Hertz Optimizes Travel Experience In And Out Of Car With Updates To Award-Winning NeverLost® GPS And My Explore™ Mobile App

PARK RIDGE, N.J. and PLANO, Texas, May 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hertz Corporation (NYSE: HTZ) and Navigation Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hertz, today announce the newest innovations to the acclaimed Hertz NeverLost^® travel planning tools, creating an easier way for users to plan trips and explore cities.  Among the enhancements, Hertz has partnered with Waterkeeper Alliance to offer the first-ever "Waterkeeper Swim Guide," accessible to customers via the in-car Hertz NeverLost GPS unit. The "Waterkeeper Swim Guide" is a new data source that will tell users where beaches are located, which are safe for swimming, and what's unique about each beach.  Hertz is also expanding its NeverLost My Explore™ mobile app to include five new city guides for the following locations: Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Detroit and Napa. The new city apps will be available to download starting June 10, 2013.

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"These innovations allow us to continue delivering the cutting-edge technology and custom content our customers want, both in and out of the car," commented Hertz Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mark P. Frissora. "As we kick off summer travel, we are excited to provide our customers with tools like the Waterkeeper 'Swim Guide' and an expanded list of unique, customized city guides that enhance their car rental experience, and make it fast, easy and fun."

The "Waterkeeper Swim Guide" is a tool that brings together real-time beach water quality data from across the U.S. and Canada free to customers with interactive visualizations on their computer or mobile device. The Swim Guide, featured within the Hertz NeverLost^® GPS 'Explore City' in-car content enables customers to further customize their travel experience by receiving up-to-date, and easy to understand beach information.

"Waterkeeper Alliance is proud to partner with Hertz on the Swim Guide. The Swim Guide re-connects communities with their waterways by telling people how to find the closest beach and if it is safe to swim when they get there," said Waterkeeper Alliance President Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.  "An informed public is the foundation of a functioning democracy.  By making water quality data easily available, this tool will promote healthy public debate about the costs of pollution to our communities."  

Travelers will also have an easier time planning, navigating and exploring even more of the country's major travel destinations with the expansion of the NeverLost My Explore^™ app to include five new city guides - Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Detroit and Napa – starting June 10, 2013. Ideal for business and leisure travelers, the app allows users to maximize their travel experience with customized voice narratives and text descriptions for must-see sites, tours, shopping, neighborhoods, favorites and restaurants. Highlights include:

• Local City Tours:  Rediscover a city with unique tours. Visit the Denver Botanic Gardens or spend a day under the sea at Baltimore's National Aquarium.
• Local Neighborhoods:  Explore niche neighborhoods or take a walking tour to find hidden gems, like that quaint shop or cozy restaurant you wouldn't find otherwise.
• Events:  In town for a short trip? Stay up-to-date with fun local events – from music festivals and concerts to exhibitions, conventions, theater performances, and more.  Events are updated weekly, so you'll know exactly which nearby Napa wineries are hosting special tastings or events this weekend!
• Must-See Attractions: Choose from hundreds of media rich attractions and the top must-see and -do for each region.  Have a couple of hours to spare in Detroit? Check out the history-rich Henry Ford museum or the must-see Motown Historical Museum.

Features of the NeverLost My Explore^™ app include augmented reality to turn a camera phone into a live map at the touch of a screen to show surrounding attractions, map view to let users find their way by car, foot, or public transportation, live weather updates for help pre-planning activities, social media integration so users can share travel adventures using Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr, and free download codes to integrate seamlessly with any NeverLost^® GPS device.

Additional features of the Hertz NeverLost^® GPS include:

• NeverLost Online Trip Planning™ – Users can visit NeverLost.com to build and manage a custom itinerary before they ever hit the road—complete with airport details and every destination along the way. Trips are sent wirelessly to NeverLost^® with a personal download code for secure and convenient access.
• Concierge-on-demand – Concierge Assisted Routing, a FREE on-demand travel service that gives users access to concierge-style customer service and live travel support seven-days-a-week, is available for help with trip planning, tips and re-routing of any travel plans.
  • Users can call 800-823-2547 to connect with a concierge, or get started online and a NeverLost^® concierge will build the trip.  Routes can be sent wirelessly to NeverLost^®; with 10 days advanced notice, users receive a free customized Hertz NeverLost^® USB drive with their trip pre-loaded.
• Comprehensive database of destinations – Hertz NeverLost^® does the heavy lifting with a database of more than 6.5 million points of interest. Users get quick and easy access to a frequently-updated list of destinations right at their fingertips – from city attractions and sites to local neighborhood destinations.
  • Popular Chains™, one of users' favorite features, displays touch screen logos of some of the most popular chains, so users can find the closest locations of well-known restaurants and retailers at the touch of a screen.  Need a quick pick-me-up on the road, a well-deserved lunch break for your road crew, or maybe a little TLC for your MVP?  Your closest coffee shops, trusted restaurants, and even pharmacies and convenience stores are as close as a touch of a logo!

The newly-expanded list of My Explore^™ cities joins the existing NeverLost^® My Explore^™ cities, which can be found here, with additional cities planned for a future rollout. The first My Explore™ app is available for download for free; additional city guides are available for $0.99 each. My Explore™ complements the award-winning Hertz NeverLost® with download codes for easy transfer of information and routing to the unit. Hertz NeverLost^® is available upon request in select Hertz vehicles for $12.99 per day.

Visit My Explore™ on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/hertz.neverlost) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/myexplore).  For more information on Hertz, visit Facebook (www.facebook.com/Hertz) or Twitter (www.twitter.com/Hertz).

About The Hertz Corporation

Hertz operates its car rental business through the Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty brands from approximately 10,400 corporate, licensee and franchisee locations in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East and New Zealand. Hertz is the largest worldwide airport general use car rental brand, operating from approximately 8,800 corporate and licensee locations in approximately 150 countries. Hertz is the number one airport car rental brand in the U.S. and at 111 major airports in Europe.   Hertz is an inaugural member of Travel + Leisure's World's Best Awards Hall of Fame and was recently named, for the thirteenth time, by the magazine's readers as the Best Car Rental Agency. Hertz was also voted the Best Overall Car Rental Company in Zagat's 2012/13 U.S. Car Rental Survey, earning top honors in 14 categories, and the Company swept the global awards for Best Rewards Program and Best Overall Benefits from FlyerTalk.com. Product and services such as Hertz Gold Plus Rewards, NeverLost^®, and unique cars and SUVs offered through the Adrenaline, Prestige and Green Traveler Collections, set Hertz apart from the competition. Additionally, Hertz owns the vehicle leasing and fleet management leader Donlen Corporation. The Company also owns a leading North American equipment rental business, Hertz Equipment Rental Corporation, which includes Hertz Entertainment Services.

About Navigation Solutions LLC

Plano, TX-based Navigation Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Hertz Corporation is the developer of the Hertz NeverLost^® travel system, a user-friendly and customizable route-guidance system that provides turn-by-turn audio and visual driving directions to virtually any destination in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico as well as online travel planning.  NeverLost^® also develops and markets customized destination-specific smartphone mobile applications for travel under the My Explore™ mobile app brand.

About Waterkeeper Alliance

Waterkeeper Alliance is the fastest growing global environmental movement uniting more than 200 Waterkeeper organizations around the world and focusing citizen advocacy on the issues that affect our waterways, from pollution to climate change. Waterkeepers patrol more than 1.5 million square miles of rivers, streams and coastlines on six continents. 

SOURCE The Hertz Corporation