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Hertz to become the first non-airline member of the SkyTeam alliance

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This is, I think, a world exclusive.  I was with Caroline Simmerman, the Hertz Europe partnerships director, at a reception in Amsterdam last night and she told our group that Hertz has just agreed a deal to become the first ‘non-airline member’ of the SkyTeam airline alliance.

It isn’t quite clear how this will work.  All 20 SkyTeam airlines will, presumably, now offer miles via Hertz although this is unlikely to be exclusive given existing deals.  There was no indication of whether you could match SkyTeam status to Hertz status although I would imagine it is likely.

A full announcement is coming soon where we will find out the full details.


How to get FREE car rental status and other benefits via UK credit cards

How to get FREE car rental status and other benefits via UK credit cards (April 2024)

If you hire a car in the UK, you can get special benefits (discounts, upgrades, free additional drivers etc) if you have elite status with a car rental programme. You can get elite status for free via certain American Express cards.

The Platinum Card and American Express Business Platinum

The Platinum Card from American Express and American Express Business Platinum come with two free car hire status cards. Your supplementary Platinum cardholder can also receive status in their own right.

From Avis, you receive President’s Club status in Avis Preferred. This gets you up to 25% off standard rates, a free additional driver and a guaranteed one class upgrade. For weekend rentals you will receive a two class upgrade, subject to availability.

From Hertz, you receive ‘Five Star’ status in Hertz Gold Plus Rewards. This gets you up to 15% off standard rates, a free additional driver and a one class upgrade, subject to availability.

Hertz also offers Platinum cardholders a 4 hour grace period on rentals. Your final day is treated as 28 hours, so a 1pm pick up with a 5pm return the following day is only charged as one day, not two days. We wrote about the Hertz / Platinum 4 hour grace period here.

The Platinum Card also comes with full car hire insurance with no obligation to pay for the rental via American Express. You can refuse any attempts to sell you additional insurance at pick up. This benefit has substantial value if you rent on a regular basis.

You can find more details on the two Platinum cards, and apply, in our full reviews linked below. You can apply here for the personal card and here for the business card.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is an excellent card in its own right. You receive 20,000 Membership Rewards points for signing up (convert to 20,000 Avios amongst other things), four airport lounge passes and £120 of Deliveroo credit. Even better, your first year is free.

There are two car rental benefits:

  • you receive Preferred Plus status in Avis Preferred
  • you receive a special package with Hertz – 10% off best available rates at participating locations, a one class upgrade for rentals of 5 days or more, subject to availability, and no additional driver fees

Find out more about the benefits of American Express Preferred Rewards Gold in our review. You can apply here.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

Comments (156)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Thomas Howard says:

    1. Does this make it likely Oneworld will copy the partnership with someone else (Avis)?

    2. Doesn’t this encourage US members to use their Avios on AA flights, or stick to Aadvantage? Could this be tied into the Atlantic partnership/collusion agreement posted about recently – make each other’s schemes unappealing to anyone outside your primary territory?

  • Chris says:

    500 points today for me ( first go)
    thanks

  • S879 says:

    OT: My partner has the £200 off £600 on his Amex supplementary. Unfortunately he can’t find his card but it is somewhere at home so he hasn’t drppped it outside. He’s now asked Amex to send him a new one. My question is will his offer be no longer valid as he will need to create a new log-in or could he register the card to his old email and use that offer?

  • Arise Sir Genghis says:

    OT: my points (including 10,000 spend bonus) finally posted from my SPG Amex card spend back from July (I had to give Amex a new SPG membership number). Problem is the points are now not tripled, just regular points. Who is at fault here? Who would you guys complain to?

    • Ian M says:

      I would start by complaining to Amex.

      All my points were tripled by Amex before they were sent to Marriott.

    • Steve says:

      I have the same issue for some transactions made at the end of August, which includes spend at Ritz Carlton and Autograph Collection. Points were awarded under the old earning rate but not tripled. The Amex chat CS agent I spoke to was useless, they didnt even know SPG/Marriott spend earned double points, claimed I must have been confused by the conversion rate and asked me to point to the website so they could verify that indeed SPG/Marriott spend on a SPG card had a special rate. Anyway the issue has been filed for investigation to be concluded within 5-7 days.

    • PointsChaser says:

      The same has happened to me, my sign up bonus of 10,000 in old currency has appeared as 10,000 in the new currency!

  • Zane says:

    I noticed that the taxes for a one way first class ex USA are higher than a return ex UK a few days ago, but thought it was a mistake that would rectify itself.

    • John says:

      Actually the US taxes are a fraction of the UK taxes, it is BA’s redemption charges that are much higher from the US

  • Paul says:

    BAs rip off fees always have been silly even when departing from the U.K. the fees ex the US are possibly a precursor to a much bigger devaluation globally. US residents already enjoy credit card bonuses that can only be dreamed of in the U.K.
    I

    • Lyn says:

      Let’s hope not.

      The US card bonuses are indeed higher but do come with some serious limitations in terms of churning. Amex have once-in-a-lifetime bonuses for cards, so no churning, ever, for the SPG card, for example. Other cards are often 24 months and some are now 48 months.

  • Boo says:

    Does high charges out of the US mean better availability for those starting in the UK, by putting off all the US residents who can get about a million points with one credit card

  • Callum says:

    I read somewhere else that you’ll be able to book Skyteam flights and a Hertz rental car on the same booking – though that doesn’t seem like much given most airlines let you book a rental car at the same time.

    They also called it a “collaboration” as opposed to Hertz joining SkyTeam (which just sounds weird and pointless) but it could be a translation error.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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