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Hertz GoldChoice – A New Type of Hybrid

Signs were displayed all throughout the Hertz rental car lot in Houston’s Intercontinental Airport (IAH) this week announcing their GoldChoice program. This was the first time I’ve seen these signs in IAH’s Hertz lot, even though I’ve rented from this same location multiple times over the past few months.

Hmmm … GoldChoice. What’s this? It’s Hertz’s new program that is a combination of having an assigned car all ready for you (if you are a Hertz Gold customer) and being able to select your own car – kind of a Hertz Gold / National Emerald Isle combo.

I took a look at the GoldChoice aisle to see what types of cars were available. They were mostly mid-size and full-size cars, maybe 20 or so cars to choose from on a busy Monday morning. One lone SUV was in the GoldChoice aisle, maybe because others had already been taken. When in Houston, it’s always good to be up high on the road when you’re sharing the highways with lots of Texas trucks.

As I was checking out, I asked if this program was new and was it unique to Houston. “No,” said the attendant. “GoldChoice has been in Houston for a couple of months, and it’s now available in other cities as well.” I can believe the latter part of his statement but not the first. If it’s been in Houston for a couple of months, their signs have been invisible and their GoldChoice aisle must have been over at Avis. Like I said, I’ve rented from IAH weekly, all but Thanksgiving week, and there have been no signs of the GoldChoice option until now.

I like the idea of this new hybrid model. If there is a car more to my liking in the GoldChoice section, then I’ll take that car; otherwise I’ll keep what’s been assigned. The only challenge with this is that I’ll want to first see what I was assigned. This means first walking to the GoldChoice aisle to see what’s available, then walking across the aisles to find my assigned car. If I then realize that I’d like a GoldChoice car more, than I’ll have to do an about-face and head back to GoldChoice. Not the worst thing in the world, but time-consuming. I could also stop in at the Gold desk and ask for what car has been assigned. Or just take the assigned car. Or just go with a personally-selected GoldChoice car. Such decisions…

I’ll be curious for next Monday morning’s rental. I really need a minivan next week as I have several colleagues I’ll be traveling with. Do I reserve and pay the higher cost for a minivan or take a chance that the GoldChoice aisle has one waiting for me?

While I figure out what to do, why don’t you check out more details on Hertz’s new GoldChoice program and the available locations. Let me know your thoughts.

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4 Comments

  1. Thats great news. I’m in ATL and have not heard about this either. Thanks for the heads up! I’m sick of the same ol boring Toyota Camry on every rental:(

  2. Thanks this is the first I have heard of it. From Hertz the website…alphabetical by city

    City Airport Code Airport Status
    Atlanta ATL Atlanta Hartsfield Live August, 2011
    Austin AUS Austin Coming Soon
    Baltimore BWI Baltimore Live September, 2011
    Charlotte CLT Charlotte Coming Soon
    Chicago ORD Chicago O’Hare Live October, 2011
    Cleveland CLE Cleveland Hopkins Coming Soon
    Denver DEN Denver Coming Soon
    Detroit DTW Detroit Metro Coming Soon
    Fort Lauderdale FLL Fort Lauderdale Live September, 2011
    Houston IAH Houston Bush Live September, 2011
    Houston HOU Houston Hobby Live October, 2011
    Indianapolis IND Indianapolis Live September, 2011
    Kansas City MCI Kansas City Live November, 2011
    Las Vegas LAS Las Vegas Live September, 2011
    Los Angeles LAX LAX Coming Soon
    Miami MIA Miami Live September, 2011
    Minneapolis MSP Minneapolis-St. Paul Live September, 2011
    Nashville BNA Nashville Live October, 2011
    Newark EWR Newark Liberty Live August, 2011
    New York JFK JFK International Coming Soon
    New York LGA LaGuardia Coming Soon
    Philadelphia PHL Philadelphia Coming Soon
    Phoenix PHX Phoenix Sky Harbor Live August, 2011
    Raleigh RDU Raleigh-Durham International Coming Soon
    Salt Lake City SLC Salt Lake City Coming Soon
    San Antonio SAT San Antonio International Coming Soon
    San Diego SAN San Diego Live August, 2011
    San Francisco SFO San Francisco Coming Soon
    San Jose SJC San Jose Live September, 2011
    St. Louis STL Lambert-St. Louis International Coming Soon
    Washington, DC IAD Dulles Live August, 2011
    Washington, DC DCA Washington National Coming Soon

  3. IME, most if not all, GoldChoice cars come with an upcharge.

    Given that, it’s really not similar to National’s program.

    If anyone can prove me wrong, I’d love to know the location & details!

  4. I agree with you. I was hoping it was very similar to National’s but I too am finding almost every car has an upgrade fee. I’ll try to get more info on their logic and do another post.

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