Hertz 2012 Annual Report Download - page 34

ITEM 1. BUSINESS (Continued)
damage waiver, theft protection, liability and personal accident/effects insurance coverage, Hertz
NeverLost navigation systems and satellite radio services.
Reservations
We accept reservations for our cars on a brand-by-brand basis, with each of our brands maintaining, and
accepting reservations through, an independent Internet site. Our brands generally accept reservations
only for a class of vehicles, although Hertz accepts reservations for specific makes and models of
vehicles in our Prestige Collection, our Adrenaline Collection, our Green Traveler Collection and a limited
number of models in high-volume, leisure-oriented destinations. Beginning in December 2010, we made
the next generation of electric vehicles available to the general public, initially through our Hertz On
Demand car sharing service. Electric vehicles have been added to our fleet and are available at various
cities across the U.S. such as New York, Washington D.C. and San Francisco, in Europe and in China.
We plan continued deployment of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in both the U.S.
and other countries throughout 2013.
When customers reserve cars for rental from us and our licensees, they may seek to do so through travel
agents or third-party travel websites. In many of those cases, the travel agent or website will utilize a
third-party operated computerized reservation system, also known as a Global Distribution System, or
‘‘GDS,’’ to contact us and make the reservation.
In major countries, including the United States and all other countries with company-operated locations,
customers may also reserve cars for rental from us and our licensees worldwide through local, national
or toll-free telephone calls to our reservations center, directly through our rental locations or, in the case
of replacement rentals, through proprietary automated systems serving the insurance industry.
Additionally, we accept reservations for rentals worldwide through our websites, for us and our
licensees. We also offer the ability to reserve cars through our smartphone apps for the Hertz, Dollar and
Thrifty brands.
For the year ended December 31, 2012, approximately 32% of the worldwide reservations we accepted
came through travel agents using GDSs, while 30% came through our websites, 17% through phone
calls to our reservations center, 15% through third-party websites and 6% through local booking sources
and tour reservations. Our Dollar and Thrifty brands have historically used the Internet as their primary
source of reservations. As a result, we expect the percent of our reservations that come through the
Internet, particularly through our websites and third-party websites, to increase as a result of our
acquisition of Dollar Thrifty.
Customer Service Offerings
At our major airport rental locations, as well as at some smaller airport and off-airport locations,
customers participating in our Hertz #1 Club Gold program are able to rent vehicles in an expedited
manner. In the United States, participants in our Hertz #1 Club Gold program often bypass the rental
counter entirely and proceed directly to their vehicles upon arrival at our facility. Participants in our Hertz
#1 Club Gold program are also eligible to earn Gold Plus Rewards points that may be redeemed for free
rental days. For the year ended December 31, 2012, rentals by Hertz #1 Club Gold members accounted
for approximately 37% of our worldwide rental transactions. We believe the Hertz #1 Club Gold program
provides a significant competitive advantage to us, particularly among frequent travelers, and we have,
through travel industry relationships, targeted such travelers for participation in the program.
Hertz has introduced a number of customer service offerings in recent years in order to further
differentiate itself from the competition. The most significant new offering was Gold Choice. Hertz Gold
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