Mr. Points Traveler and I arrived in San Diego yesterday to kick off our extended weekend in SoCal to experience some of the new Kimpton hotels. During the what-seemed-like-forever nonstop flight from Newark to San Diego, the first thing we wanted to do immediately upon landing and picking up the rental car was to dash to In-N-Out Burger to stuff our faces (animal style for him, protein style for me).
Mid flight, I searched my inbox for the car rental reservation I could have sworn I’ve already made, but I couldn’t find anything for this weekend, shucks. As soon as the plane touched down, I quickly logged onto Car Rental Savers to compare rates and book a car. Luckily, I was still able to get a fantastic, last-minute, $70-weekly deal from E-Z Rent-A-Car. We immediately headed to the rental car shuttle pick-up area outside of terminal 2 and waited.
…and waited… and waited some more. Fast forward 20-minutes or so, every single rental shuttle passed us by after making 2-3 rounds. What the heck – we were groggy and hungry. By this point, I decided to call them and ask why we haven’t seen a shuttle pass yet. “Ma’am you have to call us for a pick up – the driver is now on his way, and he’ll be there in 20-30 minutes”, said the operator at E-Z Rent-A-Car.
Another 30 minute wait? UGH, no way. I immediately started searching for a reservation somewhere else. That is until Mr. Points Traveler pulled through and saved the day – “Ang, look!”:
Curious about the saving-grace offer, we hopped on the shuttle. Would Hertz really match us to the $70 weekly rate? Let’s see…
When we arrived, we told the desk concierge at Hertz that we were enticed by the match offer. They took a look at our current rental from E-Z Rent-A-Car, and within a few minutes, we drove off in a car booked from Hertz with the same $70 rate. 
I excitedly tweeted about my experience, and to no surprise, many followers were equally as curious about this offer and wanted to learn more. Fellow BoardingArea blogger, DeltaPoints, did some research and sent me over a link explaining this not-so-public offer (which is apparently called the Hertz Ultimate Experience Challenge and is valid until 1/31/14).
The details of the offer state that not only would Hertz match a competitor’s offer, but they will also throw in a $50 credit for a future rental (note: the Hertz at SAN did not mention the $50 credit portion of the offer to me, so when I return the car, I will definitely inquire about it).
So there it is, a great surprise from Hertz, and in no time were inhaling this:
Has anyone else taken advantage of the Hertz Ultimate Experience Challenge? If so, I’d love to hear your stories!
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This is a great deal once you throw in that credit and a good way to get Hertz at off-brand prices. Thanks for giving it a try and sharing your experience!
Looks like I’m about to make a backup res with E-Z for my upcoming SAN trip. Can’t hurt right? ;)
Wow awesome!
So the terms outline competitors as:
“*National competitors are: Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, National and Thrifty.”
However, you were able to have them match EZ. I wonder if that was a mistake or if they’ll always match EZ, Fox, etc.?
sounds like we might be out of luck, the T&C say it’s good on rentals until 1/31/11
Is Hertz a better car rental company than E-Z?
@joey: to me a car is a car. I’ve had good experiences at cheaper rental companies such as Payless and also with some of the”name brand” rental agencies. For me, getting from the airport terminal to the car rental is important. I hope for a quick and seamless process with not too much waiting around. At the end of the day, I usually go with whoever gives me the best price and I never take any of the upgrades or up sells.
@becky: I was happy they were able to save the day!
@dhammer53: that never hurts ;)
@hans: I asked the woman at the counter and she said they were matching to anyone at SAN. She also said that she wasn’t sure if all hertz locations were participating.
Tracy: hmm strange. On the phone they said it was valid until 1-31-14. This might be a ymmv kind of promo after all considering that the terms have not been updated in years… Still worth a try for a good rate though!
Did you cancel the original reservation from EZ after you got the car from Hertz? Or didn’t bother to do so.
AJ: honestly I did not bother to do so since there was no credit card attached to my reservation.
the t&c on that link show an expiration date of 1/31/11? Has it been extended?
Its an old promo where I was able to earn $500 of Hertz vouchers (plus savings on price match). However it ran only once for 2 month only and then stopped. If you have any info that Hertz will run/ is running it again it will be awesome!
It could have been a local promo at San Diego. Perhaps they had a lot of cars available that day & figured it would be better to get *something* for them rather than let them sit idle. I will definitely look for such signage on Hertz shuttles & counters on my next trip.
Wow! What an amazing offer. And unlimited miles? I’m heading to SFO later this month and currently have 1/wk rental with Budget for around $180. I’m DEFINITELY going to look into this, but I’ll actually check before we leave. Thanks so much for the tip!
My husband and I just did the same thing Sunday at LAX. The Hertz driver actually asked us who we were booked with and said they would match it. 93 total with insurance for 2 1/2 days in an economy car. Their normal rates are sky high! We were originally with EZ rental too.
@teresa How did you meet the hertz driver? Did he approach you in the terminal?