How does the Hertz car rental benefit for Amex Gold cardholders work?

American Express and Hertz have a long standing partnership that gets American Express Preferred Rewards Gold cardholders (click for our review) extra benefits when renting a car.

We cover the car hire element of The Platinum Card quite often on Head for Points, because the benefits are strong. Platinum comes with free car hire insurance, Hertz Plus Gold Rewards Five Star status and an intriguing Hertz deal where you last rental day counts as 28 hours long.

Today I want to look at the Hertz benefit for Amex Gold cardholders in detail.

We looked at the full list of American Express Preferred Rewards Gold benefits in this article.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers.  T&C apply, 18+, subject to status. Click here to apply.

What are the benefits of the Hertz / Amex Gold partnership?

The Hertz / Amex Gold landing page on the American Express website is here.

These are the benefits on offer:

• 10% off best available rates at participating locations worldwide
• One car class upgrade for rentals of five days or more, subject to availability
• Additional driver fee waived

Car rentals in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Taiwan are excluded from the offer. Rentals within Japan are eligible for a reduced discount of 5% and a complimentary additional driver but no vehicle upgrade.

IMPORTANT: As you can see from the link above, there is no small print related to the ‘free additional driver’ benefit. However, if you get a free additional driver via Hertz elite status, it is limited to your spouse or civil partner. Some rental locations may get confused between the two so be prepared for some discussion if your ‘free additional driver’ is your not your partner.

How to save 10% on Hertz car rentals with Amex

To make use of the discount you must enrol in Hertz Gold Plus Rewards via the American Express portal here.

If you are already enrolled in Hertz Gold Plus Rewards you must add the CDP code #705500 to your profile.

To complete the offer you must also register a valid American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card as the form of payment in your Hertz Gold Plus Reward membership profile.

Once registered you can book car rentals on the Hertz website or on the phone to receive your discount and benefits.

Existing bookings are not eligible for the offer, but if you haven’t pre-paid it is worth checking whether cancelling and re-booking will save you money.

The additional driver benefit may be more valuable

In truth, there are plenty of Hertz discount codes available via various travel partners. This article covers the Virgin Atlantic and Hertz partnership. You can also earn Avios with Hertz if you book via the Qatar Airways code.

The ‘additional driver’ benefit DOES offer real value for a couple. It is harder to get this for free and it can be laughably expensive.

I always fail to see the justification for charging for this at all, since alternating long drives across two people should be safer and something to be encouraged.

The upgrade benefit has no real value

Different people treat car rental upgrades in different ways. If you need a certain size car because of your luggage requirements, you need to book it in advance. You can’t rely on an ‘if available’ upgrade.

Some people are also unhappy driving larger cars than they are used to, especially when it comes to parking. An upgrade can be a problem at times.

In any event, irrespective of how you booked or your status with the car rental company, you are far more likely to be get an upgrade when renting compared to flying or checking into a hotel.

Conclusion

The Hertz benefit is a relatively low-key part of the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold package.

The 10% discount is nice to have if you can’t find a better deal – although you probably can – but the real value seems to be in the ‘free additional driver’ benefit.

PS. Remember that Avis offers a ‘free additional driver’ to anyone who books via the British Airways portal here.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

---

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – May 2025 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers: