Always wanted to test out a hybrid vehicle? Next year, you’ll be able to do just that when you rent a car through Hertz or Budget.

Hertz, Budget to Offer Hybrid Cars

You may pay dearly at the pump this summer, but there are plenty of travel-oriented promotions offering gas rebates, gift cards and discounts to soften the blow.

Check out CNN Money’s list:

Get Your Fill of Fuel Rebates

Into cars? Hot Rod magazine is launching a seven-day “parade” of souped-up, tricked-out cars through seven U.S. cities starting this Saturday, June 2nd. When the cars reach each destination city, free festivities open to the public will kick off, so you can ooh and ahh at them all you want. Some of the special cars on the tour include Jay Leno’s “eco-jet” vehicle and the 2009 Chevrolet Camaro concept car (pictured). Here’s the schedule with the homebase location for each city on the tour:

June 2: IX Center, 6200 Riverside Drive, Cleveland, Ohio

June 3 Kalamazoo County Fairgrounds, 2900 Lake Street, Kalamazoo, Mich.

June 4 Downtown Lake Front, 14015 Washington Ave, Racine, Wisc.

June 5 Illinois State Fairgrounds, 801 E. Sangamon, Springfield, Ill.

June 6 Roberts Stadium, 2600 Division Street, Evansville, Ind.

June 7 Memphis Motorsports Park, 5500 Victory Lane Memphis, Tenn.

June 8 Arkansas State Fairgrounds, 2600 Howard Street, Little Rock, Ark.

Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour

Avis has begun offering mobile wireless Internet units at its San Francisco International Airport location and plans to have the devices available for rent at its San Jose, Los Angeles and Newark locations in the next few weeks. The $10.95/day service allows multiple users to connect multiple devices to the wireless router, which effectively creates a wireless hotspot that enables travelers to surf the web from their rental cars, hotel rooms or any other location. As Digital Trends reports in the article linked below, Avis has not announced officially which provider it is going with for the new service, but Sprint and Verizon are the only companies with the technology to support the car rental company’s new offering.

Avis Starts Rolling Out Wireless Internet

Sure you could navigate to Gas Buddy’s mobile site to find cheap gas prices near you when you’re on the road, but that could get a little dangerous on a crowded highway, say, over a holiday weekend like this one. In those times of need, Gas Buddy Text Messaging Service will do the trick in an instant. Just text or email the city and state or zip code matching your location to gas@gasbuddy.com. The service will text you back with the five cheapest gas price options available in your immediate area.

If you’re planning to stay at several Choice Hotels (Comfort Inn, Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites, Sleep Inn, Quality Inn, Clarion, etc.) this summer, you’ll want to know about the chain’s $50 Gas Credit promotion being offered to Choice Privileges members (free to join).

Travelers can redeem the 16,000 Choice Privileges points accrued from three separate stays for the $50 card.

As with any promotion, there are some details:

- You must book your reservation online or by calling 800-4CHOICE.

- Your stay must be between June 1 and August 16, 2007.

The deal is also being offered for stays at Rodeway Inns and Econo Lodges, but it works a little differently. Guests collect stamps for each night they stay in a participating hotel. Six stamps equals a $50 gas card. Find out more details for the promo rules regarding these two brands at Easy Choice.

Ask George: What’s a good tour to get a general overview of London? This is our first visit.

Answer: A good option is to pick up a double-decker bus tour of London from either the Paddington and Victoria train stations with the Big Bus Company, which costs about $40. Buses run every 15 to 30 minutes depending on season and time of day. Your bus tour also includes a river cruise down the Thames or your choice of five walking tours such as the Royal London Walk (at 10 AM) and The Da Vinci Code Walk (at 1 PM). Each tour lasts one and a half to two hours.

Another option is the Original London Sightseeing Tour, which costs about $36. Their Original Tour offers live commentary; the City Sightseeing Tour has prerecorded commentary in seven languages. Buses run every 15 to 20 minutes. You can catch either tour from Victoria Station, or from one of five other starting points. The first bus departs between 8:30 AM and 9:30 AM depending on starting point. Both companies’ tours stop at all the major tourist attractions, such as Marble Arch, Madame Tussaud’s, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, the London Eye, St. Paul’s Cathedral, London Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Harrods and others. You can hop on and off at will.

Or for a special splurge, see London from the back of a spacious London black taxi with Black Taxi Tours. A two-hour “Sights of London” tour costs about $160, but since up to five passengers can be carried, if you’re traveling in a small group this option might actually save you money over a coach tour and you can customize it as you like.

George Hobica is a travel writer living in New York City.

In which U.S. cities are you most likely to experience road rage (either your own or as the victim of someone else’s)? AutoVantage has come up with a nifty little chart.

Book a hotel stay through Hotels.com by July 2, 2007 for stays between May 20 and Sept. 9, and Hotels.com will credit your credit card with $30 after the completion of your stay. A two-night minimum stay is required.

Hotels.com Gas Rebate

Ask George: I don’t own a car, and when I rent one on a trip I decline all the optional insurance because I figure my credit card covers it. Am I making the right move?

A: You might want to ask yourself what would happen if you ran your rental car over a curb and hit a pedestrian and got sued for all you’re worth. Because you don’t own a car, you probably don’t have personal liability insurance. And your credit card won’t provide that. Although your rental car company probably has its own personal liability coverage, in most states it is limited to a very small amount, typically $25,000 to $50,000, not enough to cover a major liability judgment. So depending on your taste for risk and your assets, you might want to consider buying extra liability coverage next time you rent a car. Depending on the issuer and type of card, your credit card might, however, cover most damage to the rental vehicle in the event of a collision with another car.

George Hobica is a travel writer living in New York City.