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United and Hertz have brought back a popular promotion worth more than 5,000 United MileagePlus Miles per rental for those targeted.
The Deal
- 1,500 bonus miles per mid-size or larger rental (available to everyone)
- 3,000 bonus miles with every rental through January 31, 2018 (targeted)
- Additional bonus based on Elite or Cardholder status (I’m a MileagePlus Explorer cardholder, so my offer is for an additional 750 miles — you may get up to 1,250 based on status
- The terms state you must use promotion code (PC) 305023 and discount code (CDP) 62455, though according to Rapid Travel Chai, you do not need to use that CDP code.
My offer and recent experience
This offer comes via email from sender “MileagePlus Partner” with the subject line “Limited time offer: Earn up to 5,250 miles per car rental and save up to 40% on base rates“. Hertz and United are repeating an identical offer that was out during the summer, once again giving me the chance to earn 5,250 miles per rental for being a Chase MileagePlus Explorer cardholder. I took advantage of the offer a few times during the summer promotion and received the miles from all but one of those rentals so far (just the most recent missing – I expect it will post). My rentals were for airport pickups and I used the PC and CDP listed above (though you may have access to a better CDP). While the miles post as separate chunks (500 for being a United MileagePlus member, 250 for being a cardholder, 1500 for a mid-size or larger car, and 3000 as the bonus offer in my case) and they often post to your account on separate days, Hertz backdates all of them to the day of your rental so you can clearly correlate your miles with the proper rentals.
The United CDP certainly does not seem to yield any huge discounts, though I often find the miles to offset the price difference versus other rental companies even if you do not have access to a better discount. Depending on how you value United miles and your need to beef up your mileage balance, it could definitely be worth finding a car to rent for a day just for the miles. The above rental was actually a 2-day rental that cost me about $75. While I could have probably saved $20 if I had chosen to rent with someone else, I think 5,250 miles for $20 extra was a good trade. As I know I’ll put the miles to good use, I felt that the 5250-mile rebate made the $75 cost an overall wash for me. And I definitely didn’t maximize that rental — as Stefan at Rapid Travel Chai points out, I could have both used a different CDP and returned the car after day 1 and picked up a new car for day 2 under a separate rental to earn an additional 5,250 miles. Stefan has a number of other valuable tips to share on this deal as well, so I encourage you to read his post if you’re interested in maximizing this promotion.
Bottom line
This promotion worked out well for me last time around and did a good job of steering some business from National, normally my preferred rental company thanks to the Executive status I enjoy courtesy of my Business Platinum card. I have a few upcoming rental needs and I’m excited to have two great promotions from which to choose between this one and National’s One Two Free.
What do you think? Did you receive this promotion, and will it make you rent from Hertz this quarter?
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[…] Overall, this promotion is worth a look if you value United miles and have an upcoming rental. I’ll be monitoring my inbox to see if any targeted bonus offers come around as they did last fall. […]
[…] Big Hertz / United 5K+ per rental offer returns [Targeted]: Earn bonus miles for rentals through 1/31/18) […]
[…] Big Hertz / United 5K+ per rental offer returns [Targeted]: Earn bonus miles for rentals through 1/31/18) […]
[…] the Executive aisle has kept me pretty loyal to National over the past couple of years (though the 5K+ United miles per rental with Hertz has stolen some of my business over the past few months). Whether I was looking for an SUV, sports […]
[…] Big Hertz / United 5K+ per rental offer returns [Targeted]: Earn bonus miles for rentals through 1/31/18) […]
[…] Big Hertz / United 5K+ per rental offer returns [Targeted]: Earn bonus miles for rentals through 1/31/18) […]
I have been having a hard time getting vehicle upgrades at CMH (a licensee location) with this promotion. I was told that if I book through United.com, my President’s Circle status will not be recognize, while all the stories online suggests otherwise. The issue seems to be coupled with an issue that somehow I have a cancelled amex platinum attached to my file, for which I need to pay for the rental at this location in order to “activate” my Gold membership service. I have tried to delete all the payment info associated with that card on my Hertz and United profile, but the ghost card continues to haunt me. The CMH location and Hertz just kept kicking the ball to each other.
Any thought is appreciated.
CMH is a terrible location for rental cars. National is horrible there too. I doubt there is any satisfactory solution to your issues. These franchise locations seem to not have to follow the rules. 🙁
I only got 500 miles for my rental despite using the United CDP and PC. Hate having to follow up.
How long has it been? I find that the miles often posted separately (500 in one shot, 3000 in another shot, etc) but all get backdated to the same rental date. Knock on wood, I haven’t had one that didn’t track yet.
My husband can’t reserve his own rental car for work, his company has to make the reservation, which is a bummer because he can’t participate in these promos 🙁 Does anyone have a work-around???
Thanks!
[…] you could earn more than 5,000 miles per rental when using both Hertz’s PC and CDP (See: Big Hertz / United 5K+ per rental offer returns [Targeted] for more info). If you can earn 5K+ miles and get 15% back, that could be a really nice […]
As an update, I used my Business Platinum CDP as I needed a car for just over 24 hours a few days after this promo came out. I received the 3,000 bonus miles and the usual 750 for being an Explorer card holder for 3750 total.
I got the 3000 miles even though I wasn’t targeted (never received an emal). Score!
Did you book it thru united.com? If so, I’m surprised the 1500 wouldn’t show up, but the 3000 + 750 did.
[…] Big Hertz / United 5K+ per rental offer returns [Targeted]: Earn bonus miles for rentals through 1/31/18) […]
You have to parse the grammar, the offer does not say you need to use the CDP, only implies that. The fine print says “Reservation must be for a mid-size or larger car and include CDP 62455, PC 305023 and be booked through united.com to qualify for 1,500 bonus miles. Extra 3,000-mile bonus per rental only available to recipients of this email.”
I have booked three one-day Hertz rentals at the airport using the two codes from my targeted offer and have received 5,250 points for each, no problems. I recently had a Thrifty rental and did not even try to use the codes; I’m interested to know if the discount codes should apply to Thrifty.
Targeted again. Did this promo twice so far, last one was just last month. Had to chase down 2250 miles that didn’t post but that was resolved within like 3 days of me messaging Hertz + United. The actual rental was a total joke as I reserved a car at a location that apparently was closed all summer and the rep insisted I just made a mistake and actually booked it elsewhere. I did not make a mistake but didn’t care enough to say anything. Great value anyways given it was about $55 for the day including gas and the miles look great for that price.