Second, by comparing prices across providers, you'll see all of the car classes available for your t

Editor's Note: This story was originally published on October 7, 2009. To see the most recent SmarterTravel articles vacation home rentals in texas on related topics, please click on any of the following links: airport , Avis , booking strategy , Boston , Budget , car rental , Chicago , Dallas , Expedia , Hertz , Los Angeles , Miami , National , Orbitz , Payless , Sarah Pascarella , Travelocity .
My series comparing online travel agencies (OTA) with direct travel suppliers continues this month with a focus on rental cars, following previous installments on booking airfare and hotels . The three largest OTAs recently eliminated booking vacation home rentals in texas fees for airfare, but not for hotel or rental car transactions. So how do car bookings vacation home rentals in texas hold up when tested among both OTAs and providers? Let's take a look at the numbers.
I tested five car rental scenarios, each for the Columbus Day holiday weekend. In every case, I compared the same car class, city, rental duration, and car company to ensure an apples-to-apples result. The tests were as follows: A standard car rental at Los Angeles International Airport
Consumers have a broad range of choices when booking a rental vacation home rentals in texas car. In the absence vacation home rentals in texas of price differentiation, travelers will mainly have to decide whether convenience (a range of choices with an OTA) or brand loyalty (frequent customer rewards programs, discounts, vacation home rentals in texas etc.) is more important.
Even though the price quotes in this experiment came out the same, it's still a good idea to compare prices for your upcoming trip. First, I did not check any "opaque" sites (such as Hotwire or Priceline), which tend to offer significant savings on rental cars, making them a good option when comparing prices among the major suppliers.
Second, by comparing prices across providers, you'll see all of the car classes available for your trip, and may be surprised at where you can find savings. For example, on a recent trip to Pittsburgh, I found that a full-size weekend car rental was cheaper than an economy car for the same rental period. If I hadn't compared a few providers, I wouldn't have discovered that unexpected value.
Finally, comparing prices may also alert you to sales and promotions you hadn't known about before. For this experiment, I only looked at non-sale, standard rates. By searching around on a variety of providers, you may learn of seasonal vacation home rentals in texas promotions, membership bargains (e.g., AAA discounts), and other applicable deals.