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Hertz has launched an annual subscription called Free-To-Go Pass. The subscription costs $99 per year and in return you get several potential benefits, although it’ll be of limited usefulness for most people.
Add to that the fact that Hertz has declared bankruptcy and is liquidating some of its inventory, this opportunity will be of very limited interest and benefit for most people.
The Deal
- Buy $99 Free-To-Go Pass from Hertz and receive the following benefits:
- 10% guaranteed discount
- Free home delivery
- Free additional driver of 25+
- Free cancellations
- $2 per gallon fixed refueling rate
- Free young renter
- $100 hotel credit – redeemable at HertzPlusHotels
- $100 event credit – redeemable as 2x $50 amounts at TheTixFix
- $50 dining credit – redeemable at Restaurant.com
- Direct link to offer.
Key Terms
- Discount applies to pay later base rate. Taxes and fees excluded.
- The $2 per gallon fixed rate refueling charge is subject to national average calculations and may change at any time if there is an increase in national average gas prices. Additional taxes and fees may apply. Fuel used in rental during travel to drop off location will count against renter’s fuel use and will not be refueled.
- Advance reservation required for home delivery. Pick-up and delivery valid within 15 miles of the Hertz neighborhood location. Additional terms and exclusions apply.
- The minimum rental age is 18 years old (except in Alabama and Nebraska, where the age limit is 19 years old).
Quick Thoughts
Hertz claims that this you can save $100 or more with each rental, but I’m struggling to identify ways that the majority of people could ever hope to save that amount. Here’s why:
10% Guaranteed Discount
This is 10% off the Pay Later base rate rather than 10% off whatever the best rate is that you’re able to find. In most cases you’ll be able to use some kind of other code for better savings than that.
Free Home Delivery
This is only valid when renting from a Hertz neighborhood location which is within 15 miles of your home (or wherever else you are). While that might be convenient on occasion, I suspect it’s a benefit that few people will need to use frequently.
The benefit certainly shouldn’t be valued at its standard $30 delivery cost seeing as most people could order an Uber or Lyft ride for less than that to take them to a Hertz location if necessary. Alternatively, you could rent from Enterprise if the cost isn’t too different seeing as they offer free pick-up.
Free Additional Driver
Hertz Gold Plus Rewards already offers a free additional driver if they’re your spouse. I think they also offer a free additional driver if they’re your work colleague too, although I’ve never needed to use that. This will therefore only save you money if the person you need to add to your rental falls outside of those relationships.
Free Cancellations
Many Hertz reservations can be cancelled for free anyway.
$2 Per Gallon Fixed Refueling Rate
This might be helpful somewhere like California where gas prices are higher, but I’m currently in Wichita, KS with gas prices closer to $1.65 per gallon.
The fee isn’t really fixed either because they can increase the cost at any time.
Free Young Renter
This is probably the benefit that has the potential to save someone the most money on rentals, but it’s a benefit that’s only useful for people aged under 25 which also limits its usefulness.
$100 Hotel Credit
I’ll be honest – I haven’t taken a look at the hotel prices on the HertzPlusHotels site, but I doubt the $100 credit will be particularly useful. You’ll be missing out on earning points, receiving status benefits, cashback through a portal, etc. as well.
The terms of the credit are also extremely restrictive because it looks like you have to book within 60 days of receiving the credit.
$100 Event Credit
Not only does it come as two separate credits of $50 each, but like the hotel credit it expires 60 days after receiving it. Considering most events are postponed/cancelled right now, this benefit seems virtually worthless.
$50 Dining Credit
The dining credit comes in the form of a $50 Restaurant.com gift card. Those can be bought for $8 with ~20% cashback through a portal, so the most that this should be valued at is $6.40. It shouldn’t even be valued that highly though seeing as Restaurant.com gift cards are a pain to use and tend to work more like Groupons but with extra restrictions or higher spending requirements.
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Needless to say, paying $99 for a subscription issued by a company in bankruptcy protection which is liquidating some of its inventory (and might end up having to fully liquidate its inventory) could very well be like lighting that money on fire. I certainly wouldn’t recommend speculatively buying this, but if you’re going to be renting a car from Hertz in the next few days and would otherwise be charged an additional driver fee or an under 25 driver fee, the $99 could actually be a worthwhile investment provided it saves you more than $99 in fees.
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My typical rate code saved much more than the benefits would bring. I was told I could not get the points bonuses, gas fill price (which is before taxes, to be clear, and taxes are a lot of your pump price), other benefits. I had to choose between my normal savings and this new plan ($200++ difference in each case for the longer bookings I needed). They give you three days to cancel. I cancelled.
Im seeing a good deal here myself.
The $250 credits are valid for 6 months, they just need to be activated within 60 days by accepting them- that’s all.
They are offering to deliver you a car with a rental contract free of charge. That’s much better than any rental company or Uber/Lyft having to take pick you up and still having to take you to a rental store; so that’s convenient!
The 10% code can be combined with other PC offers. One of their phone agents confirmed this to me.
Plus great driver benefits savings, refuel and cancelation protection sound good to me. You also have to figure this is unlimited benefits on each rental day or rental occasions within a year. So there is a compound benefit in my eyes.
With a prior company, we had a gas refuel rate that worked like this implies and it was a big savings in states like CA or WA, frequently more than $1 off the local prices. In low price markets there was no savings or it was a little higher than local. What terms seem to imply, and I’ll see about testing, is that you need to use the CDP to qualify for the gas rate, which eliminates the value for me. If they want to raise cash they should sell lifetime Platinum status, lately they haven’t sold one year at all.