And calls for aviation liberalisation across the Atlantic which should lead to more realistic pricing are rising

And calls for aviation liberalisation across the Atlantic, which should lead to more realistic pricing, are rising. At the other end of the spectrum, frills are disappearing rapidly. Is it really worth 25 times the economy fare to travel on the same plane? The airlines are trying to make sure that it is, by offering an ever-wider range of frills. The twin focuses are on reducing those invisible costs: greater comfort - which means reducing the stress of long-haul travel - and improved communications facilities, thereby maximising available time. Yet the normal business-class fare is just two pounds short of £5,000. Eight wide-bodied aircraft cover the 5,500 miles each way, every day. So intense is the competition for economy passengers that fares for the back of the plane have fallen as low as £200. In the next millennium, the most valuable commodities are likely to be time and the power of the human brain.

Businesses are bound to reassess how much of each their executives are losing while globetrotting - and travel providers are having to work harder than ever before to devise ways of reducing the costs in time and stress. More pragmatically, companies are reassessing expenditure on transportation and accommodation, and questioning whether the premiums being charged for business are justified. The most extreme example is the route between London Heathrow and Los Angeles. Surely, ran the argument, if people can make instant contact with each other, they won't bother to take the train. Yet the converse happened: telecommunication actually spurred an increase in travel. At the end of the 20th Century, no business traveller needs to be told that the Internet revolution offers countless opportunities to transact electronically. When the telephone was invented in the 19th Century, the railway companies were worried. Yet the converse happened: telecommunication actually spurred an increase in travel. Surely, ran the argument, if people can make instant contact with each other, they won't bother to take the train. If it's price that drives you, be flexible about times, dates and pick-up points, and check whether there are any special promotions before you book. To book call: Alamo (0181-759 6200); Avis (0870 606 0100); Budget (0541 565 656); Holiday Autos (0990 300 453); Europcar (0870 607 5000); Hertz (0870 844 8844); National Car Rental (0870 400 4502); Sixt Sense (0845 600 6660) or Thrifty (01494 751 600).

When the telephone was invented in the 19th Century, the railway companies were worried. Before you can hire a car, each company has various regulations about what age you must be, how long you've had your licence and whether you hold a personal credit card. Sixt Sense quoted £171, Europcar £186 and Hertz £228 (plus £6.50 for theft protection). Holiday Autos couldn't say whether or not the company hired out Mercedes, and Thrifty couldn't offer anything even vaguely similar. Before you pick up the phone and start your journey into the world of car hire, you should also bear in mind that the differences don't stop with the price. Sadly, neither would actually get you a Mercedes, since neither company has any - you'd have to make do with a Vauxhall Omega. For a chance of driving away with the real thing (though none of the companies could guarantee a Mercedes), the best deals were Budget (£144) and Avis (£148). Alamo would charge £160, Europcar £167.99, Thrifty £170, Sixt Sense £174 and National Car Rental £178.98. After that it's a hurtful £196 with Hertz and £215 with Holiday Autos.

Most complicated of all - you have to answer a whole series of questions over the phone before they'll tell you the rate - is Avis. It charges £200 for the week (or £225 if you want to pick up your car in town rather than at the airport) plus £1.12 per day in tax. On the last lap of our Grand Prix of sample bookings, booking a Mercedes - or a set of similarly snazzy wheels - for 48 hours between Tuesday and Thursday, the best rates were quoted by Alamo (£122.22) and National Car Rental (£125.99). Budget would charge £59, Hertz £62 (plus £6.50 for theft protection) and National Car Rental £73.38 (although this rate be a more reasonable £54.66 if you dropped the car off at the airport rather than in the centre of town). Apparently, Thrifty doesn't do one-way rentals. For the second sample booking, hiring a mid-range saloon for a week in Edinburgh, your best offer would be from Budget, living up to its name with a rate of £148.50. Europcar could offer AA members a rate of £44.80 but non-members would have to cough up £56.