Hertz President’s Circle Status: The Perks, the Cards, and How It Stacks Up

It turns the worst part of renting a car, the counter and the coin-flip on what you actually drive away in, into a walk-to-the-lot-and-pick-your-car experience. Here is exactly what it gets you, which cards hand it over for free, and how it stacks up against the elite tiers at National, Avis, and Enterprise, so you know which one is worth chasing.

What President’s Circle actually gets you

Hertz President’s Circle is the highest published tier of Hertz Gold Plus Rewards, and the benefits are aimed squarely at the friction points of renting. The headline is a guaranteed one-class upgrade, so the car you reserve is the floor, not the ceiling. At major airports you also get access to the President’s Circle section of the Hertz Ultimate Choice lot, which means you skip the counter entirely and pick whatever car you want from a dedicated, better-stocked aisle.

On top of that you earn a 50% bonus on points for every rental, which builds toward free days noticeably faster, and you get a complimentary additional driver for a spouse or partner in the U.S. (a fee that adds up fast otherwise), plus a dedicated customer-service line and, at some locations, a valet-style meet-and-greet. None of it is life-changing on its own, but together it turns renting from a chore into one of the smoother parts of a trip.

The cards that hand it to you for free

You can earn President’s Circle the hard way, but you do not need to if you hold the right card. Two issuers include it outright:

• Capital One Venture X and Venture X Business include complimentary Hertz President’s Circle status, and Capital One has extended the benefit with no end date. It even reaches authorized users, which is unusually generous.
• Amex Platinum and Business Platinum include Hertz President’s Circle and go further, also granting Avis Preferred and National Emerald Club Executive status. The same applies to the Morgan Stanley and Schwab versions of the Platinum.

Two things to know. First, none of these are automatic; you have to enroll, usually from the benefits or travel section of your card account, and Amex is asking cardholders to re-enroll in the car-rental benefit by the end of 2026 to keep it active, so it is worth a two-minute check. Second, if your only goal is rental status, the Venture X is the cheaper path at a $395 fee versus the Platinum’s $895, though the Platinum bundles far more travel credits around it.

How it compares across the rental companies

Every major rental brand has its own elite ladder, and they do not line up perfectly. Here is where President’s Circle sits, and what the same premium cards get you elsewhere:

The Amex Platinum is the standout here because it grants the top-or-near-top tier at three of the four (Hertz, National, and Avis), while the Venture X focuses on Hertz alone. The Chase Sapphire Reserve takes the National-and-Avis route rather than Hertz, so which card wins comes down to which rental brand shows up cheapest where you travel.

So which elite status is actually best?

Honestly it is close between Hertz President’s Circle and National Executive, and they win in different situations. National’s Emerald Aisle is the most reliable perk in the business: you walk to the aisle, take any midsize-or-larger car you like, and pay the midsize rate, with no upgrade lottery and no counter. It is consistent almost everywhere National operates.

Hertz President’s Circle can be even better at big airports with a well-stocked President’s Circle section, where the choose-your-own-car selection often beats National’s aisle. But it leans more on that specific lot being available and stocked, so the experience varies more by location. Avis Preferred is a solid speed-and-priority perk but a notch below both, and Enterprise’s elite tiers are the weakest of the group and not something a card hands you. If you want one status to rely on, National Executive via the Amex Platinum is the safe pick; if you rent from Hertz at major hubs, President’s Circle is a genuine upgrade to the whole experience.

You do not have to pick just one: match it everywhere

Here is the move most people miss. Once you hold top status at one rental company, the others will usually match it, so a single card can hand you elite status across the whole industry. Because the brands compete hard for frequent renters, programs like National, Avis, Sixt, Budget, and even Enterprise run status-match offers that grant you their equivalent tier when you show proof of top status somewhere else.

So the Hertz President’s Circle you get from the Venture X or the Platinum is not just Hertz status, it is a key that unlocks the rest. Request a match with a screenshot of your President’s Circle account and you can end up holding National Executive, Avis top-tier, Sixt Platinum, and more at the same time, then simply rent from whichever brand is cheapest on a given trip while still skipping the counter and getting upgrades. The terms vary, some matches are instant and some ask for a short review or a few qualifying rentals to keep, but the ceiling is genuinely elite status at nearly every rental company, all from one card benefit.

Is it worth choosing a card for?

Rental status alone is not a reason to pay a big annual fee, but it is a real tiebreaker. If you already want a premium travel card, the fact that the Venture X or the Platinum throws in top-tier rental status, worth real money in upgrades and skipped second-driver fees over a year of trips, tilts the math in their favor. The key is to actually enroll and, on the Amex side, re-enroll before it lapses. Run your own numbers on whether the card earns its fee in our rewards calculator, and treat the rental status as the cherry on top rather than the whole sundae.

Frequently asked questions

Related reading

• How Award Travel Works
• How to Book a Flight with Points
• Airline Miles vs Bank Points
• Hotel Points Explained
• What Is a Travel Credit Card?

Written by Bryce Casson, Founder of Cardocrat. About the author and how we rank cards.