nethttp_vs_restclient.rb

#!/usr/bin/env ruby
require 'rest_client'
require 'net/http'
require 'benchmark'
 
URL = 'https://www.livingsocial.com/deals/753290-tacos-and-margaritas-for-two-or-four'
time = Benchmark.realtime do
  (1..100).each {
    url = URI.parse(URL)
    req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(url.path)
    res = Net::HTTP.start(url.host, url.port, :use_ssl => url.scheme == 'https') {|http|  http.request(req) }
  }
end
printf("NET::HTTP => Time elapsed %0.3f seconds\n", "#{time}")
 
time = Benchmark.realtime do
  (1..100).each {
    RestClient.get(URL)
  }
end
printf("RestClient => Time elapsed %0.3f seconds\n", "#{time}")

Yeah so looks like Adam Keys pointed out it likely is just rest-client follows redirects by default and Net::Http doesn't. Doug Ramsay confirmed that net http just immediately returns the 301