World Traveller 73 
Hertz now Offering a Status Match for Marriott Bonvoy Elite Members
I have been a frequent user of Hertz Rental cars over the years. I’ve held Hertz President’s Circle status for a number of years now. I’ve typically acquired this through actual rentals, even though there are many credit cards that partner with Hertz to offer a short cut to holding this status. Now – we can add another route to Hertz elite Gold Plus Rewards Status. Hertz has just announced a status match partnership with Marriott Bonvoy which will be of particular interest to their elite members.
Hertz now Offering a Status Match for Marriott Bonvoy Elite Members.
I’ve maintained Hertz President’s Circle status for the past several years as a result of some heavy work travel. One of the primary benefits of Hertz President’s Choice is the Ultimate Choice aisle where you get to pick any car in the aisle and go. The marketplace has standardized this feature across many of the major rental companies in this space.
Hertz is now offering a status match for elite members of the Marriott Bonvoy hotel program.
The Offer Details:
Hertz is offering a status match program for members of the Marriott Bonvoy Program.
- Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Members are matched to Hertz President’s Circle
- Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Members are matched to Hertz Five Star
- Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Members are given a Fast Track to Hertz Five Star
The Fast Track to Five Star means that you can earn Hertz Five Star status after seven rentals, instead of the usual twelve rentals.
Hertz has also posted the offer Terms and Conditions and Frequently Asked Questions to this offer. The offer is not limited to members of a specific country, and appears to be valid for Marriott Bonvoy members worldwide.
Registration is required through the link, taking you to the co branded offer webpage.
The registration process seems fairly easy. The website asks for your Marriott Bonvoy number, your Hertz Gold Plus Rewards number, along with your first and last name. The terms and conditions promise that the new status will be reflected in your Hertz Gold Plus Rewards account in five days.
Hertz Gold Plus Rewards status is typically valid for a calendar year. However, this offer seems tied to your Marriott Bonvoy status, meaning if that you see a Marriott Bonvoy Elite Level downgrade, you’ll see a corresponding Hertz Gold Plus Rewards downgrade.
Occasionally, we have seen the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards program offer some soft landings during the pandemic travel season. This hasn’t been super reliable and is not always publicly announced. As a result, it’s possible you might get more than the remaining six months of this calendar year or status linked to Marriott Bonvoy out of this status match offer.
Unfortunately, the offer does not go in reverse. Meaning, that you can not get Marriott Elite status from holding hertz President’s Circle status.
About Hertz Gold Plus Rewards:
Since this space is about loyalty programs, Hertz offers a loyalty reward program called Hertz Gold Plus Rewards. The program is primarily designed to keep your driver’s licence, credit card and insurance preferences on file to allow for quicker rentals that allow for bypassing the legal formalities of the rental counter in many locations and allow you to get out on the road faster.
Hertz Gold Plus Rewards also offers the ability to earn Hertz Gold Plus Reward points. While we didn’t typically get a lot of value from car rental points, they’ve recently delivered outsized value from travel when car rental prices escalated during the pandemic when many Hertz locations reduced their vehicle fleets, driving up car prices.
Hertz Gold Plus Rewards offers three tier levels of Gold, Five Star and it’s top tier President’s Circle. It’s around the Hertz Presidents Circle level where the benefits get interesting.
What are the Benefits of Hertz President’s Circle status?
The benefits of President’s Circle status include:
- Skip the counter and go straight to your car
- Choose from the widest selection of cars
- Enjoy guaranteed car-class upgrades
- Add an additional driver for free
- Drop the keys and go at rental return
- Earn 50% more Gold Plus Rewards points toward free days and car-class upgrades
As I have previously written, for the most part, the Hertz President’s Circle upgrades have been pretty good, if not outstanding. While booking an intermediate car, with some luck, we’ve been upgraded into Volvo’s.
There have also been times where I’ve gotten some pretty “by the book” one car class upgrades that haven’t been too exciting. I wouldn’t write home about the white Chevrolet Malibu’s that I’ve had over the years.
What are the Benefits of Hertz Five Star status?
The benefits of Five Star status include::
- Skip the counter and go straight to your car
- Choose from the widest selection of cars
- Enjoy car-class upgrades
- Add an additional driver for free
- Drop the keys and go at rental return
- Earn 25% more Gold Plus Rewards points toward free days and car-class upgrades
Admittedly, Hertz tends not to refer to your status level that much when you interact with them. Your Hertz status is typically most noticed on the information board at major airports.
I’m generally not thanked for being a Hertz President’s Circle member when interacting with agents at the counter. This is unlike Marriott who tends to thank you at the point of hotel check in, on a pretty regular and consistent basis. Hertz Gold Plus Rewards status isn’t the status to hold if your ego needs to be stroked, since it’s almost invisible.
What do I think about this offer?
While having status is better than nothing at all, this offer isn’t super compelling.
There are quite a few ways to Hertz Five Star status. Perhaps the easiest way is to get it through holding an American Express Platinum Card; where Hertz Five Star status is an added feature of card membership. This requires no effort, other than signing up at the onset of getting your card.
Most Marriott Bonvoy Members that are staying over 100 nights in hotels, and spending a minimum qualifying spend of $20,000 in order to qualify for the top level Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador level status are likely set in their travel patterns and preferred car rental brands. I can’t see many of them choosing to jump to Hertz on the sole promised benefit of Hertz President’s Circle status.
There are some Marriott Bonvoy Elite members that will benefit from this program. Particularly, those in the Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Level or higher. It only takes a few minutes to sign up. If you have Marriott Bonvoy Titanium level or higher, it makes sense to sign up if car rentals with Hertz are in your future. At the very least, you’ll be Hertz Five Star while you keep your Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Level status.
Unfortunately, I wouldn’t recommend renting seven cars from Hertz to qualify for the Marriott Platinum status match offer. I suppose it’s possible that some may take advantage of this with some pre-planned work travel.
All to say, this offer isn’t super compelling. However, it’s worth taking time to sign up if hold Marriott Bonvoy Elite status and you plan on renting a car with Hertz in the near future. It’s also worth holding this status if you don’t rent cars all at frequently, but maintain a Marriott Bonvoy elite level.
My Thoughts on the new Marriott Bonvoy and Hertz Status Match Offer:
It is always nice when hotel loyalty programs offer status match partnerships with other travel partners in the business. Today’s offer sees Marriott Bonvoy partnering with Hertz to offer elite members a status match (or fast track) offer to Hertz elite status.
Unfortunately, the offer isn’t all that compelling, and is actually inferior to what you can get from premium travel cards without any rentals at all. As a result, I’d only recommend signing up for this is it’s of some value to you.
World Traveller 73 
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