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AAA is offering a free app for iPhone and Android users that uses GPS to pinpoint and track your location, and then sends you merchant discount offers from a wide variety of businesses in your area.

You can also plug in a city that you are planning on traveling to and check everything from discount car rental to hotels before you book your travel. The app has a helpful feature that allows you to sort discounts by "discount types", so that you don't have to waste time scrolling through discounts that you don't care about. Some really great deals that were recently available via this app include 20% off on hotel bookings and car rental, as well as train discounts and cheaper tickets to museums. The app also includes a turn-by-turn directions feature. However, the only thing missing from this app is that there is no way to sort discounts according to the greatest percentage or dollar amount of savings offered.

© UggBoy♥UggGirl [ PHOTO : WORLD : SENSE ]

Travelers going on holiday can save lots of money on cheap car hire in Europe by renting multi-person vehicles instead of booking several smaller cars. The UK car hire comparison firm carrentals.co.uk says that there are big savings available for those booking seven-seat vehicles or above.

Larger vehicles to consider include the Renault Scenic or Chrysler Voyager, or vans that seat up to 12 people. A multiple person vehicle can suit the needs of many travel groups, including friends, business people, or families who need to get around, according to the managing director of carrentals.co.uk. Their site offers the most competitive rates online for care hire in Europe, and the website also allows you to compare car hire prices across more than 9,000 global destinations, in order to find the cheapest rates.

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Customers look to be on the losing end of a battle between travel suppliers and online travel sites. First it was just involving US airlines, and now car rental companies are joining the fight. Rental car giant Enterprise has just announced that it plans to pull its rental offerings off of the popular online travel site Orbitz beginning April 1 due to a dispute over which of Enterprise's brands would be featured on Orbitz.

Enterprise operates Alamo Rent A Car, National Car Rental, and Enterprise brands, and the company claims that Orbitz demands "unacceptably high" commission rates. This is the second major loss for the travel site, after American Airlines defected in hopes of driving more sales via its in-house "Direct Connect" distribution system. This is possibly becoming a trend, as travel suppliers appear to be getting fed up with online travel agencies.