Here’s a rare kind look at Hertz from a travel blogger. I don’t often rent from that company, but had an excellent rental experience during my trip to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria.
Great Experience With Hertz In Las Palmas, Spain (Canary Islands)
Ahead of our week-long trip to the Canary Islands, I searched for a car rental from Gran Canaria Airport (LPA). Hertz was cheapest, but that alone was not dispositive, because we would not be arriving until 12:15AM and if it was closed, it would do me no good.
I sent an email to their office and received no response. I then called and spoke to someone there. He told me there would be a 50EUR surcharge for someone to wait for my flight to land, since it was two hours past closing time. No problem…we were staying on the other side of the island so I was quite happy to pay that small premium to ensure someone would be waiting for us.
As I wrote about earlier, our flight into LPA was delayed by an hour and we did not show up to the car rental desk until 1:30AM. But sure enough, there was a gentleman waiting for me. Although the website indicated that only cars with manual transmission were available. I gently requested an autonomic car, joking that Americans can’t drive manuals. Truthfully, I was kind of looking forward to learning how to drive manual, but I am so grateful he had an automatic car for me. The roads are switchback style to the other side of the island and often single lane…having a novice in a manual car would have been a disaster.
After scanning my driver’s license and swiping my credit card, he led us right downstairs to the car park. We needed two car seats and the had them. 10 minutes later, we were on our way roaring down the highway listening to Nena’s 99 Luftballons. It was so easy.
CONCLUSION
Hertz does not have a great reputation and justifiably so, but I had a smooth and painless experience with Hertz in Las Palmas including a staff member waiting 3.5 hours for me to arrive and then having an automatic car for me.
Thankfully, it has been several months and no police officers have showed up to my door to collect a “stolen” car.
How has Hertz treated you?
This is part of my summer in Germany trip report.
@ Matthew — The police will be waiting for you at your next Hertz pickup. No fee.
So as long as you don’t get arrested for being accused of stealing their cars. Sure rent from Hertz (Well actually it might be good to get arrested; then you can SUE them and collect money from them!)
I always book a manual transmission when renting in Europe because it’s cheaper. Then the agent usually tries to upsell me on an automatic at the rental counter. I always decline and end up with an automatic about 90% of the time anyway.
Hertz is a huge hit or miss in Europe. Had great experience in Greece (they came to my hotel with the car to make my life easier) and Spain (got a brand new BMW station wagon instead of my economy car at no additional cost) but had a horrible experience in Italy. I had the highest Hertz status at that time but apparently that means nothing. One of the perks is a guaranteed car at the level of my reservation. We landed and the only cars available were very small and would not accommodate our family of four plus luggage. They couldn’t care less. They said basically “take it or leave”. After 3 hours trying to find a solution and with Hertz US on Twitter I was given a small station wagon that at least could fit us and bags on the seats. Car had been in an accident and one of the rear doors wouldn’t open. Car was dirty and had dents everywhere. I had no choice but to take it. We drove like 80 miles to our destination and next day I got a call from the manager saying they had a better car for me BUT I had to drive back to the place I rented to make the exchange. Seriously??? I would have to miss a day of vacation to drive 160 miles to get the car I had reserved. I said no thanks. Never rented from Hertz ever since.
Why is it “justifiably so”?
Show me a better rental company. Avis doesn’t even have lines for elites in many locations. Sixt should be illegal. The others are mostly owned by Hertz or Avis.
Because it sends the police after people for “stealing” cars they have returned.
A couple errors have a few wanting to destroy the company. Again, show me a better option for the frequent travelers this blog is designed for.
Not the cheapest, but by far the easiest for the frequent user.
National
Is this really a common enough occurence for it to be a problem?
ACAB because they shot a crackhead who refuses to comply?
What is wrong with Sixt? Always had great experiences with them. In the US, hard to beat National. Having status with them makes renting a car extremely easy.
I agree with Santastico, Sixt is by far the best of the bunch. They are always super helpful, and the cars usually are in very good condition. The only reason it’s been a while since I last rented from them is that they tend to be expensive. For my last rental, the rate with my platinum discount was 25% more than a well-regarded local competitor. I was prepared to pay that premium, then I discovered that the competitor offered full insurance coverage and unlimited mileage for just €8 per day. Sixt wanted to charge €42 (!!!!) per day for the insurance, and the hire would still come with mileage limits, so I went with the local company in the end.
National is very good.
National all day long. It doesn’t matter if you’re enjoying freedom in America, searching for illicit love in Thailand, or driving the autobahn in a sh*thole country… National is the best.
I had a great experience with Hertz recently in Portugal. I booked an automatic “mini” car which was the lowest category automatic. Ended up with a pretty new diesel BMW X3. No surprise issues with the bill at the end. I generally use National domestically but I find Hertz better internationally.
Overseas I had had good experience with Hertz. They do things differently in Europe. Once we went to Mykonos by ferry and the only rental place was the airport. I estimated the time but I first had to be picked up, driven to the hotel and then took a cab to the airport. I was a few hours late. I rented the car from Avis and they bring the car to the airport. The poor agent waited at arrivals looking for me with a sign. I felt really bad afterwards.
I hope you have that poor bloke a little something, you know, for the effort.
Hertz and Avis vary in their advantages in Europe. In the UK I usually use Avis, but in Italy I use Hertz as it tends to have lower rates and, more importantly, it doesn’t charge one-way fees.
How in the world do you not know how to drive manual? People should be required to learn manual to get a driver’s license. Manual drivers tend not to be oblivious NPCs. People respect the rules of the road in Europe (manual being much more common). In the US folx contentedly drive 60mph in the passing lane and do not respond to signals indicating that one wants to pass.
I booked a small SUV from Hertz in Geneva to drive to a client in Northern Italy. At the desk they confirmed my name and told me I had been assigned a Maserati Quatroporte AWD.
I recalled the credit card rental car coverage specifically excluded ‘exotic’ cars and I didn’t want to risk driving a $130k car through the Alps into Italy (it was summer, though).
Turning that down was one of my worst travel regrets. $300 for a two week rental.