[AlohaHonolulu]

Parking in Boston’s not easy. If the hotel offers it, just park it with them. Street parking’s very difficult. In most neighborhoods, parking’s limited to residents and they have to display a residential parking decal. But parking in Boston’s a breeze compared to NY. Wait until you see the rates over there!

[JordanD]

Having completed my trip to the US, a little feedback from me.

First off – many thanks to all those who provided guidance to me in advance of the trip: really appreciated and made my life countless times easier.

I booked (via American Express Platinum Travel) for Hertz and the service I received was excellent on the whole, with a few niggles sorted out well.

I picked up the car from Midtown Manhattan, a few hours later than planned, and although the lady at the counter was a little confused why I was late, my Intermediate Size vehicle was available: she apologised that I wasn’t given an upgrade (due to my Hertz status), which she said was due to a lack of spare availability in the car class above. That said, my car came with Satellite radio, which I saw as an upgrade as it is a paid for option. I took the option to pre-pay for fuel and was given a full tank.

The car itself (a Chevrolet) drank fuel (not a real cost issue), but one issue that became apparent was a ‘slow accelerator’ which concerned me on the freeways. As such, after one day of driving, I wanted to swap the vehicle on safety grounds. Unfortunately this meant visiting the next town in rural Connecticut, but the Hertz office there could not have been more helpful – car swapped with no issues, no fee and no hassle. And to boot, the new car (VW) came with a 7/8 fuel tank (I’d used half of my original tank, so effectively some free fuel). I did lose the satellite radio, which was a shame.

A second swap was required three days later; again done with ease, and also an upgrade was provided to a ‘Full Size’ Ford Fusion. Couldn’t be happier – drove wonderfully, had excellent boot space (what was needed after some shopping) and again was given a full fuel tank, without further payment.

Final excellent moment of service: calling up two days before I was due to return the car to JFK, asking to swap to downtown NYC. Done without any charge, and with one phone call.

Praise where it is due – yes, there were issues with the car originally, but sometimes excellent service recovery is as good as getting it right from the off. Well done Hertz.

[Author]

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