I took a two-week break from writing as I traveled to India and Dominican Republic, and I came back to some alarming news; I am seeing a no-show fee for pay later reservations with Hertz.
Historically, Pay Later reservations with Hertz and most (if not all) car rental companies have come with no cancellation penalty in the event of a no-show. This often worked both ways, where customers might have a reservation with the car rental companies but have no cars available. Car rental companies, such as Hertz, then started pre-paid reservations, however, I am not sure how successful they were. Typically the savings was only 5-10% with much more restrictive cancellation policies.
Now, for the first time, I am seeing Hertz impose a no-show fee for reservations not cancelled by scheduled pick up time. When booking a one-day pay-later reservation, this is what I see before I click submit. Hertz is letting me know a penalty of $42.98 if I were to not cancel the reservation prior to the pick up time.
I have checked a franchise location in Toronto, Toronto Airport (YYZ) and Vancouver Airport (YVR). All three locations have the same no-show rules.
If this is true, this is a rather large devaluation from Hertz. Though some might argue why I was looking to reserve a Hertz vehicle when we have a number of bad experiences. The unfortunate reality is, it was over 50% cheaper than the next best alternative. Though, if it means I have to pay a no-show fee for pay later reservations at Hertz, I might just pay the penalty for National Car Rental instead.
