Hertz - Skip the counter when booking with Capital One Points?

[matt_in_nh]

I booked a Hertz reservation at MCO for next Feb with my Capital One credit card points. The reservation shows up in my Hertz app and I am a member, my member number is linked in the reservation. Will I be able to skip the counter? Has anyone done that with credit card points.

 

[EACarlson]

No you will not, and you will not receive your member benefits. In order to be eligible you have to have booked directly through Hertz, since you used Capital One miles, that is a third party booking and Hertz won't help you. Long history of it over on Flyertalk, in both the Hertz section and the CapOne section. One popular travel podcaster actually stopped using his CapOne Venture X over this. He received PC status for having the card but couldn't use the card and the PC status together.

 

[matt_in_nh]

No you will not, and you will not receive your member benefits. In order to be eligible you have to have booked directly through Hertz, since you used Capital One miles, that is a third party booking and Hertz won't help you. Long history of it over on Flyertalk, in both the Hertz section and the CapOne section. One popular travel podcaster actually stopped using his CapOne Venture X over this. He received PC status for having the card but couldn't use the card and the PC status together.

Thanks. That is what I was afraid of. Watching the car rental counters take 10 minutes with every customer has to be one of the most irritation useless wastes of time. The car rental companies would save moeny if they let technology help. I might look for other options.

 

[matt_in_nh]

so I see my reservation in the Hertz app and I ended up calling Hertz. The customer service rep said I can go straight to the car. I was not super confident she knew what she was talking about though. We will see…..

 

[gmi3804]

That's interesting. Must be a Capital One thing.

I book with Hertz all the time third party (mostly Priceline, which seems to have a partnership with Hertz, since they always have better rates with Hertz than anyone else) and I always skip the counter. At least at the major airports which have direct-to-car service. But then again, I'm paying cash and not using redeemed points. Good to know.

 

[EACarlson]

That's interesting. Must be a Capital One thing.

I book with Hertz all the time third party (mostly Priceline, which seems to have a partnership with Hertz, since they always have better rates with Hertz than anyone else) and I always skip the counter. At least at the major airports which have direct-to-car service. But then again, I'm paying cash and not using redeemed points. Good to know.

It has to do with it being prepaid. You're not actually paying the rental company. You are paying the 3rd party and the third party is paying the rental company. When you book post paid with Priceline or Autoslash or even Suxpedia, they are making the reservation for you, but not paying it. I've had no issue using Priceline and applying my loyalty with Hertz, Avis, Budget, National, Enterprise and Alamo. Issues but still got it to work with Thrifty, never tried Dollar, Payless or Sixt.