Marriott and SIXT improve their partnership – more points, better status match

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• daveinitalia says:

  25 Feb25 February 05:00

  I don’t know what Sixt is like these days but I used to have Platinum status with Sixt as they had an arrangement with Flying Blue (so this must have been before 2009 when I moved to diamond club). I got my best upgrades as a Sixt status holder. I think I would have stuck with Sixt but they didn’t have coverage in some of the places I needed. They seem to be more widespread now but most of the times I hire a car recently have been via BA Holidays (so Avis).

• Xmenlongshot says:

  25 Feb25 February 05:31

  I used to do Avis (also because of BA) however have entirely switched to Sixt now as the premium fleet availability – at a cost – is so much better. Service tends also to be great, have never had any issues with them. I’m currently Platinum. The Diamond card used to have mythical status in the past (stories on German rental forums abound about upgrades from a booked Audi A6 to a eg €200,000 Mercedes AMG), it is no longer as exclusive but the one category upgrade or more does get honoured. Platinum upgrades are less frequent but the discount is meaningful. I tend to book with Sixt direct rather than via comparison sites as the hassle factor is much reduced and if one is part of the loyalty scheme the whole “getting the keys” process takes less than 5 minutes.

  • Doug M says:

    25 Feb25 February 09:44

    I’d be concerned at a £200K car in regard insurance. I believe that for example relying on Amex Plat alone limits the car value to £50K, most of the large SUVs in the US exceed that price point.

    • Xmenlongshot says:

      25 Feb25 February 09:55

      Important to have at least some basic insurance package, the amount the renter needs to pay tends to cap out at €1,500

      Agree Amex Plat doesn’t help there but if 50,000 is the amount then a lot of cars would these days be above that

    • Kowalski says:

      25 Feb25 February 19:20

      The value of the hire car can be much higher than £50k. The Amex Platinum insurance cover payout is capped at £50k. But I’ve never seen a hire car with an excess of over £50k!

      • ba says:

        26 Feb26 February 14:03

        My understanding is that a condition of the Amex Platinum cover is that you decline any cover offered by the hire company, unless the hire company refuses to allow you to do so (and most of the mainstream ones do).
        So, if you do just that, I don’t see how an excess comes into it. If the car was a total write off, presumably you would be on the hook for the market value of the car (based on mileage, age etc,). If the market value exceeded £50k, presumably you would be underinsured and potentially have to face the shortfall?

        I use this insurance frequently and choose vehicles taking care to ensure that the £50k limit is not breached, generally based on the list price of the car in the relevant region, though I have no experience of any claims on the policy.

        I would be pleased to hear from people with direct experience of claiming on this policy: is what I have set out above correct?

• Navid says:

  25 Feb25 February 06:01

  Any ideas as to why the status match is not designed to work the other way around? E.g math hung a Sixt Diamond status to Bonvoy?

• David S says:

  25 Feb25 February 09:45

  Where in the Sixt App do you see what your status is please. It looks to be another thing that’s well hidden.

  • Xmenlongshot says:

    25 Feb25 February 09:57

    Top right (the head symbol), then Profiles – shows the status above your selected profile

• GUWonder says:

  25 Feb25 February 10:38

  Been Platinum with Sixt for years, but I try to be extra-paranoid when renting from them and even video record the top of the car and the wheels closely at pick-up and drop-off because Sixt seems to be more aggressive in looking for damages to charge and perhaps even charge repeatedly.

  • Bagoly says:

    26 Feb26 February 00:27

    I think it depends on particular locations, more than on the car rental company.
    E.g. Lisbon has a dire reputation, whether Hertz or Sixt.

• David S says:

  25 Feb25 February 10:44

  Just managed to do a status match to my Avis Presidents Circle status. And I did notice for my upcoming rental that it was less than 50P per day extra to pay on collection rather than in advance, so I’m trying that route and will see if any points post.

• riku says:

  25 Feb25 February 11:42

  Perhaps all car rental companies do this but when I logged in to sixt.com and tried to book a car in Dallas the insurance was extra but logging in via sixt.co.uk the insurance was included. This made the rental a lot cheaper booking via the UK site despite it being for the same car in Dallas.

  • TMG says:

    25 Feb25 February 12:39

    If it works for you I recommend the SIXT office at the Marriott Quorum in Addison rather than DFW. Made dropping off the car much less hassle than at the airport. Pick up was nice and easy as well.

• Mark says:

  25 Feb25 February 12:30

  I am very wary of using Sixt these days. I used to think they were at the better end of a terrible industry, with a premium product and customer service. However on both my last rentals with them – one in France and one in Germany – they have “discovered” a scratch under the bumper when i returned it. On each occasion there was nobody there to check the car out or back in, so we had no opportunity to inspect. But more outrageous was the charge for what even they claimed was a 5-6cm scratch (below the bumper, on the skirt, out of sight) – nearly EUR2,500 in Germany, and over half that in France. Of course I have excess insurance which paid me on both, but I feel that Sixt is relying on that and in effect committing insurance fraud as they know they can get away with it. I now know all car hire companies are awful, and Sixt has moved to the bottom of my choice list.

  • daveinitalia says:

    25 Feb25 February 15:30

    Seems they’re not as good as I remember them around 15 years ago

  • GUWonder says:

    25 Feb25 February 21:12

    That’s why I tryto be extra-paranoid when renting from them and even video record the top of the car and the wheels closely at pick-up and drop-off. Sixt seems to be more aggressive in looking for damages to charge and perhaps even charge repeatedly. And since I don’t want insurance companies fleeced by anybody, I try to do my part to get in the way of such business practices that cost insurance companies and insurance company customers. Unfortunately, I have had to rely upon such videos with Sixt to get them off my case. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a systematic check to make sure the same historical damage claimed by Sixt isn’t claimed repeatedly against later renters too.

    • ba says:

      26 Feb26 February 14:13

      I don’t think this is extra paranoid, just a sensible step in mitigating risk. I do this every time I rent, irrespective of company or location. I often dread collecting/dropping off cars based on internet reviews with endless horror stories for any given location , but I have never personally had a single problem.

  • Bagoly says:

    26 Feb26 February 00:31

    Were those corporate Sixt locations, or franchises?
    I agree that large parts of the whole industry are now corrupt.
    Who will tackle it?
    The EU Commission is about the only body that ever has the appetite to address such issues.

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