Can I keep Hertz Gold Plus Rewards points from expiring?

Question

The Hertz rental car company has a loyalty program called Gold Plus Rewards, You earn points for each rental, which can be redeemed for future rentals.

A note on my account statement says:

Points do not expire if you have Hertz Gold Plus Rewards rental activity in the prior 18 months. Reservations must be closed by [date] to prevent points from expiring. Activity means a Gold Plus Rewards point was either earned or redeemed on the rental.

However, I have no need to rent a car, either with money or points, before the expiration date. Are there any other lesser-known ways to earn, redeem, or otherwise preserve my points past the expiration date?

(I know the wording makes it sound like there aren't, but many loyalty programs have loopholes that let you do this; e.g. with many airline loyalty programs, you can keep all your miles from expiring by donating just a few to charity.)

I am in the US, if it makes a difference.

Answer 1

Did you see How to keep Hertz points alive (Points now expire after 18 months of inactivity)

Keep Hertz points alive, solution 1: Book Placeholder Future Points Rental

According to posts in this Flyertalk thread, booking a cancel-able award rental far into the future keeps your points alive until you can earn or spend points for a real rental.

Since awards start at 550 points, you need to have at least that many in your account to do this.

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1565968070217-0'); });

Keep Hertz points alive, solution 2: Convert Points to Airline Miles

Hertz lets you exchange points for airline miles (usually 600 points for 500 miles). This is not generally a good value since Hertz points are worth more on a 1 to 1 basis than airline miles, but it’s better than letting your points expire.

Since transfers start at 600 points, you need to have at least that many in your account to do this.

Keep Hertz points alive, solution 3: Transfer Points to Spouse / Domestic Partner with more recent activity

If your spouse has more recently earned or redeemed points for rental activity, you can call Hertz to transfer your points to their account.  This transfer won’t reset the clock entirely.  Instead, the points will adopt your spouse’s expiry date.

The nice thing about this option is that there is no minimum required.  I transferred 350 points from my account to my wife’s account since I had too few points to redeem for a future rental.

Keep Hertz points alive, solution 4: Transfer to Spouse, then Book Future Points Rental

This solution combines options 1 and 3 above.  If you don’t have enough points in one account to book a future rental, you may have enough once you combine accounts.  So, move points into one account then book a future cancel-able rental award.

Keep Hertz points alive, non-solution: Book award and cancel

In some programs you can reset expiry by booking an award with points and then immediately cancel. With Hertz, a cancelled award will supposedly cause Hertz to calculate the expiration date as if the award never happened.