Hertz Car Rental Review

Hertz is a well-known rental car company with locations across the world. In our Hertz car rental review, we at the Guides Auto Team will dive deep into the company’s costs, fees, deals and more to help you decide if it’s the best option for you. We’ve reviewed the top rental car companies on the market and rank Hertz in second place just behind Budget (which offers lower rates on average).

Key Takeaways:

• Hertz is known for providing an excellent customer experience at its 1,600 locations across the country.
• With average rates of $78 per day or $543 per week (including taxes and fees), Hertz rental car costs are average for the industry.
• Hertz offers a variety of deals on its website to help customers save on rental cars.

About Hertz

Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating: A+

Average rental cost per day: $78

Number of locations: Over 1,600 nationwide and 8,500 worldwide

Loyalty program: Hertz Gold Plus Rewards^®

Headquarters: Estero, Fla.

Hertz began in 1918 at the dawn of automobiles as a small Rent-a-Ford company. Today, Hertz has a presence at more than 1,600 airports across the United States. You can find one at pretty much any travel destination. It also operates 1,300 additional airport locations worldwide. 

The Hertz Corporation includes Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty, which all offer different price points and vehicle selections for customers. All three companies offer rewards programs, but the programs are separate and don’t allow you to combine your points.

Hertz Rental Car Cost

According to our cost analysis, Hertz rental car costs are about average compared to competitors. Hertz offers two payment options: pay now or pay later. You’ll save money by paying up front, but you’ll also be subjected to cancellation fees. Paying later allows you to pay at the counter when you pick up your vehicle, but it costs more.

Our team compared pay now rental car rates from Hertz for three major airports — Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles and Orlando — for standard sedans and SUVs. Overall, we found Hertz charges average rates of $78 per day or $543 per week (including taxes and fees). This is almost exactly the same as the national average of $77 per day or $539 per week. So, Hertz isn’t an expensive rental car company, but you may be able to find cheaper rates by shopping around.

Below are three example quotes along with the daily and weekly average for a standard sedan rental.

Hertz Deals

Hertz offers deals online to help travelers save a bit more on rental cars. These offers change from time to time, so check out Hertz’s deals page to see what applies to your trip.

• Get one free rental day when you book at least five days
• Save up to 30% on base rates with an electric vehicle
• Travelers over 50 can save up to 20% on base rates
• AAA members save 20% on base rates
• AAA members save $50 on monthly rentals
• Young drivers with a AAA membership don’t have to pay young renter fees (applies to 20- to 24-year-old renters)

Additional Costs

The base rate accounts for most of what you’ll pay, but not everything. Other costs include taxes, fees and security deposits. Some fees are mandatory for all rentals at a specific location, while others depend on your situation. Let’s take a closer look.

Taxes and Fees

You’ll pay the highest fees at airport locations. This is because airports charge rental companies fees to use their facilities, and the rental companies pass these on to their customers. Below, you can see the taxes and fees that applied to a weeklong rental of a Mazda 3 at Orlando International Airport.

Having compared multiple rates for Hertz rentals from airports and neighborhood locations, we found Hertz rentals are often more expensive at airports. This is why the sales tax is lower at the neighborhood rental location.

Security Deposit

Hertz will put a card authorization hold on your account for up to $200 when you pick up the vehicle. This is to cover any damage or other costs you might incur during the rental period. If you booked your trip with a debit card, this hold can be up to $500.

Hertz accepts all major credit cards as well as debit cards with a Visa, Mastercard or Discover logo. To pay with a debit card, you need to provide two forms of identification that match the address tied to your debit card. If you’re booking a rental at an airport location, you must supply a return itinerary, as well. Finally, Hertz will perform a credit check to determine your creditworthiness.

Young Renter Fee

You need to be 25 years old to pay standard rates for renting a car. If you’re under 25, you’ll pay a young renter fee. Hertz rents vehicles to drivers as young as 20 in most states, but the minimum age is 19 in Alabama and Nebraska and 18 in New York and Michigan.

Hertz charges a fee of $19 per day for drivers under 25. This is a bit cheaper than young renter fees at most other companies, which tend to be around $25 per day.

If you’re under 25, you can rent almost any car that Hertz offers. However, you can’t choose a vehicle from the Dream Cars, Prestige or Adrenaline collections. In other words, you’ll have to wait until you turn 25 to rent a Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG or Nissan GT-R from Hertz.

One-Way Rental Fee

You don’t have to stay in one place when you rent a car — you can return it to a different location if you want to do a road trip or your travel plans change. However, you’ll pay a higher rate to do so.

The good news is that one-way rentals from Hertz are about 7% cheaper than the national average. For a one-week rental, Hertz charged $488 extra on average to return the vehicle to a different location. Based on quotes we received from a number of rental car providers, the average upcharge was $524 for the industry.

Cancellation Fee

How much you pay to cancel your reservation depends on how you booked it. There are no fees to cancel reservations if you selected the pay later option. Just look up your reservation and let Hertz know you want to cancel it.

However, you may have to pay a fee to cancel if you used the prepay option online. It’s free to cancel within the first 24 hours after you book the reservation, which gives you a bit of time to change your mind and back out. After that, you’ll pay $100 to cancel up until 24 hours before the reservation. And if you want to cancel within the last 24 hours before pickup, you’ll pay a hefty $200 cancellation fee.

Hertz’s cancellation fee has pros and cons. Not many companies allow you to cancel for free at any point if you prepaid, so it’s nice that you can change your mind within the first 24 hours and get your money back. But after that, Hertz’s cancellation fees of $100 or $200 are higher than cancellation fees from other companies.