Summer road trips are back. Gas prices are reasonable, rental car costs have normalized from their post-pandemic insanity, and there's never been more road-trip-friendly hotel inventory competing for your booking.
Every Friday we publish the best travel deals — including car rentals, hotels along popular routes, and gear you might need. All deals expire Sunday night. Here's what's worth booking this weekend.
Car Rentals
Car rental pricing is genuinely weird. The same car, same dates, same location can vary by 40% depending on when and how you book. The single best move is to book early and rebook often. Most reservations are fully cancellable, so lock in today's rate and check back each week. If the price drops, cancel and rebook. If it climbs, you've already got the lower rate secured.
Where you pick up matters too. Airport counters charge premium rates plus surcharges and fees that quietly add up. If you can grab a rideshare or hotel shuttle to a nearby off-airport location, you'll save 15-20% without any real hassle. And if your schedule has any flex at all, picking up on a Tuesday instead of a Saturday can shave another 15-25% off the total.
Insurance Savings
Before buying the rental company's insurance ($20-30/day), check two things: your personal auto insurance policy (often covers rentals) and your credit card benefits (many cards include rental car insurance). This alone can save $100-200 on a week-long rental.
Through our CJ Affiliate travel partners (Enterprise, Hertz, Avis, Budget, National), we track rental rates across major US cities every week.
Live Deals
3 active
Hotel Indigo Gaslamp Quarter, an IHG Hotel
Aug 29 – Sep 5
Hotels Along Popular Routes
The trick with road trip hotels is balancing price, location, and quality — and most people get it wrong by defaulting to whatever's right off the highway exit. Those places are overpriced for what you get because they've got a captive audience of tired drivers. Look one exit further. Hotels just 5-10 minutes off the highway are often 20-30% cheaper and significantly quieter. You can find hotels along your route through our Expedia, Hotels.com, and Marriott partner rates on the travel deals page.
One strategy that's served us well: book the first and last nights in advance, then leave the middle nights flexible. You might fall in love with a small town and want to stay an extra day, or you might want to change your route entirely. Flexibility is half the fun of a road trip.
If you're still deciding on a route, here are some of the best ones for summer 2026. The Pacific Coast Highway from San Francisco to LA is about 380 miles and perfect for 3-5 days of scenery, beaches, and wine country. The Blue Ridge Parkway running from Virginia to North Carolina stretches 469 miles through mountains and craft beer towns — great for 4-6 days. Route 66 from Chicago to LA is the classic 2,400-mile odyssey if you've got 7-14 days and a love for Americana. The Florida Keys from Miami to Key West is a quick 160-mile, 2-3 day trip with incredible ocean views and snorkeling. And the New England Coast from Boston to Acadia is 280 miles of lobster, lighthouses, and charming harbor towns over 3-5 days.
Live Deals
3 activeHotel Indigo Gaslamp Quarter, an IHG Hotel
Aug 29 – Sep 5
Road Trip Gear Worth Packing
Before you hit the road, a few items that genuinely make the trip better. A solid phone mount ($15-25) means navigation doesn't require holding your phone in one hand while steering with the other. A 20,000mAh portable charger keeps everyone's devices alive without fighting over the single car outlet. And a quality cooler will save you hundreds over the course of a week — gas station drinks and rest stop food add up fast.
If you want to go the extra mile, a dash cam ($30-50) gives you peace of mind in case anything happens on the road. A roadside emergency kit with jumper cables and a flashlight is the kind of thing you never need until you desperately need it. And if your rental doesn't have Bluetooth audio, a $15 FM transmitter will save your sanity on long stretches.
The Budget Framework
Here's how to budget a summer road trip realistically. For a rental car, book 4-6 weeks ahead and expect $35-60 per day. Gas runs about $0.15 per mile, so figure $30-50 daily. Hotels are your biggest variable — a mix of advance bookings and flexibility puts you at $80-150 per night. Cooler lunches paired with restaurant dinners keep food around $40-80 a day, and pre-booking activities through Viator or GetYourGuide adds $20-40 daily.
All told, a 5-day trip for two people comes in at roughly $1,000-2,000 depending on your route and how you like to travel.
Biggest Savings Lever
Hotels are your biggest variable cost. Booking through our weekend travel deals typically saves 20-35% vs. walking up to a hotel or booking last-minute on the road.
This Weekend's Road Trip Deals
Car rentals, hotels, and travel gear — refreshed every Friday, gone by Sunday.
Live Deals
3 activeHotel Indigo Gaslamp Quarter, an IHG Hotel
Aug 29 – Sep 5
Weekend travel deals, every Friday
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