(FORTUNE Small Business) – Online booking sites were a boon to "rogue" travelers who didn't want to listen to a travel agent. Now sites like Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity want to cater to a business clientele, notably small businesses. Their new corporate sites hope to win over firms by helping them keep an eye on travel costs, while still charming the rogues with web booking. They need work, so other deal finders still excite the heart of a rogue. Ours too.

Flexible Fliers: Priceline vs. Hotwire

These discount sites promise cheap airfare, hotel rooms, and car rentals with one gotcha: You find out which outfit you're flying, sleeping, or driving only after you pay. Which is best? --Josh Taylor

Hotwire.com You'll fly a little less blind with Hotwire, but the deals may not be as good. Instead of bidding as you do with Priceline, you book with Hotwire as on a traditional travel site, except you don't get details until you pay. Priceline regularly trumps Hotwire for hotel prices. In testing, I found better air deals on my own than through the site. Beware: I've noticed some grade inflation with Hotwire hotel ratings.

Priceline.com Go with Priceline for hotels. Example: A room at the four-star UN Plaza in New York cost $100 a night; the hotel's best direct rate? $269. Air travel is much dicier. Typical scenario: A last-minute Chicago to S.F. ticket was $351 (vs. $431), but the outbound flight left at 8:50 p.m. and the return at 7:48 a.m., ruining two days in the Bay Area. Check out biddingfortravel.com for tips on winning bids.

The Best Airline Websites Sites like Expedia and Travelocity don't include Southwest and JetBlue, and Orbitz lists JetBlue fares, but you can't buy the tickets. So start right at the source: Southwest.com and JetBlue.com deliver just what you'd expect. They're easy to use--you're booked in five simple pages. Restrictions are up-front and well explained (JetBlue has fewer to sift through). Give Southwest the nod for hidden one-way deals: How about Orlando to San Diego for $54? --G.H.

Three Must-Visit Travel Websites

Digitalcity.com/travel If you want a great way to find amazing deals available from your local airport(s), just click on your home city at this site and look for the "travel bargains" link. Each fare includes details on minimum stay and advance purchase, and even the fare code to aid in booking. Compiled by FSB.com's Rambling Man, George Hobica. (Digital City and FSB share the same corporate parent, AOL Time Warner.) SideStep.com Search more than 140 travel sites at once for low rates using this Internet Explorer add-in. Good: Hits discount carriers like JetBlue that major sites eschew. Bad: It was pointless technical showing-off to make this a browser add-in when it should just be a site. WebFlyer.com Intelligence on frequent-flier points that cross many airlines and hotel chains. I love the blackout calendar for navigating miles redemption. The site is badly organized, though. --Larry Seltzer