Hotwire.com Review

www.hotwire.com

Overall 3.26 of 5 view all 35 reviews

mrkstvns
Austin, TX

CAVEAT EMPTOR Means "Are You *REALLY* Hotwire Customer Material?

care about the details, info junkie, a bargain lover, internet savvy, astute planner, value conscious, expecting good, fair service

Pros

cheap rates, great if you can be flexible

Cons

cant control vendor, upfront pay (understandable!), cant control flight times, bad customer service, few 5 star hotels

MAY

2008

Hotwire.com —

There's no such thing as a free lunch, and there's no such thing as a cheap plane ticket or cheap hotel room without some serious givebacks. Hotwire is an opague travel booking site that can give CAREFUL users significant savings on travel, but ONLY if the traveler is smart, does his or her homework, and fully understands the caveats and gotchas of a Hotwire deal.

There is no such things as a free lunch, and the careless consumer who just jumps at deals on Hotwire is going to be a very unhappy customer.

Hotwire has a LOT of unhappy customers. Many are people who didn't read the fine print. Many are people who thought they'd be getting an equivalent product to what they get by booking direct with hotels or airlines. Many are people who expected some service. Many are people who just should never have been Hotwire customers in the first place.

When you buy a plane ticket on Hotwire, you have zero control over your routing. You can specify that you want to leave on such and such a date and that you prefer morning flights, but that's it. Hotwire can book you on any flight on any airline connecting via anywhere. Maybe you'll have a midnight connection in Uzbekhistan along your Los Angeles to San Francisco flight....and you waive the right to complain about it if you do.

You also waive the right to customer service. Hotwire is legendary for bad customer service. If you actually do get a human on the phone, rest assured, the answer to whatever request, schedule change, or accomodation you'd like to request is "No". Want to change to an earlier flight? "No." Mom died and you'd like to attend her funeral? "No." Want Hotwire to stick up for you because the hotel wants to put you in a room next to the dumpster? "No." Has anybody ever gotten Hotwire to solve a problem? No.

When you're a Hotwire customer, you're low man on the totem pole. Understand it. If you can't live with that, don't book via Hotwire. Sometimes you might well get a brilliant deal at the new Hilton --- but you'll also be getting the smallest room on the least desirable floor. If a hotel isn't full and you get a decent desk clerk, you probably will get what you think you're getting....but if the hotel's near full, rest assured, it is the Hotwire customer who gets the room that smells of dead cat. The only person lower on the totem pole is a Priceline customer.

Be aware that all rooms you bid on guarantee space only for two people. If you're a family of four, be AWARE that you might get a room with one double bed in it. (Yes, it is in the fine print.)

Hotels and airlines readily admit that they take care of their own customers better than Hotwire customers. If a flight is cancelled, it's going to be the airline's frequent flyers who get the comped rooms --- not the Hotwire customer who has no loyalty and just flew the airline for the discount. Fair is fare.

Be aware that Hotwire prices aren't always the lowest. Only by shopping carefully BEFORE booking on Hotwire can you know whether you're getting a decent deal. You sometimes save money even by paying a somewhat HIGHER price on a hotel or airline web site. That's because Hotwire adds fees and profits together with taxes, masking your total amount. If you book a hotel in a city with a 10% room tax, don't be surprised to see a bottom line price that's 20% more because it includes an add-on profit margin. That's the way Hotwire works, and its kind of disclosed in the fine print. You CAN still score good deals with Hotwire, but a Hotwire price that's $5 cheaper than the price on Holiday-Inn.com is going to cost you a good $5-10 *MORE* than the "higher" price you'd have paid by booking direct.

Plus, you don't usually get frequent flyer miles or hotel frequent guest points when you book via Hotwire.

If you think maybe you are Hotwire customer material, you should check out some of the web sites out there on bidding strategies. These can help you understand what you get for your money, when to do a bid and when to hold back. I like www.betterbidding.com --- it's especially good for people who use both Hotwire and Priceline.

Hotwire also offers car rental discounts, but be especially careful using them. I see nothing but potential for problems, problems, problems.

Go ahead and give Hotwire a shot. The savings can often be substantial. Just do it with your eyes open and an understanding that if you have any problems, you're on your own: nothing is changeable or refundable, so if there is *ANY* chance your plans will change, do not book via Hotwire. Book only if you are very flexible and forgiving and if you won't cry if you lose your money.

Hotwire.com is recommended by mrkstvns

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Comments about mrkstvns’s Review

The reviewer is correct. But if you are a memeber of a hotel chain club, like a priority club, they will still honor it and wont put you by the dumpster. You will recieve all the normal benefits. I started using Hotwire about a month ago, and so far...3 hotels and 1 rental car later i am pretty happy. Stayed in an Omni hotel in Austin TX for 57 bucks, and saved $878 over a hertz rental and ended up with AVIS, thats ok with me. I am a presidents circle member with Hertz and they treat me bad and lay me in the weeds every time i rent with them anyway! so far Hotwire is very good. But i am willing to take the risk. If i get a bad room now and then...ok i guess, it happened when i was paying full price.

That is really an eye opener. But expecting something for nothing, there are millions of companies that take advantage of people's naivete.

The last ones eliminate me. Excellent info.

Wow! I've never used Hotwire, and this is a major head's up. Thanks for writing this. It's typically a corporate dime sort of thing, and I book my own travel and utilize my own schedule, but Hotwire appears to have a major sucking big time possibility. Again thanks for the heads up. Great article.