points instead of earning towards free car rental days.
Hertz Gold Plus Rewards
The Hertz Gold Plus Rewards program is designed to offer frequent renters of Hertz vehicles exclusive benefits and rewards, making it easier and more cost-effective to rent cars from Hertz. Members earn a point per dollar spent on car rentals, however the higher you climb on the elite tier ladder, additional points/perks will follow. Similar to the Avis Preferred Rewards program, Hertz allows it members the option of earning hotel/airline miles instead of Gold Plus points.
Comparing Tiers
| Avis Preferred | Hertz Gold |
|---|---|
| The first tier offered in Avis’ car rental loyalty program allows you to earn points that can be used toward future rentals or you can opt to earn miles and points with Avis’ partners instead. Membership is free and as a rewards member you will earn a minimum of 100 points per rental. Additional benefits/perks include: | This is the first tier offered when you become a Hertz Gold Rewards member. Like Avis, you can opt to earn Hertz points or miles and points with airline or hotel partners. At this level you earn one point per dollar spent. Additional benefits include: |
| Ability to earn and redeem points for rentals and accessories. | Earn and redeem points for free days and online rewards. |
| Enjoy expedited service and go straight to your car at most locations. | Ultimate Choice: This perk will give you more flexibility in choosing exclusive vehicles offered to members. However, locations and tiers status level have an impact on availability of this incentive. |
| Save your rental preferences and track your activity/rewards | Free additional driver. |
| Earn 100 bonus points when you rent within the first three months of joining. | Ability to skip going to the counter and go straight to your rental. |
| Members earn 1 point per dollar spent on car rentals and 2 points per dollar spent on accessories, examples include child seats, ski racks, etc. | Tier benefit experience: You will have the option to upgrade to Five Star status level for one day after your seventh qualifying rental. |
| Avis Preferred Plus | Hertz Five Star |
|---|---|
| This is the second tier offered in the Avis Preferred Rewards Program. In order to achieve this tier level you need to accumulate 10 rentals or $4,000 spent in a 12 month period. Every January, Avis will review your rentals/dollars spent in a 12 month period and will determine either renewal or downgrade your tier level status. Members earn all benefits included in the Avis Preferred tier level as well as: | In order to achieve this tier status you will need to either spend $2,000 or complete 10 rentals in a 12 month period (January 1 through December 31). All of the benefits offered in the Gold tier are included in addition to: |
| Free one-car class upgrade when reserving a midsize or above. | Earn 1.25 points per every dollar. |
| Earn 1.25 points per every dollar spent on car rentals. | Increased chances of receiving an upgrade, and a wider selection of cars available through Hertz Ultimate Choice benefit. |
| Earn 2.5 points per every dollar spent on accessories | Tier benefit experience: Upgraded to the President’s Circle tier for one day after your fifteenth qualifying rental. |
| Avis President’s Club | Hertz President’s Circle |
|---|---|
| In order to obtain this final tier you will need to bank 20 rentals or spend $6,000 in a 12 month period. You will receive all the benefits offered in the two lower tiers as well as: | This final tier is achieved if you complete 15 rentals or spend $3,000 in the 12 month period (January through December). All of the benefits offered in the first two tiers are included as well as: |
| Free two car class upgrades when reserving midsize or above. | Earn 1.5 points per every dollar spent. |
| Guaranteed car up to a full size with a confirmed 24 hour advanced reservation. | Guaranteed upgrades. |
| Priority support phone number. | Dedicated customer service line. |
| Earn 1.5 points per dollar spent on car rentals. | |
| Earn 3 points per dollar spent on accessories. |
Instant Elite Status through Matches
It’s important to note that if you are a frequent flyer, you are likely a frequent renter of cars. Many frequent flyer programs grant you immediate elite status in some car rental programs including Avis and Hertz. For example, if you’re a Delta Silver Medallion or Gold Medallion you’ll automatically receive Hertz Five Star status, and if you’re Platinum or Diamond, you’re granted Hertz President’s Circle status. Additionally, elite status with American Airlines, and JetBlue offer instant status with Avis. Some high-end credit cards such as both the American Express Platinum and Chase Sapphire Reserve offer instant elite status with Avis Preferred Plus.
Finally, National car rental offers a status match option that allows you to upload proof of elite status with an array of other brands to receive upgraded Emerald Rewards status.
Do Avis or Hertz Points Expire
Avis: If your account has no activity for a period of 12 consecutive months, your Avis Preferred points will expire. This means that you need to have at least one rental within a 12-month period in order to keep your points from expiring. If you do not use any of your Avis Preferred points within a timeframe of 60 months, they will expire. This means that even if you continue to rent with Avis and earn points, if you do not redeem them for any rewards in a span of five years, they will begin to expire.
Hertz: Points will only expire if you do not have any activity in your account for an 18 month period.
Airline Partners
| Avis Preferred | Hertz Gold Plus |
|---|---|
| As an Avis Preferred member, you have the option to earn airline points or miles instead of Avis points. Avis currently has partnerships with 61 airlines worldwide, giving you a wide range of options to choose from. Below, I’ve listed some partnered airlines to illustrate how many points or miles you will receive per rental. | Hertz has 44 airline partners worldwide. As a member, you can choose to earn Gold Plus Rewards points or opt out and earn miles/points towards your preferred airlines rewards program instead. A couple selected airline partners are listed below and detail the amount of miles you can earn per rentals. |
| *Alaska Airlines: Members will earn: 1,250 miles per rental for Mileage Plan members with MVP Gold 75K or MVP Gold 100K status. 1,000 miles per rental for Mileage Plan members with MVP or MVP Gold status or 500 miles per rental for all other Mileage Plan members. | * Alaska Airlines: Mileage plan members will earn 50 miles for every day rental from 1-4 days. Members will also earn 500 miles per rental of 5+ days. |
| * American Airlines: Members will earn: 2 base miles per dollar spent with each qualifying rental. You will also earn 3 base miles per dollar spent on Avis car rentals with – Citi / AAdvantage cardmembers and AAdvantage® Aviator Mastercard cardmembers without AAdvantage status. AAdvantage Platinum and Gold members will earn 4 base points per dollar spent while AAdvantage Platinum pro and Executive Platinum will earn 5 base points per dollar spent. | * American Airlines: AAdvantage members will earn one mile per dollar spent. |
| *Frontier Airlines: Members will earn: 50 Frontier miles per rental day on all qualifying rentals or 500 miles on qualifying rentals of 5 or more days. | * Delta: SkyMiles members with higher tier status will earn more points. Base members start at a 4-mile rate per dollar, Silver Medallion tier gets 5 miles per dollar, Gold Medallion earns 6 miles, Platinum status increases the mile payout to 7 miles per dollar and Diamond members receive 8 miles. |
| * JetBlue: TrueBlue members will earn: 100 points per rental day (up to 5 days) on all qualifying rentals at participating airport rental locations in the U.S., Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. | * Spirit: Free Spirit members will earn 50 miles per rental day from 1-4 days. Or earn 500 miles per rental on 5+ days. |
| * Southwest Airlines: Rapid Rewards members will earn: 600 Rapid Reward points per rental. | Southwest Airlines: Rapid Rewards members will earn 600 points per qualifying rental. |
| * Spirit: Free Spirit members can earn 50 Free Spirit miles on rentals 4 days or less, OR 500 Free Spirit miles on rentals over 5 days, at participating Avis locations in the U.S., Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. | |
| * United: Mileage Plus members will earn 500 base miles per rental. Chase card members will earn 750 base miles per rental. Premier Silver and Premier Gold members can earn 1,000 base miles per rental and Premier Platinum and Premier 1K members earn 1,250 base miles per rental. |
Hotel Partners
Avis: Preferred members may also opt to earn hotel points per qualifying rental instead of Avis points. Below is the list of hotel partners associated with Avis and the amount hotel points you will earn per rental:
- Hyatt Hotels and Resorts: Earn 500 World of Hyatt Bonus Points per rental on qualifying rentals.
- Best Western Rewards: Earn 1,000 Best Western Rewards points per rental on all qualifying rentals.
- Choice Hotels: Earn 1,000 Choice Privileges points per rental on qualifying rentals.
- Nordic Choice Club: Nordic Choice Club members earn 500 points per qualifying rental.
- Wyndham Hotels and Resorts: Members will earn 100 Wyndham Rewards® points per rental on qualifying rentals.
Hertz: Gold Plus members have also the option to earn hotel points in leu of earning Hertz points. Participating hotel partners and the amount of points you will earn per rental are as follows:
- All Accor Live Limitless: Earn 3 ALL-Accor rewards points per Euro spent. Earn 5 ALL-Accor reward points per dollar spent on EV rentals. Also a 10% discount is offered on rentals worldwide.
- IHG: Members will earn 125 points per car rental day. Elite members earn 500 points per day.
- Marriott Bonvoy: Earn 500 points per rental.
Redeeming Points for Car Rentals
Avis
Preferred members will need a minimum of 700 points for a free car rental and 250 points for accessories. Avis has four redemption level system available to its members based on standard base rates, location of your rental and car class. Avis’ redemption chart breaks this down clearly:
| REWARD DAY LEVEL | STANDARD BASE RATE | POINTS PER DAY |
| LEVEL 1 | UP TO $50 | 700 |
| LEVEL 2 | $50.01 – $85 | 1400 |
| LEVEL 3 | $85.01 – $125 | 2100 |
| LEVEL 4 | $125.01 – $225 | 3500 |
Hertz
Hertz uses a two level system for members to redeem points for free car rentals — AnyDay Rewards and Standard Rewards.
- AnyDay Rewards allows you to apply your points towards a free rental anytime of the year, including peak travel periods. However, more points are needed for redemption.
- Standard Rewards have certain restrictions and may not be available during high-demand periods. These are typically offered at half the redemption rate compared to AnyDay. A one day free rental car with Standard Rewards will set you back 950 points while Anyway Rewards will cost 1,900.
| Standard US Reward ChartPoint values are per day (up to 4 days) | Standard Rewards – Blackout Dates Apply | AnyDay Rewards – No Blackout Dates Apply |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Free Rental Day | 950 Points | 1,900 Points |
| 2 Free Rental Days | 1,900 Points | 3,800 Points |
| 3 Free Rental Days | 2,850 Points | 5,700 Points |
| 4 Free Rental Days | 3,800 Points | 7,600 Points |
Note that you can also redeem Hertz points for specialty cars, their Adrenaline & Prestige Collection cars at higher redemption rates.
Conclusion
Avis and Hertz have a strikingly similar rewards program structure. Both reward programs offer comparable tier benefits and points earned per dollar spent. However Avis Preferred Rewards offers its members more points when it comes to earning airline miles instead of Preferred points and Avis’s airline/hotel partners is larger than what Hertz offers. With this in mind, Hertz also offers an array of benefits and touts its increasingly electrified fleet. Which to rent with likely comes down to which company has better rates in the destinations you generally visit — or, if you’re an elite flyer or credit card holder, which one offers status related to your chosen airline or credit provider.
Editorial Note: Information and opinions articulated in this article are solely those of the author’s, not those of a credit card company, bank, airline or hotel chain. This article has not been reviewed or approved by or otherwise endorsed by any of these companies or organizations.
