NEW YORK — Renting a car for summer holidays can be an expensive proposition, but there are strategies consumers can adopt to hold down the price of the vehicle as well as the costs for fuel and insurance.

It often pays to shop around, whether the family is using a travel agent or booking via the Internet or over the phone, said Nancy Dunnan, editor of TravelSmartNewsletter.com .

Sometimes packages including air tickets and car reservations are available through major travel sites such as travelocity.com , orbitz.com or expedia.com . Or travel agents may have access to discounted car rental deals.

Among the affiliations that car renters should mention are memberships in AAA or AARP. There also may be discounts for government employees or people in the military.

Cars often are more expensive to rent from an agency at an airport than from one in town, in part because of excise taxes charged by county and municipal governments on airport properties.

"I'd look at this option only if they have free shuttle service," she said. "If you have to pay for a taxi or spend a lot of time, it probably isn't worth it."

Mike Pina, a spokesman for AAA, noted that the travel organization has had a 28-year partnership with the Hertz car rental company that provides discounts and perks to its members. AAA members also can get discounts from other car rental agencies, he said.

Although there has been some consolidation in the car rental industry that has reduced competition, Pina believes the more important trend affecting consumers is that U.S. automakers are making fewer low-profit bulk sales to rental companies. That has forced the car rental companies to compete in the open market for vehicles, raising their costs to purchase popular midsize cars.

So consumers who can't get midsize cars but want legroom may have to "buy up" to the luxury class, he said. On the other hand, consumers can get a relatively better deal on small cars "if they're willing to forgo the legroom," he said.

Most insurance policies that car owners buy provide full coverage when they rent cars, Pina said. But he advises that consumers check their policies or call their agents to make sure.

Dunnan said that consumers also can get some insurance coverage, especially for collision damage, if they use credit cards to pay for their rentals. But credit card companies issue a variety of cards — for example, platinum, gold and standard — and not all of them may carry the same benefits, she noted.

"If you're not sure about your particular card, call the card company's 800 number and ask, 'What is my insurance coverage when I rent a car?' " Dunnan said.

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