Travel bargain-hunters are finding great deals for hotels and airfares in the current challenging economic times. But rental car rates are up because the rental car companies are keeping less inventory.

That is according to Clem Bason, president of the discount travel Web site, Hotwire.com. Bason made his comments in an interview with SDNN.com, San Diego News Network.

Bason says that after spiking in July, (above $40 on average), the car rental market will decline in late August, then return to more normalized levels in September. Rental cars are available on Hotwire from $13.95 per day.

For opaque airfares and rental car deals, Hotwire negotiates some of the lowest published rates in the marketplace, Bason said. “If we don’t have a competitive opaque rate, we show the lowest set of published rates available instead, clearly noting them,” he said.