If you have a premium travel card, many will auto give you a higher level of status in a rental car. For example I rent infrequently but the Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR) sets me up with Emerald Executive - pick any car, not just the emerald aisle but also the executive aisle, and drive away paying I think the mid-size price. Gotten some nice cars.

Something similar with Avis on that card, I'm sure the higher end Amex's etc have stuff too. Note that location matters, if it's a small town like Amarillo, yeah you go to the counter and get the keys to a regular car, they jsut don't have a big selection.

Every time I've needed to rent a car I get off of the shuttle bus, find my name and parking spot on a board, walk over, get in my car, and leave. No line, no hassle.

Who knows why they still have both brands.

It will save you headaches down the road......

Instead of driving one of those generic American/Japanese/Korean cars that is easily recognizable as "oh, that must be a rental" in any hotel parking lot, you get a BMW 4 or 5 series. Damn, that's fun. I'm never renting from an American rental car agency in Europe again.

Stood in the heat for 20 minutes waiting for the shuttle while all the Hertz people got into their cars and left onsite.
Then the shuttle was a minor hike.
Then the desk took forever.
Car was nice though.

I use them every time I go to Denver or San Fran and they are quick, efficient, and all booking, pickup, return can be done through their mobile app. I like using them when I can and the mild premium you pay is worth it because of the quality of their fleet.

At damn good prices, too. I wasn't even looking to rent a car like that but couldn't pass it up when I saw the price. The Mercedes was in Scotland and the BMW was in your own Munich.

I also rented a Citroen from Hertz in France that was a great car.

so you can cruise on the Autobahn.

It was especially fun to scare my wife.

"We're going 180 miles an hour???!"

No, that's kilometers.

"What's that in miles?"

I ain't tellin'.

Silvercar, where it exists, is a breeze.

and, yes, there are some good discounts with USAA for rental car companies.

AARP, AAA

If you are renting a car at Phoenix International Airport, good luck trying to save money.... (taxes and fees)

You skip the line and just pick up the car from the Emerald Aisle / Executive section of the lot and drive to the window.

As with Hertz, it all depends on the local facility and their capacity for handling Pick-And-Go.

In Honolulu, for example, we still have to go to the Avis Preferred window to pick up keys, but with a much shorter line.

Also anyone can sign up as preferred online to get past the lines.

I used Enterprise for a while but got sick of their in your face "customer service" approach that's really just designed to try to sell you more options. I've been happy with Avis preferred and in most places I can get into my car very quickly.

They always have to inspect the car and make you wait while they do. This is fine at a local office, but a pain when you're at an airport.

But getting into a car was dumb - having someone in a suit walk you out, walk around the vehicle with you, pretend to care why you're in town, ticking thru all the upgrades and protections. Just give me the damn car and stop asking me how my experience was!

I'm not sure why everyone isn't either Avis Preferred, Hertz Gold Plus, or in the National Emerald Club. And unlike airlines, you get the same benefits as everyone else upon joining. There are no "elite" levels.

the rental car companies. Everyone uses Hotwire, Expedia, Costco, etc., where you don't get to pick your company.

who we are going with before pulling the trigger.

If you're Avis or Enterprise etc they allow for you to attach your info so you get credit as a member of that particular company. I often look at Costco at least to compare.

I never book with a Costco, Expedia, Kayak, Orbitz. I use them all for price aggregation but always book direct from the source.

Hate buying trips through packages.

There are sometimes wild price differences on rental cars in the same city at the same time, so it's always worth looking, but I get the price and then I book at the source.

You give them your membership number, and you get all the benefits.

Also, booking through the services doesn't get you discounts that you can't get directly from the rental companies.

those rentals are spread across 5 or 6 different companies, then most people don't see any benefit from membership because they will never accumulate enough rewards to get any free rentals. I'm guessing most people either aren't aware of or forget about the ancillary benefits.

has all the answers.

Because filling out the application takes shorter than waiting in line for a single rental, and you have it for life.

Free rentals aren't the point. Saving time is. Cripes, Hertz had ads on it 30 years ago. You know, O.J. running through the airport to rent his white Ford Bronco from Hertz?

altogether and go straight to your car (although that's not always the case at some smaller locations).

no line waiting, go to car they've assigned you. Don't like it? Pick any car in the aisle/class that you've reserved.

Drive you to booth exit with CC and DL.

Again, you pay a premium for Hertz which many people scoff at. But I love the ease and out of the rental line that never moves.

I just meant you pay a premium on Hertz versus other rental companies' rates, by and large.

And if you're in AAA, you get a nice discount.

Also, it's worth it internationally. Their service is top notch. I've had five flat tires in my life, but one time was in the Connor Pass on the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland (maybe the worst place in the country to get a flat tire) and another was in the Scottish Highlands. I also left a package in a car in France. Great service in all three instances, and great cars, too.

And in all three of those instances, their prices were as good or better than anyone's. At other times, it hasn't been or they didn't have the car I wanted so I went with someone else, but usually they do. And in point of fact, on business domestically, I usually book with Avis, not Hertz, so it's not like I have a crazy Hertz bias, but their prices really aren't much different.

You sound like you're disagreeing with me yet I agree with everything you posted.

C'est la vie in 2019.

But not for quite a while compared to Avis and National, at least. You can still get cheaper cars offsite, but you pay for it in convenience. I do think Hertz is still the most consistently good from place to place domestically, but Avis has just about caught up and I get upgraded automatically with them more often so that's who I look at first. But if the price for a particular rental on Avis is higher than usual (and week to week it an vary greatly in some markets), I then look to Hertz and as often as not it's cheaper.