Key takeaways
- President's Circle from the Capital One Venture X card includes 1.5 Hertz Gold+ Rewards points per dollar and guaranteed upgrades to full-size vehicles when booking 48 hours in advance.
- Enrollment through your credit card issuer takes minutes and is worth activating even if you rarely rent cars.
- Ultimate Choice vehicle lot selection is only available at select Hertz airport locations; smaller branches may not offer this feature.
- The status delivers real value for special occasions where the vehicle experience matters more than the rental price.
After holding the Capital One Venture X card for several years, one complimentary perk remained untested: Hertz President’s Circle status. A travel rewards journalist from The Points Guy decided to put this elite tier—included with several premium credit cards—to the test during a recent trip to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.
Understanding Hertz President’s Circle
How the Tier System Works
Hertz Gold+ Rewards is a free loyalty program organized in three distinct tiers. Members start at Gold, the entry level, then can progress to Five Star in the middle tier, and finally to President’s Circle at the top. The path to President’s Circle through ordinary earning requires completing 15 rentals or spending $3,000 within a single calendar year.
Credit Card Access to Elite Status
Several premium travel credit cards include complimentary President’s Circle status as a cardholder benefit. The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is among them, granting members this elite tier automatically. To activate the status, cardholders must enroll through the credit card issuer’s website or app. A critical distinction: enrolling through Hertz.com will not recognize your credit card eligibility, and you will not be automatically upgraded to President’s Circle status.
Benefits Included With the Tier
President’s Circle members earn 1.5 Hertz Gold+ Rewards points for each dollar spent on a rental. The signature benefit is a guaranteed vehicle upgrade: reserve a midsize or larger vehicle and receive a complimentary upgrade to full-size, as long as your reservation is made at least 48 hours in advance at a participating location. Upgrades do not apply to Manager’s Special rentals or certain premium vehicle collections. At select Hertz airport locations, Ultimate Choice allows members to walk the President’s Circle lot and select any available vehicle directly.
Activating the Benefit
The activation process is straightforward. Log into your Capital One account via website or mobile app, locate the Hertz benefit enrollment, and complete the submission—a task requiring only minutes. Once activated, the status remains valid for the duration of the offer.
Customers renting with Hertz for the first time while holding President’s Circle status face one additional requirement: verification at the Gold desk before bypassing the main counter on subsequent rentals. This detail proved important during the test, particularly at larger locations like Denver International Airport, where the Gold and President’s Circle desks operate from a separate building entirely.
Testing the Activation and Pickup Process
The Counter Confusion
Upon arrival at Denver International Airport for pickup, the journalist found his name on the President’s Circle board with instructions to visit the desk. However, he first approached the main building counter, where staff insisted his status had expired despite his having activated it only a month earlier. They refused to reactivate it and explained that doing so would require canceling the entire reservation and rebooking—a costly option for a trip already underway. This response occurred even though the customer’s live Hertz account displayed his active President’s Circle status and the reservation details clearly.
Resolution at the Right Location
A visit to the President’s Circle desk, situated in a separate building at the airport, immediately resolved the issue. Staff confirmed the active status without question, located the reservation, and directed the customer to the President’s Circle vehicle lot within minutes. The stark contrast between the two interactions highlighted the importance of knowing which desk to approach, especially at larger airport locations.
The Vehicle Selection Experience
More than 50 vehicles occupied the President’s Circle section at Denver International Airport. The original reservation was for a midsize Kia K4, but the test driver walked the President’s Circle lot and selected a 2026 Jeep Wrangler Sahara 4WD with just a few thousand miles on the odometer.
Upon checking retail prices, the Wrangler’s value exceeded the Kia’s by more than two times—a significant upgrade in tangible dollar terms. For a drive to Rocky Mountain National Park with its winding mountain roads, the four-wheel-drive Jeep proved both practical and enjoyable. According to The Points Guy’s account, the experience of wandering the lot and selecting any vehicle from the available inventory felt like winning a game show prize.
Real-World Limitations to Consider
Geographic Restrictions
The Ultimate Choice benefit—walking the lot and selecting directly—is available only at select Hertz airport locations. Smaller branches, downtown locations, and non-airport rentals may not offer this option, meaning members at those sites would experience a standard upgrade process rather than open selection.
Pricing Versus Premium
This particular rental was not the cheapest car rental option available in the area. If your primary goal is the lowest rate, other agencies may deliver better pricing. President’s Circle status excels when the vehicle experience matters more than base cost.
Card Benefit Versus Card Opening Decision
The status benefit alone does not justify applying for a new credit card. However, for cardholders who already carry premium travel cards like the Venture X, the enrollment requires minimal time and costs nothing to activate.
Worth Your Time
After years of overlooking the Hertz President’s Circle status included with his card, the journalist from The Points Guy found genuine value in the benefit—at least within the right context. A special travel occasion like exploring one of the nation’s premier national parks transformed an ordinary car rental into a memorable experience.
The practical takeaway is straightforward: if you hold one of the qualifying premium credit cards, enroll through your card issuer. The process takes minutes. You may never need the status. But when a trip calls for an elevated rental-car experience, the benefit delivers on its core promise, provided you enroll correctly and know to approach the President’s Circle desk at larger locations.
Source: The Points Guy Articles
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I activate Hertz President's Circle from my credit card?
Log into your credit card issuer's website or app, locate the Hertz benefit enrollment section, and submit your enrollment. Do not enroll through Hertz.com, as that platform will not recognize your credit card eligibility for President's Circle status.
What are the main benefits of President's Circle status?
You earn 1.5 Hertz Gold+ Rewards points per dollar spent and receive guaranteed upgrades to full-size vehicles when you book a midsize or larger car at least 48 hours in advance. At select airport locations with Ultimate Choice, you can also walk the President's Circle lot and select any available vehicle directly.
Is President's Circle status worth keeping a credit card for?
No, it is not valuable enough alone to justify opening a card. However, if you already hold a premium travel card like the Capital One Venture X that includes it, activating the status takes minutes and provides genuine benefits for special travel occasions.
