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Your old employee rental discount

From former employees of HP and HPE.  (May 27, 2023)  Question? Email: info@hpalumni.org

Menu of all discount topics: Retiree Discount Menu  Discussed on the HPAA Benefits Forum.

Summary: You may be able to use an old badge or business card to obtain a former employer's corporate discount on a car rental -- but that carries significant insurance and legal risks.

The car rental industry has been clamping down on corporate discount leakage -- for all companies.

We have found no HP document from the last 20 years that extended discounts from company suppliers to retirees. Back when HP was much smaller, there were some that were informally leveraged from corporate contracts.

By 2006, this had been replaced by Beneplace -- an advertising company that promotes identical discounts to employees and retirees of thousands of companies -- including HP and HPE -- using web pages and emails with the employer's name and logo. Unrelated to the employer's corporate purchasing. How to use Beneplace: Beneplace Discounts

If you use an old badge, business card, or code and something goes badly wrong: 1. Your former employer and their insurance company will not be able to help, since they were not a party to the transaction. 2. Any insurance coverage included with the corporate discount is invalid. 3. Car rental companies can void the entire contract -- including supplemental liability, accident insurance, and LDW.

Violates the rental agreement: "To the extent you utilize any rate/benefit discount code in association with a rental, you represent you meet the requisite criteria for utilizing such discount code. Any other use will be viewed as an unlawful use and theft of services..." "VOIDS ALL LIABILITY PROTECTION AND ANY OPTIONAL SERVICES THAT YOU HAVE ACCEPTED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO SUPPLEMENTAL LIABILITY INSURANCE, PERSONAL ACCIDENT INSURANCE...AND LOSS DAMAGE WAIVER... [If you]...obtained the car through fraud or misrepresentation."
https://www.avis.com/en/legal-documents/rental-terms

This is discussed on frequent-traveler blogs. For example, FlyerTalk and ViewFromTheWing

"Most of the corporate codes now have a pre-negotiated insurance policy that isn't part of the rental and now is held entirely by the corporation. You would not be able to add any third-party insurance to these reservations. Credit card loss damage waivers will not cover you."

"...if a car is totaled, insurance will look for any way to not pay."

"If the rental goes horribly wrong -- say a major injury accident involving insurance companies and lawsuits -- you don't want any ambiguity about your legal possession of the car."

The Hertz rental agreement: "...states right next to the discount code: ' Represent That You Are Specifically Authorized to Receive The Benefits Extended To Employees/Members Of ' "

"We know of multiple instances where folks ended up being charged the walk-up rate when they couldn't produce the documentation required and it was painful."


Many discounts available

Instead, here is very helpful advice from extensive HPAA discussions: Rental Car Discounts


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