Hertz and AAA Expand Agreement to Offer More Benefits and Discounts to Members
ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 29, 2009 -- Hertz , the world's largest general use car rental brand, and AAA, North America's largest leisure travel organization, have extended and expanded their ongoing exclusive partnership - to provide added benefits and savings to AAA's more than 51 million members through 2015. As part of the agreement, AAA members will now receive a discount on the recently launched Hertz prepaid rates. Other new member benefits include a discount on Hertz's Fuel Purchase Option and a reduced rate for NeverLostŪGPS, Hertz's customized on-board navigational system.
The partnership between Hertz and AAA began 33 years ago, and Hertz has been AAA's exclusive car rental partner for 16 years. The partnership provides program benefits to AAA members in the United States and Canada.
"We are pleased to announce that we have extended and improved our partnership with Hertz to deliver even more savings to our members going forward. With this partnership, we're bringing Hertz's leadership in customer service together with AAA's commitment to providing valuable member benefits for our 51 million members," said AAA President and CEO Robert L. Darbelnet. "In addition to all the great values that carry over from the previous agreement, we have added new features such as a AAA discount off the recently launched Hertz prepaid rates."
"AAA is an integral part of the travel experience, especially for those traveling by car and we're proud to continue our partnership through 2015," commented Mark P. Frissora, Hertz Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We were able to work together with AAA to enhance the overall program we offer members while ensuring AAA's value added package of discounts and benefits remains intact. We're especially pleased to provide AAA members a discount on Hertz's online prepaid rate program, a program that is popular with our customers."
Some additional value added AAA member benefits include guaranteed best rate available at time of reservation by booking channel; discounts off the rental of NeverLost and SIRIUS XM Satellite Radio , no charge for additional qualified AAA drivers and a discount off the fee of Hertz #1 Club Gold membership when enrolling on AAA.com/hertz.
AAA operates the largest leisure travel agency network in North America and has unique relationships with the world's most trusted travel providers, allowing AAA to offer exclusive deals and perks not available elsewhere. AAA travel agency services are available to both members and non-members, although members enjoy access to special incentives and rewards.
In addition to the products and services travelers have come to expect from a car rental company - Instant Return, 24-hour Emergency Roadside Assistance, and one of the youngest fleets in the industry - Hertz continues to define the car rental industry with its mobile website for reservations, online check in and express, self-service kiosk, and its Collections - the Prestige, Fun and Green Collections -- that are reservable by specific make and model.
To make reservations or for more information, customers can call their local AAA travel agent, visit AAA.com/hertz, or call Hertz toll-free at 1-800-654-3080. Information and reservations are also available on the web at www.hertz.com.
As North America's largest motoring and leisure travel organization, AAA provides more than 51 million members with travel, insurance, financial and automotive-related services. Since its founding in 1902, the not-for-profit, fully tax-paying AAA has been a leader and advocate for the safety and security of all travelers. AAA clubs can be visited on the Internet at AAA.com.
About NeverLost
NeverLost is the car rental industry's leading in-car navigation system that is customized to meet travelers' needs on the road. The user friendly route-guidance system provides turn-by-turn audio and visual driving directions to virtually any destination in the U.S. and Canada and provides voice prompts in eleven languages -- Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese, or Korean..
NeverLost features a "AAA Tour Book" with ratings for hotels, restaurants and local attractions; "Travel Assistance" directory with airline phone numbers, radio station guides, and numbers for local weather and traffic; "Local Attractions" directory programmed with popular attractions; and a "Previous Destinations" directory enabling customers to mark a current location as a routable destination.
NeverLost's "Full Coverage" map database includes all named roads in the U.S. and detailed coverage of all major metropolitan areas throughout the U.S. and Canada, covering 20 million segments and 4 million miles of navigable roads. The NeverLost Location directory has 1.3 million pre-programmed destinations, including 70,000 hotels, 65,000 gas stations and 470,000 restaurants.
NeverLost was introduced in 1995 and is continually upgraded to incorporate the latest technology. Hertz has more than 50,000 NeverLost units available for rent for an additional charge from more than 400 rental locations throughout North America.
About SIRIUS XM Satellite Radio
Hertz offers SIRIUS XM Satellite Radio in more than 50 major airport locations in the U.S. and Canada. SIRIUS XM delivers the best programming in all of radio, including 100% commercial-free music plus world-class sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic and weather. And, to make getting there easier, SIRIUS 1st Traffic and Weather provides up-to-the minute local traffic and weather reports every 4 minutes. SIRIUS Satellite Radio is available for an additional charge.
AAA news releases, high resolution images, broadcast-quality video, fact sheets and podcasts are available on the AAA NewsRoom at AAA.com/news.
Stay connected with AAA on the web via: Twitter.com/AAAnews Twitter.com/AAA_Travel www.AAATravelViews.com YouTube.com/AAA MySpace.com/AAAeveryday AAA fan page on Facebook.com (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080226/DC15031LOGO )
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