Hertz - are rates taking a flying leap for the New Years?

I do plenty of rentals in my hometown of DTW and have noticed that the weekly rate I usually get for reservations I'm making in 2009 have blown up by at least $100 per week. The typical midsize weekly rate I was reserving and paying for from Summer through Thanksgiving has been about $190.

Starting Christmas and throughout January, weekly rates bump up to about $290 (using AAA CDP). All my preferred tricks of knocking the rate down further (ala changing the CDP, applying various coupons) have been fruitless so far.

Have you seen your preferred Hertz location doing the same thing for rates that you're seeing when making 2009 reservations?

It'd be really nice if there was a website like ExpertFlyer.com but meant to watch & alert for Hertz rental rate changes.

In general, the rental rates have gone up. I rent from LAX and MCO on a regular basis, and the rates at those two places have gone up a fair amount (especially at LAX where the taxes have gone up as well). MCO's taxes went up last year too.