New Hertz Gold Plus Rewards promotion lets elite members gift status to friends and family

'Tis the season for status — at least, at Hertz Gold Plus Rewards. Thanks to the program's new promotion, Hertz elite members can choose up to two friends or family members to gift elite status to before the end of the year.

All you have to do is fill out a form on Hertz's website (here if you hold Five Star status or here if you're in President's Circle) by Dec. 31, 2024. You'll need to enter your Gold Plus Rewards number and email and your two gift recipients' Gold Plus Rewards numbers and emails. If you'd like to gift status to someone who isn't a Gold Plus Rewards member, they'll have to set up a free account first.

Your loved ones will receive the same status as you, along with all the same perks, from Jan. 13 to Dec. 31, 2025. After that time, they must meet Hertz's usual tier qualifications to hold onto their elite status.

The fine print doesn't mention any restrictions on which elite members can gift status, suggesting that you can take advantage of this promotion even if you hold status through an airline partnership or credit card — more on that below.

Related: Everything you need to know about rental car elite status

Hertz Gold Plus Rewards elite status

If you already hold elite status with Hertz, you know how valuable the benefits are. Five Star and President's Circle give members a wider selection and complimentary vehicle upgrades. Plus, these tiers earn 25% and 50% more Hertz points per dollar, respectively, to get you to your next free rental faster.

You'd typically need to make 10 qualifying rentals or spend $2,000 in a calendar year to reach Five Star status. Those thresholds increase to 15 rentals or $3,000 for President's Circle. But with this promotion, two of your friends or family members can enjoy the perks of elite status for free for most of 2025.

This isn't the only shortcut to status. The following credit cards provide cardholders (and, in some cases, authorized users) with automatic elite status with Hertz:

• Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: Receive complimentary Hertz Five Star status after enrolling through your account's benefits tab on the Capital One website or mobile app.
• Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card: Receive complimentary Hertz President's Circle status** after enrolling. (Although it was previously announced that this benefit would end at the end of 2024, a Capital One spokesperson confirmed in September 2024 that eligible cardholders will continue to qualify for complimentary Hertz status beyond Dec. 31, 2024.)
• The Platinum Card® from American Express and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express: Enjoy complimentary Hertz President's Circle status (enrollment required).

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Elite members of the Delta SkyMiles program can also get automatic Hertz status. Silver and Gold Medallion members are eligible for Hertz Five Star status, while Platinum and Diamond members are eligible for President's Circle.

If you hold status with another car rental agency — including Avis, Enterprise, Europcar, National and Sixt — you can request a status match to the equivalent Hertz tier on this page.

Related: Stacking rental car perks with Hertz and the Venture X

Bottom line

It's great to see Hertz launch a new promotion during the holidays — and this one is particularly lucrative because it lets you reap the benefits of Hertz elite status next year without spending a dime this year. If you're a Hertz elite, chances are you know a fellow traveler who doesn't have rental car elite status, so consider using this promo to brighten their 2025.

If you haven't yet finished your holiday shopping, check out our guides to the best travel gifts, how to give the gift of travel and redeeming points and miles for gifts.

**Upon enrollment, accessible through the Capital One website or mobile app, eligible cardholders will remain at that status level through the duration of the offer. Please note, enrolling through the normal Hertz Gold Plus Rewards enrollment process (e.g. at Hertz.com) will not automatically detect a cardholder as being eligible for the program and cardholders will not be automatically upgraded to the applicable status tier. Additional terms apply