Hertz Review

Hertz always has good quality, late model cars, they sometimes have very interesting (or very luxurious) premium cars, and their #1 Club is a decent loyalty program with some good perks for the frequent business traveler. Those are the reasons why I sometimes like doing business with Hertz. Unfortunately, they consistently have THE HIGHEST rates in the rental car business and their airport agencies are often under-staffed, giving you looooongggg lines when you least want them --- points that more than offset their competitive advantages.

Some folks make sweeping statements about travel providers without knowing what they're talking about, but I try not to do that. When I tell you somebody is the most expensive, it's because they REALLY ARE.

I've been consistently running periodic price checks on rental cars for more than 10 years, and in that time, in no case has Hertz ever NOT been the absolute highest priced company in America. Never! They will occasionally have a competitive price, and once every blue moon, even turn up the best rate for a given market on a given date --- but that's a real rarity.

Here's how I run my tests: I pick 10 or so well-known U.S. airports with a geographic mix of east coast, northern, southern, mid-west in both large and small markets, hub airports and non-hubs, then I go to Travelocity.com and plug those in as the rental location for the exact same week.

Watch me run a test, and let's see how Hertz does today, and then you tell me if you think my methodology is solid or wonky (or if you try it and get significantly different results, even with any other random set of U.S. airport locations).

Okay, let's rent an economy car for the week of December 6, 2007 to December 12. (Results generated 26 Nov 2007 at 4:30pmCST).

* DCA - Washington DC: Cheap price, Thrifty $190, Hertz price $275. Highest rate of all companies in market: Hertz

* SNA - Santa Ana CA: Cheap price, Enterprise $159, Hertz price $225. Highest rate of all companies in market: Hertz

* MSP - Minneapolis MN: Cheap price, Dollar $140, Hertz price $221. Highest rate of all companies in market: Hertz

* MCO - Orlando FL: Cheap price, Enterprise $87, Hertz price $180. Highest rate of all companies in market: Hertz

* LAS - Las Vegas NV: Cheap price, Alamo $90, Hertz price $140. Highest rate of all companies in market: Hertz

* OMA - Omaha NE: Cheap price, Thrifty $125, Hertz price $152. Highest rate of all companies in market: Hertz

* DEN - Denver CO: Cheap price, Thrifty $175, Hertz price $208. Highest rate of all companies in market: National ($262)

* DFW - Dallas TX: Cheap price, Enterprise $99, Hertz price $149. Highest rate of all companies in market: Hertz

* ATL - Atlanta GA: Cheap price, Thrifty $104, Hertz price $165. Highest rate of all companies in market: Budget ($190)

* ORD - Chicago IL: Cheap price, Enterprise $169, Hertz price $225. Highest rate of all companies in market: Hertz

So there you have it. Today's test results (which pretty closely reflect my normal results). In no case was Hertz the price leader, and in no case was it really even close to delivering a competitive price. In 80% of the surveyed markets, Hertz topped out with the absolute WORST price in the market. Considering that there are usually at least 10 companies doing business in any significant airport location, you wouldn't expect to see such a skewed result, but Hertz REALLY does have *THE* worst prices in the car rental industry, and they've been doing it for at least the past decade.

There's no reason to think that you won't be reamed royally when you rent a car from them either. They really does Hertz your wallet!