It’s hard to stand out in the credit card industry. While each credit card company views itself as a company with a set identity and ethos, to consumers, they all basically do the same thing.
So in order to get a potential customer to sign up with their company instead of the competition, each credit card has to offer some sort of perks that differentiate it. Sometimes that’s cash back, sometimes it’s bonus miles with an airline.
But whenever one company introduces a perk, all the competitors have to make a move. When Discover introduced the concept of getting cash back for each purchase in the 1980s, it was considered a novel, boundary-breaking move. Now, it’s fairly common. That’s how it tends to go.
So credit card companies can never stop introducing new perks, lest they get left behind. And now American Express (AXP) has introduced a new perk, which should appeal to the demographic of Americans that have to travel in the upcoming holidays, which is more or less everyone.
What Perk Has American Express Introduced? American Express and Hertz (HTZZW) car rental have had a partnership that included perks such as 10% discount on car rentals worldwide and getting the fee-waived for an additional driver.
Now, members with the Platinum Card or the Business Platinum Card will, effectively immediately, automatically qualify for Hertz President’s Circle status, the highest status tier of the rental car program.
Before this change, “American Express Platinum cardholders got some of the benefits of Hertz’s mid-tier Five Star status when booking with their cards, but not top-tier status benefits,” as noted by The Points Guy.
Before the change, the way to earn Hertz Gold Plus Rewards points was to rent a car, which came out to one point per dollar spent on rentals. It would require 15 Hertz rentals or spending $3,000 on rental cars in a single calendar year to achieve the status.
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What Benefits Come With The Hertz President’s Circle Status?American Express users can register online to receive the benefits by logging into their Amex account, and then clicking through to the Benefits page, under “Enroll with Hertz.” After registering, the status should update within 24 to 72 hours.
The Hertz Gold Plus Rewards programs includes perks such as a 50% Gold Plus Rewards points-earning bonus, a guaranteed one-class car upgrades based on car fleet. Additionally, it also brings access to a wider range of cars in Ultimate Choice lots and a dedicated customer service phone number for automatic access.
One bonus that might be able to save you some time is the ability to skip the counter and head straight to pick out your car at U.S. rental locations. This will certainly be welcome news for people who are in a hurry, though the car rental industry continues to have an ongoing public image problem, as prices sky-rocketed due to pandemic-related supply crunches.
That said, all the other credit card companies can’t afford to let American Express have a monopoly on the card industry, as Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card cardholders are also eligible for free President’s Circle status.