NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Rental car companies, still rebounding from a travel slump after the 2001 terrorist attacks, are showering tourists and business travelers with more perks in the face of mounting competition, USA Today reported Monday.

Both Alamo Rent A Car and Budget Rent A Car are announcing new incentives.

Alamo will now permit all customers to check in online and head straight to their designated car, bypassing the rental counter altogether -- a perk normally reserved for the industry's best customers. Budget, according to USA Today, is offering $2 off its daily rate to companies that rent five or more times a year.

The moves come as competition increases in the once-sluggish rental car industry.

Hertz, for instance, offers a free tank of gas and double airline frequent-flier miles for some rentals. Companies are installing more cars with satellite radio and navigation systems, USA Today said.

Others are shifting from frequent-flier mile giveaways and other traditional marketing to "alternative strategies" as industry competition grows, Sherb Brown, the publisher of the trade publication Auto Rental News, told the newspaper.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car is running an online sweepstakes that promises to give away 29 trips to the Professional Bull Riders world championship in Las Vegas in November. Airfare, hotel and tickets are included.

"It's a matter of one-upmanship," rental car consultant Neil Abrams told USA Today. "Competition has always been fierce, and the companies are trying to avoid a battle of rates, which gets self-destructive."

On that note, car rental rates this summer have risen as much as 10 percent compared to a year ago, according to Brown.

Abrams said rates will be higher during the peak summer travel season but will decline in the fall.

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