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Hertz is one of the major global players in the car rental market. The company operates in a massive 160 countries worldwide. In addition to Hertz, the parent company also operates other car hire subsidiaries, Thrifty, Dollar, and Firefly.
The Hertz Gold Plus Rewards program is Hertz’s loyalty program. Similar to most programs, you earn points and redeem them for free rentals. However, when it comes to points expiration, Hertz points expire according to a two-pronged expiration policy. Here is all you need to know.
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Do Hertz Points Expire?
Hertz Points expire according to a dual policy based on activity, plus the points have a finite lifetime. First, your points will expire if there is no activity on your account for a 12-month period, per the Hertz FAQ page.
“all points in a Hertz Gold Plus Rewards member’s account will be forfeited and removed from a member’s account after twelve months of no rental activity.”
In addition to the above, even if you have plenty of regular activity, your points have a finite lifespan and will expire five years from the date they are earned — unless you are a Canadian resident. Again, per the FAQ page:
“Points are valid for five years from the date that they were earned. If a Hertz Gold Plus Rewards member does not redeem the points within a five-year period, the points will be considered forfeited and removed. This five-year point expiration does not apply to residents of Canada.”
Once expired, there is no way to reinstate your points.
Track your points and miles expiration for 630+ loyalty programs and get email alerts before your miles expire by signing up for a free AwardWallet account.
What is Qualifying Rental Activity?
Although Hertz is somewhat vague in its choice of language, you must earn points from a paid booking to qualify as a rental activity. This can include a straight cash booking or a cash and points booking. Point redemptions do not count towards resetting your points expiration, per the Herts FAQ page:
“Point transfer to an immediate family member does not count as rental activity. The redemption of points, which occurs at time of booking, does not count as rental activity, however, the completion of the rental in which points were redeemed, will count toward rental activity.“
Keeping Your Hertz Gold Plus Points Alive
If you have Hertz Gold points that are about to expire due to 12 months of inactivity, your options are very limited. In a nutshell, you can only do one thing: Earn points on a completed rental (which must include a cash component) to reset your expiration clock. You earn 1 point per dollar spent on base rental fees.
However, if your points are about to expire due to reaching their five-year lifespan, there is nothing you can do but use them.
Using AwardWallet To Keep Track of Your Hertz Points Expiration
The best way to keep track of your Hertz Gold Plus expiration is through AwardWallet. Connect your Hertz Gold Plus account to AwardWallet to receive reminders in the months leading up to your points expiration. After the one-time setup, you won't have to worry about tracking your point expiration since AwardWallet will do that for you.
Plus, AwardWallet will help you automatically track your car rentals in your AwardWallet Trips timeline.
Redeeming Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Points
Hertz has a two-tier award pricing. You can redeem your Hertz Gold Rewards points in any of the two following ways:
- Standard Rewards is the standard price. However, bookings do feature blackout dates.
- Any Day Rewards have no blackout dates. This flexibility comes at a premium, with prices double the standard rewards rate.
Keep in mind the pricing differential is enormous. After a Hertz Gold Rewards award chart devaluation, the pricing in points also depends on where you rent. One day-free rental standard rewards price as follows:
- North America: Standard rewards start at 950 points, and Any Day Rewards cost an eye-watering 1,900 points.
- Europe: Standard rewards start at 900 points, and Any Day Rewards cost a massive 1,800 points.
- Australia and New Zealand: Standard rewards start at 700 points, and Any Day Rewards cost a more reasonable 1,400 points.
Boosting your Hertz Elite Status
While being a program member is great news, having elite status is even better and gives a ton of additional perks. Fortunately, you can receive complimentary Hertz Gold Rewards elite status from various travel rewards credit cards as well as other loyalty programs.
If you hold Delta Medallion, United Premier, or IHG Diamond status, you can leverage your status for Hertz Five Star status. Plus, cardholders of several premium cards can enroll to get Hertz President's Circle status.
Related: How to get rental car elite status for free
Our Take
Hertz Gold Plus Rewards is on the stingy side. It couples a short 12-month activity-based expiration policy with a five-year fixed expiration deadline. Throw into the mix the serious restrictions on what counts towards resetting the validity of your points, and things can get difficult. If you want to continue using Hertz, you must plan ahead a little more than before to ensure you hit those activity deadlines and keep your points valid.
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