Katie has been in the points and miles game since 2015 and started her own blog in 2016. She’s been freelance writing since then and her work has been featured in publications like Travel + Leisure an...
Edited by: Katie Seemann
Katie has been in the points and miles game since 2015 and started her own blog in 2016. She’s been freelance writing since then and her work has been featured in publications like Travel + Leisure an...
8 comments
Lewis J.
November 21, 2018
Great guide to using Hotwire.
Bruce B.
April 23, 2023
Based on my recent experience Hotwire does not appear to supervise its hotels or require that their representations on the website be true. I booked a hotel room in March in a hotel in the mountains of Colorado which was represented to be a 3 Star hotel and have certain represented amenities. The posting contained many errors as the hotel was being remodeled and was essentially a Construction zone. At the front desk they had a sign “Please Excuse our Appearance while we’re under construction” . The common areas were filled with construction materials, chairs, desks, and other furniture from the rooms being remodeled. – When pictures of the construction site and a written complaint were sent to “Support @ Hotwire.com” the response was “We will not respond to this message.—Regards, Hotwire Customer Service”
Based on my experience Hotwire does not appear to want to hear criticism of the hotels on its site or respond to complaints.
Dan M.
May 03, 2019
I booked a Hot Rate deal advertised at 36% off. Here is the breakdown of the fees for the Hot Rate vs. HotWire regular rate and directly with the hotel. This is for two nights in San Diego.
Hot Rate-
Room: $278 Taxes and Fees: $67.77 Total: $345.77
Hotwire Regular Rate-
Room: $313.20 Taxes and Fees: $39.76 Total: $352.96
Hotel Direct-
Room: $313.20 Taxes: $39.37 Total: $352.57
Does not seem to be the great deal they advertised. There are additional fees for the Hot Rate which brings it to almost the same price as the regular rate. I called customer service immediately after booking but they could not give me a breakdown of the fees or credit some of the fees to bring it in line with the others. It does show the tax/fee total before booking and I did think it was high, but I also know that some cities have high hotel tax rates so it didn’t dawn on me that Hotwire was adding fees. I guess I will be happy with the $7 savings but I will not use Hotwire again.
Katie Seemann
May 03, 2019
Hi Dan,
Yep, sometimes online travel agencies can save you money, but often it’s just as cheap (or cheaper) to book direct. It’s always good to price out your trip on a few different sites before you book. At least you saved $7 this time!
Michelle
May 26, 2021
It depends on several things, the time of travel, room occupancy, and when you schedule the trip. I waited till the very last minute on Memorial Day Weekend, I booked my car on Hotwire via a Hot rate and spent 15/day for the car for what I thought would be 4 days, and paid a little extra for another 3 days. I paid 175 for a week to stay at the Holiday Inn next to Disneyland in Anaheim. All with the Hot Rate. I would book over the phone and ask the agent how do I get the lowest rate. Hard to say now with staffing shortages all over the Nation, but the agents were very helpful once you could get one on the line. I think making a change before the 24 hour window for some things worked with the exception of car rentals. Once you book a hot rate car rental even if the internet has an error, you are locked in with no refund. So be mindful.
expertrds
July 18, 2019
Does anyone have any guidance on how the Hotwire hotel price guarantee works against a later reduction in the same exact Hotwire “hot rate” price? I think it’s an interesting question because although it *is* a hidden rate, it is the exact same room that you booked, and in the same way (the original rate was also a hot rate as well). Not sure if they’d accept proof that you know it is this hotel vs another hotel based on the picture and details they provide…any idea?
Stephen Au
July 21, 2019
Hi expertrds,
We are not Hotwire, so we cannot provide advice in this regard. The best advice we’d give is to directly contact Hotwire over the phone and inquire about their price guarantee. Thanks for reading.
JG
June 03, 2021
I have a very strong warning to anyone who thinks about using Hotwire. They will sell you deals that they can’t service and then not give you your money back — I wouldn’t ever recommend using them to anyone.
I recently used Hotwire to book a rental car at an airport. I selected to pick up the car at 7 pm that day to return two days later. After going through the purchase process they unveiled my provider which was Sixt Rental Car. It all sounded good, but when I arrived at the rental car agency there was no Sixt agent at the airport to give me a car. Every other rental car agency had someone who could rent them a car, but Sixt didn’t. Furthermore, when Hotwire presented Sixt, they didn’t mention that Sixt had non-standard opening hours, or that the service desk would be closed at the exact same time I made the reservation. As a result I had to get another rental car on-the-spot from another provider.
I called Hotwire to explain the situation, but instead of refunding my money, they told me flat out that there are no refunds on my purchase. They then tried to tell me that it was my fault for not arriving earlier than my reservation time. They then said that the rental was fine because I was able to pick up the rental car the next day — even though my final destination was two hours away. They thought that I should have booked a hotel reservation to stay at the airport, then come back the next morning to pick up the car — and that my failure to do so was my own fault.
I called Sixt about the situation, and they agreed that Hotwire should not have booked a reservation for that time. However, since I purchased through Hotwire, Sixt wasn’t able to give me a refund (which they would have done if I had bought from them directly).
So if you like working with a company that will take your money and then give you a reservation that they can’t fulfill, then tell you it’s your own fault when you ask to have it addressed — by all means use Hotwire. But if you think that is poor customer service, then I suggest going elsewhere.
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