Category Archives for car rental.
At approximately 5:22 a.m. on Tuesday, Hertz-owned vehicles that had been rented by President Biden’s Secret Service burst into flames in a lot at the Nantucket airport after they were returned.
A Ford Expedition had reportedly been under a battery recall, but hadn’t yet had the battery replaced. It appears to have caught fire, taking four other vehicles with it.
A member of frequent flyer community FlyerTalk reports being arrested because they rented a car from Hertz that the company had previously reported stolen
You can earn 25,000 Etihad Guest miles per 3+ day Avis rental. This is in addition to the usual base miles earned renting cars.
Don’t let the fact that the offer is for Etihad Guest miles stop you. Etihad miles are easy to get since the program is a transfer partner of American Express, Capital One and Citibank.
Hertz has a problem keeping track of its fleet of cars. Customers return the cars, but staff fail to check in the vehicles. And report them stolen. Sometimes the person who returned it gets arrested, sometimes the next person who rents the car gets arrested for the theft. There are horror stories of cops with guns drawn, and long stays in jail. And Hertz, which has acknowledged the issues, doesn’t withdraw false police reports – saying that to do so would undermine their credibility with police (!).
These stories usually involve either extending a rental or swapping a car, and usually happen at the main Hertz brand, rather than at Dollar or Thrifty which they also own. So the story of a traffic stop of a father and 13 year old daughter – complete with guns and police body cam footage – is just as notable for happening on a Thrifty rental as for coming mere minutes after driving off the rental lot with contract in hand.
There are currently 40 active prosecutions of Hertz customers. Hertz has not announced any actual changes to policy, technology, or procedures. Hertz’s CEO has acknowledged problems, and claims they’re fixed, but we keep getting new stories about it still happening.
A reader shared how they got stuck with $1289 in charges after their rental car got hit by someone else, even though they had insurance, the other driver had insurance, and they used a credit card with rental car collision coverage.
There are several new stories that are coming out about Hertz customers being arrested for stealing cars they had rented. One customer was even arrested three times – although it’s worth noting that’s not a record, since one elite member chalked up 4 arrests spending 30 days in jail, where she suffered a miscarriage.
You can earn 20,000 Etihad Guest miles per 3+ day Avis rental. This is in addition to the usual base miles earned renting cars. I’m not sure I’ve seen a richer rental car offer since 2008.
Uber is terminating its rewards program. They’re dropping elite status. Customers who earned benefits – even just earning them this month – won’t receive their promised extra points, better customer service, or priority on airport pickups effective September 1. In fact there won’t even be any more points-earning.
Car owners renting out their vehicles on Turo and GetAround are facing problems at certain airports. Dallas – Fort Worth filed a lawsuit against Turo in the fall. But Turo is just the platform that connects car owners and renters and takes a fee. Now the airport is going after the people doing the actual transactions by “towing cars on the spot in parking lots.”
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
