Here is an observation that I thought may be helpful. In booking an on-line car rental for San Diego, I received different rates at every website I entered even though I used the same rental company. The "lowest published fare" turned out not to be the lowest. I actually booked a weekly rental for $50-$65 dollars less than "lowest published fare" by going directly to the company website. This doesn't always turn out this way but I just want to make the point that by diligently searching a the net, you can often save money.

I had the same experience yesterday when booking a room for Boston. Rooms at the Wyndham came up $275.95 HotelDiscounts, $295 Boston4Less, $205 Expedia, $189 AAA, and $151 at the Wyndham website. This is not always the case, however. And, as Paul said, and I could not agree more, it really saves you money to shop like the dickens.

A related tip: when reserving a car way in advance, be sure to call or check the company's web site to see if there are any deals running you can apply to your booking. Dollar rent a car lets you log in to modify your reservation - I did that recently and my rates went down by half!

Marlena

This is true. Sometimes the best deals are online, but sometimes you can get better ones over the phone through the 800 number. It just depends and you have to check.

I often check out deals online and have booked hotels and airline tickets from various online vendors. However, I want to caution everyone to confirm reservations through the actual company itself. I have learned this the hard way when I booked a hotel room online, then called and found that the hotel had no record of my reservation--despite the fact that I had a confirmation number.