For my trips around Graz in summer 2021, I opted for a car rental with Hertz from Graz Airport (GRZ). Apart from my high status level at the rental company, one key argument was that my flight from Frankfurt had a rather late scheduled arrival time. A lot of companies would have just given me a car the next morning or with other complications.
Hertz Graz Airport (GRZ) – The Rental
I had a three day rental in July 2021. The car category I booked was a Ford Fiesta, but I finally received a Ford Focus. The rental fee (prepaid, basic insurance with 750 EUR liability) was 186 EUR. On top of that, there was a some 30 Euro late rental fee – I received the car at Graz Airport when I arrived at 23:00 hrs.
Hertz Graz Airport (GRZ) – The Rental Office
The rental office of all major car rental companies are more or less located right next to the Arrivals area of the airport (there is a departure and a arrivals section, not two different levels). The cars are parked in a parking garage nearby, which was just a short walk.
Hertz Graz Airport (GRZ) – Receiving The Car
The client manager at Graz Airport was already awaiting me. The rental process was very efficient and quick. I received all necessary facts I needed. The only thing I was surprised about was that they blocked the full deposit of 750 Euro on my credit card. Since I am a five star member, that did not happen to me any more – but it feels to be the general policy for Hertz in Austria (I had the same thing at a rental in Salzburg Airport SZG a few weeks later). One weird thing, which I realized at the return of the car was that the car was actually not parked at a Hertz parking lot in the garage, but at a convient, ordinary one. The parking lots were very narrow, so that it was really challenging for me to get into the car.
Hertz Graz Airport (GRZ) – Returning The Car
The return of the car was easy. The airport is relatively small and handy and the car rental return is well signposted. I again struggled with the parking lot – and as I did not want to spoil a car rental at its very last second, I opted to go for a Thrifty lot (which is managed by the Hertz people at Graz Airport anyway. There are key return lockers for all companies, but the Hertz service desk was staffed at my time of return, so that I could hand the keys over directly (which I generally prefer, of course). Unfortunately, they did not check the car right at return, which is always a certain risk.
The Car – Ford Focus SW
The Ford Focus was a nice upgrade to the Fiesta. It was in really good condition – not too surprisingly, as it just came with a mileage of 5,000 km. The car is a very good drive, also for the hilly roads of Styria around Graz. At some points, I felt that the shock configuration of the car is comparably soft, especially in regards of the demand on driving on curvy roads. The car does – of course – come with a digital toll registration for the Austrian motorways.
Apart from its general condition, the car does not influence my rating of the car rental.
Hertz Graz Airport (GRZ) – My View
Overall, I had a really good and friendly rental with Hertz in Graz. The processes were efficient, the car was good – that’s just what you need. The deposit thing was a bit of strange to me (because you can easily massively decrease your credit card limit if you have multiple of them in parallel) – but that’s just a minor to me.
Car Rental Reviews
Here are all my car rental reviews so far:
Flyctory.com in Graz
Here are all my postings related to the Austrian city of Graz: