Travel Deal of the Day (July 6, 2009)

Consider using a referral site such as Ebates or FatWallet to book your next rental car - you may earn cash back for linking to the rental car website from the referral website.

The Deal:
Various websites are offering referral bonuses just for linking over to a car rental website from that referring site. FatWallet, for instance, rebates 1.5% of your car rental purchase just for linking to the Avis website from FatWallet. Similar deals exist at Ebates. Since there is no extra fee to use these referral sites, consider using them when booking your next rental car (or other travel).

How:
(1) Go to a referral site (Ebates and FatWallet are two examples, but there are other similar websites as well) and set up or log into your account. Depending on the current promotions at the referral website, you may also be able to earn a referral promotion by linking from the referral website over to a travel booking engine such as Travelocity.

(2) Link to a travel provider from these websites.

The Inside Scoop:
You should always check around for the best deals. Sometimes referral websites only have referral bonuses for a few travel partners, so you should expand your search beyond just those companies offering referral bonuses. However, if you do book with a travel provider that offers a referral bonus when using a referral website, you should definitely take advantage of the bonus.