Car Rental question

Groundpounder

Groundpounder

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I have a discount code for Hertz that gives me a pretty hefty discount on rentals from them. It is for a company I used to work for. Am I opening myself to any liability if I still use it, even though I no longer for for that company?
 
What liability? If you cause an accident yiu are responsible for an accident.

I still use the corporate account for National rentals. I've been out of there since 2004. Am I missing something?
 
midlifeflyer said:
What liability? If you cause an accident yiu are responsible for an accident.

I still use the corporate account for National rentals. I've been out of there since 2004. Am I missing something?
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I don't know, are you? That is what I am asking.
 
Unless your company has blanket insurance that covers anyone who rents through their account, you should be fine. I’m still on a company cell phone plan although I haven’t worked for that company in years. I even told the employee at the provider when I stopped in for a new phone and he just said he didn’t hear me when I told him I no longer work for the company that gets the discount and kept me on the plan lol.
 
Groundpounder said:
I have a discount code for Hertz that gives me a pretty hefty discount on rentals from them. It is for a company I used to work for. Am I opening myself to any liability if I still use it, even though I no longer for for that company?
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The liability to pay full rate if you are caught.
 
midlifeflyer said:
What liability? If you cause an accident yiu are responsible for an accident.

I still use the corporate account for National rentals. I've been out of there since 2004. Am I missing something?
Click to expand...

I know of at least one case where an individual rented a car for a business trip using his (legitimate) corporate discount, which also included collision damage waiver. He got into an accident while taking a detour to visit a friend. The rental company denied the claim saying the accident occurred during a personal business. He did not have a secondary insurance. It ended up in a mess. I never use my employer's corporate discount for personal business except in cases where it explicitly says it is ok to use for personal business. In those cases they don't cover CDW, but only give a small discount.
 
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Is there something that states that discount only applies to current employees?
 
sarangan said:
I know of at least one case where an individual rented a car for a business trip using his (legitimate) corporate discount, which also included collision damage waiver. He got into an accident while taking a detour to visit a friend. The rental company denied the claim saying the accident occurred during a personal business. He did not have a secondary insurance. It ended up in a mess. I never use my employer's corporate discount for personal business except in cases where it explicitly says it is ok to use for personal business. In those cases they don't cover CDW, but only give a small discount.
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Since I haven't used CDW since I learned my insurance (and credit card) covered me (I think some time in the late 1970s or early 1980s) that's not a concern for me, although it might be for others.
 
Clip4 said:
The liability to pay full rate if you are caught.
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Maybe but I think doubtful. I think it is as much marketing for the company as anything else. My discounts with another agency might make it cheaper. And yes, I take an extra 5-10 minutes to compare costs. That's especially when flying privately since some FBOs have even better discounts.
 
I shoot parallel requests out to Hertz/Avis/National when I'm travelling. I've got status on all three and there's never a clear winner on price.
 
midlifeflyer said:
I've had some extremely clear winners.
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I thought I had the rental car code 'cracked' up until COVID messed all the typical travel processes up. Now it's anybody's guess who's better at any given point in space/time it seems. Have been top tier with National for years, but seems like they are more consistently sold out than I've ever dealt with prior to the past year or so. Our new travel policy/rate overlords prefer Avis, and oddly enough, I've had pretty good success with them (which is a shocker).
 
Be sure you've got the insurance angle covered. You have no idea what the company with the code negotiated to get a lower rate, and you can't see the contract language.

You will get unmasked if there is any incident, possibly including after you leave it at the rental location.

Also consider that your credit card insurance may not be valid, since it is usually secondary. The car rental CDW will not cover as primary since you violated the contract terms and conditions. And your credit card insurer will look for any loophole to deny and not become primary.

Finally, I doubt the rental car company will be generous in any way covering loss of use charges and will milk that angle as well..
 
midlifeflyer said:
Since I haven't used CDW since I learned my insurance (and credit card) covered me (I think some time in the late 1970s or early 1980s) that's not a concern for me, although it might be for others.
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One thing that may not get covered is Loss of Use. The rental car company will charge in a bunch per day while their car is being repaired as they cannot use it.

So you are sort of paying rental fees during the repair. CDW covers this.

That said, I opt out of the CDW coverage as my insurance and sometimes credit card cover it. And if there are some additional fees, oh well.
 
Pinecone said:
One thing that may not get covered is Loss of Use. The rental car company will charge in a bunch per day while their car is being repaired as they cannot use it.
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Maybe. But I figure I've saved more than enough to pay for that in almost 50 years of not taking CDW :D
 
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