Hotwire Highlights Top 10 Cities with the Lowest Car Rental Rates for January 2010

Low Post-Holiday Prices Mean Great Deals for Consumers in Early 2010

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 20 -- Hotwire.com®, a leading discount travel site, today announced the top 10 cities with the lowest car rental rates for the month of January 2010. January car rental rates on Hotwire® are down as much as 20 percent compared to last month in some of the most popular markets like Las Vegas. Other locations, like Orlando, are down as much as 11 percent compared to the same time last year as car rental companies are offering low prices to stimulate growth and kick-off 2010 strong.

Car rental companies have needed to maintain leaner fleets through the economic downturn, but now they appear to be increasing fleet sizes in certain locations, leading to more options and better prices for consumers. Combined with the traditionally slow January season, this leaves many locations with a surplus of rentals needing renters. That means savvy, deal seeking consumers can hit the road and take advantage of the amazing car rental rates, as low as 13.95 a day, currently on Hotwire in top destinations around the U.S.

To help consumers find a place where they can drive away at an amazing price, Hotwire is revealing the top 10 cities in the U.S. with the lowest car rental rates available on Hotwire. Warm weather destinations make up the majority of the list, including Orlando, San Diego, Honolulu and Miami/Fort Lauderdale. With Hotwire's low prices, travelers can book a car rental and hit the road in these sun soaked locales.

  Below are the top 10 cities where car prices are lowest for January 2010:*

  1. Orlando, FL
  2. San Diego, CA
  3. Miami/Fort Lauderdale, FL
  4. Honolulu, HI
  5. Las Vegas, NV
  6. Seattle, WA
  7. San Francisco, CA
  8. Tampa, FL
  9. Los Angeles, CA
  10. Phoenix, AZ

"This month car rental prices have retreated from their recent holiday highs and rental companies have increased their fleet sizes in many popular and tourist friendly cities," said Clem Bason, President of the Hotwire Group. "More inventory means better prices and we're seeing some low rates on Hotwire that will make for a happy car rental customer in 2010."

Hotwire is able to find great deals because it works with hotels, airlines and car rental companies to fill unsold inventory. This means that customers will find deals that they won't see anywhere else.

*Hotwire's findings are based on economy-class prices booked on Hotwire for travel in January 2010.

About Hotwire

Hotwire.com is a leading discount travel site with low rates on airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, cruises and vacation packages. Launched in 2000, Hotwire negotiates deep discounts from its travel suppliers to help travelers book unsold airline seats, hotel rooms and rental cars. J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Independent Travel Web Site Satisfaction Study(SM) recognized Hotwire for ranking "Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Independent Travel Web Sites, Three Years in a Row." Hotwire is an operating company of Expedia, Inc. CST: 2053390-40. NST: 20003-0209. For more information, visit http://www.hotwire.com/.

Hotwire, Hotwire.com and the Hotwire logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Hotwire, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners. © 2010 Hotwire, Inc. All rights reserved.