Sixt vs Hertz: age, deposit, cover and loyalty compared

Sixt vs Hertz is a common question once your shortlist comes down to the big international names, and it usually comes with a country attached: Italy, Germany, the USA or Europe as a whole. That is the right instinct: both brands publish separate rental terms per country, and the points that matter at the counter (how old you must be, how much is blocked on your card, which borders you may cross) change with the pickup country. This guide compares the two on exactly those points, using their own terms for Great Britain, Italy, Germany and the United States, all checked on 1 October 2026.

Nobody gets crowned here: the better fit depends on your age, your card, your route and how often you rent. For a wider portrait of each brand, see our Sixt car rental guide and Hertz car rental guide.

Is Sixt owned by Hertz?

No. They are two separate, competing groups.

Sixt is Sixt SE, with its head office in Pullach near Munich. Its history starts in 1912, it has been listed on the stock market since 1986, and it is run by co-CEOs Alexander and Konstantin Sixt. Sixt entered the United States in 2011, and in 2025 it earned 72.6 percent of its revenue outside Germany, with a fleet of about 365,900 vehicles including franchise partners.

Hertz belongs to Hertz Global Holdings, which runs the Hertz, Dollar, Thrifty and Firefly brands and reports more than 11,000 rental locations in 160 countries. Hertz’s European rental terms (June 2026 edition) state that your contract is with “the Hertz company or franchisee” named on the rental agreement, so in some places the desk is run by a local franchise holder.

Sixt vs Hertz at a glance

	Sixt	Hertz
Minimum age, Great Britain	21 for mini to compact groups; young driver surcharge under 28	25; from 21 on smaller groups with a surcharge
Minimum age, Italy	18, licence held one year; surcharge under 25	25; from 21 (some groups 23) with a surcharge
Minimum age, Germany	18; surcharge under 25	25; from 19 on small groups, 21 on many others
Minimum age, USA	21 (18 in New York state)	20 at most locations
Deposit basis	Rental amount plus a fixed sum per car group	Larger of rental plus a full tank or €200/£200, plus €500 without SuperCover
Fuel	Return full, prepaid fuel or a fuelling service	Return full, Fuel Purchase Option or pay per litre plus a service charge
Excess top-up	Loss Damage Waiver with reduced or minimum excess	SuperCover on top of CDW and Theft Protection
Loyalty	SIXT ONE	Hertz Gold+
Great Britain to mainland Europe	Allowed with a fee, except premium, luxury and some van groups	Not allowed since 1 January 2021

Corporate rates can differ, so your booking confirmation has the final word.

Minimum age and young driver rules

Great Britain. Sixt rents its smaller groups from 21 with a licence held for one year, some mid-range groups from 23, larger cars from 25 and premium and luxury groups from 30, with a young driver surcharge under 28. Hertz sets a minimum of 25, but its smaller groups (Kia Picanto, Vauxhall Corsa or Ford Fiesta class) can be rented from 21 with a surcharge of £61.43 per day, £430 per week and at most £1,719.98 per rental, tax included. Some Hertz prestige models require 27, 28 or 30.

Italy. Sixt’s basic minimum is 18 with a licence held for at least one year, with exceptions per car group, and a surcharge under 25. Hertz Italy has a minimum of 25, but most standard groups can be rented from 21 (a few from 23) with a surcharge of €36.60 per day, €256.20 per week and at most €402.60 per rental, tax included.

Germany. Sixt’s home market has the lowest threshold: 18, with the licence held for at least one day, and a surcharge under 25. Hertz Germany sets a minimum of 25 but rents small groups from 19 and many others from 21, with a surcharge of €31.18 per day or €155.89 per week.

United States. Sixt rents from 21, or 18 in New York state, and limits drivers under 25 to economy to full-size sedans, compact to midsize SUVs and minivans. Hertz rents from 20 at most US locations, from 18 in Michigan and New York and from 19 in Alabama and Nebraska, and keeps its Dream Car, Prestige and Adrenaline collections for drivers 25 and over.

Note that in Great Britain the Sixt surcharge runs up to age 27, while Hertz’s applies to drivers aged 21 to 24. More in our guide to the young driver surcharge.

Deposit and which card you need

Sixt blocks the rental amount plus a fixed sum per car group. In Great Britain that is £300 for most groups, then £500, £750 and up to £2,000 for sports and luxury cars. Italy uses the same steps in euros. At most US locations Sixt blocks the rental amount plus $200 for standard groups, with minimum holds of $500 to $2,500 for higher groups.

Sixt Great Britain accepts credit and debit cards, but a debit card must be issued in the country where you live. Sixt Italy accepts major credit and debit cards, but no prepaid cards or cash. In the US, Sixt takes a debit card at airports only with a return ticket in your name booked at least 24 hours before pickup, or from international renters with a card issued in their home country.

Hertz uses one formula across its European terms: the larger of the full rental price plus a tank of fuel, or €200 (£200), plus €500 if you have not bought SuperCover. Hertz’s deposit pages list that extra amount as £0 in sterling. Hertz also warns that a released hold can take up to 30 days to show on your account.

Hertz Great Britain accepts major credit cards and Visa or Mastercard debit cards, but not Visa Electron or Maestro, and asks for a passport and two credit cards on its most exclusive models. In Italy, one credit card or one Visa or Mastercard debit card is enough for the smallest groups. In the US, Hertz accepts a debit or credit card, although some neighbourhood locations require a credit card.

In short: Sixt’s hold grows with the value of the car, Hertz’s with the rental total and tank size. More in our guide on the deposit and excess on a rental car.

Excess and cover: different names, similar logic

Both brands start from a waiver with an excess and sell a product that lowers it.

Sixt calls its main product the Loss Damage Waiver, including theft protection, sold with a reduced or a minimum excess. Around it sit Tyre and Glass Protection (no deductible), Interior Protection, Roadside Protection and Complementary Protection Plus. In Great Britain the excess with the waiver is £1,600 to £3,000 depending on the car, and the minimum-excess version is not available under 25. In Italy the collision excess starts at €1,500 and the theft excess at €2,000 for mini and economy cars; the reduced option brings those groups to €750 and the minimum option to €0.

Hertz splits the base into Collision Damage Waiver and Theft Protection, then offers SuperCover to remove or further reduce the remaining excess, plus a Glass and Tyres cover that SuperCover already includes. In Great Britain, declining CDW leaves you liable up to the replacement value of the car; with CDW the excess for the Kia Picanto group is £1,700. In Italy, Theft Protection is compulsory, and the excess is €1,600 for collision and €2,000 for theft on Fiat 500, Panda and Corsa class cars.

In the US, Sixt does not include liability insurance unless the law requires it and sells it separately.

Fuel rules

Both brands expect the car back full, and both sell a way out.

Sixt sells prepaid fuel at what it calls a comparable fuel station price, with no refund for unused fuel. A fuelling service, where available, costs a fee plus the litres at comparable station prices. Otherwise Sixt charges its branch refuelling tariffs.

Hertz offers the Fuel Purchase Option, and its own terms say the price is usually higher than at local stations because a service element is included, again with no refund for unused fuel. Return the car without refuelling and without that option, and Hertz charges a price per litre plus a refuelling service charge, shown on your agreement as the maximum refuelling charge. With either brand, refuel close to the return branch and keep the receipt. Our fuel policy guide covers the options.

Driving across borders

This is the clearest practical difference between the two.

Sixt sorts countries into zones. From Italy or Germany, most car groups may enter zone I (Western Europe, including Great Britain, Ireland, Norway and Switzerland), zone II (Croatia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia) and zone III (Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania). Premium, Premium Elite and Luxury groups and vans stop at zone II, the top luxury and sports groups stay in zone I, and no Sixt car may enter any other country or leave the European continent. Sixt Germany’s Country Roaming fee is €7.49 per day, with a maximum of €35 per rental for most groups. From Great Britain, Sixt sells a Visit the Continent Fee of £42 per day with a minimum of £300 per rental, including breakdown assistance and the VE103B vehicle certificate; premium and luxury groups, several van groups and commercial vehicles may not go, and international one-way rentals are not allowed. The Republic of Ireland falls under a separate UK Island Hopper Fee.

Hertz Italy lets you drive to and drop off in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and Ljubljana, and drive in Finland, Ireland, Norway and Sweden without dropping off there. The cross-border fee is €30, and €600 may be charged if you leave Italy without declaring it. Greece, Malta and the UK are excluded, and Croatia needs written permission. Hertz Germany charges €41.65 to leave the country; its cars may be driven in Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, but Mercedes and BMW models, convertibles and premium SUVs may not enter those countries or Italy. Hertz Great Britain has not allowed driving to continental Europe since 1 January 2021; Ireland is possible with a VE103B certificate (£171.99 for 1 to 7 days).

Loyalty: SIXT ONE vs Hertz Gold+

SIXT ONE is free and has four tiers: Silver on joining, Gold from 2,000 status points, Platinum from 4,000 and Diamond from 6,000, with points earned on the rental price excluding taxes and fees. Members can check in on the app, skip the counter and choose from two or three cars; Platinum is eligible for free upgrades, and Diamond adds lounge access. Benefits apply at participating locations in 13 countries, including the US, Germany, Great Britain, France, Spain and Italy.

Hertz Gold+ is also free, with the tiers Gold, Five Star and President’s Circle. Members can skip the counter at selected locations and choose their car, points are earned on the base rate only, and free rental days start at 950 points. President’s Circle gets a guaranteed one-class upgrade up to a full-size car; for Five Star it depends on availability.

Which one fits your trip?

• Aged 21 to 24 in Europe: Sixt’s published minimum ages are lower in Italy and Germany and equal in Great Britain. Compare the surcharge in both quotes, since Sixt’s British surcharge runs up to 27.
• Aged 20 in the US: Hertz rents from 20 at most US locations; Sixt from 21, except in New York.
• UK road trip to France: of the two, only Sixt allows it, with the Visit the Continent Fee and an eligible car group.
• Rome to Croatia or Greece: check the rules first. Sixt puts Croatia in zone II and allows no car into Greece; Hertz Italy also excludes Greece and needs written permission for Croatia.
• Winter in Germany: Hertz lists winter tyres at all German locations from 1 October to 31 March, at no extra charge on its retail rates from 1 November; Sixt charges for them unless your rate includes them.
• Frequent renter: stay with the programme where you already hold status, and check that your destination takes part.

Before you pick up either car

The same habits work with both brands: bring a credit card in the main driver’s name with room for the hold, photograph the bodywork, wheels and windscreen, check the fuel gauge against the contract, and photograph it again at return.

Vrooem compares local and international rental companies at your destination, so you can weigh deposit, excess, fuel and card rules across more suppliers before you book. Every Vrooem booking also includes a free travel eSIM with mobile data.

Sixt vs Hertz FAQ

Is Sixt a luxury car rental company?

Sixt rents everything from mini cars to Sports and Luxury groups, which carry higher age limits and deposits (£2,000 on top of the rental in Great Britain). Hertz has comparable collections, such as Prestige and Dream Car in the US.

Which is better for a young driver?

On paper Sixt accepts younger drivers in Italy and Germany (18), while Hertz starts at 19 in Germany and 21 in Italy and Great Britain. In the US it is the other way round: Hertz from 20, Sixt from 21. Both charge a young driver surcharge.

Can I take a Sixt or Hertz car from the UK to France?

With Sixt, yes, in an eligible car group and with the Visit the Continent Fee. Hertz cars rented in Great Britain may not be driven to continental Europe.

Sources

Checked on 1 October 2026: Sixt rental information Great Britain, Sixt rental information Italy, Sixt rental information Germany, Sixt rental information USA, SIXT ONE rewards programme, Sixt SE company page, Hertz rental terms Europe, June 2026 (PDF), Hertz rental requirements Italy, Hertz rental requirements Great Britain, Hertz rental requirements Germany, Hertz young renters USA, Hertz Gold+ and Hertz Global Holdings investor relations.