Hotwire.com Reviews

You can get 'hot' deals at www.hotwire.com if you are flexible

Overall

Rated 4 out of 5

BackgroundMy family likes to travel. And, when we travel, we like to have all of the luxuries of home. With small children, we now find ourselves opting for home rentals instead of hotels where possible. It costs a little more, but it is worth it to have a living room, DVD player, private pool, option to eat-in, etc. It also really helps with nap time-- you arent trapped. So, this has reduced our usage of www.hotwire.com. (Unfortunately, we cant get home rentals on hotwire. ;() However, we still use it often!

Using Hotwire to accommodate our travelIn the past, when childless, we used hotwire.com a lot for hotel reservations. We could often get a 4 star hotel for sometimes up to 50% ...

Not as 'hot' as it used to be for booking travel

Overall

Rated 3 out of 5

Hotwire used to be my "hot hot hot" travel planning website, about 7 or 8 years ago.  Now, not so much. This travel site does offer options for booking airfares, car rentals, and hotels and is often quite competitive but there are some things about the site I just can't get past. 

When booking with Hotwire.com:

• I don't get my Frequent flyer miles 

• It is like priceline where you can't see the airline or company name until you book your adventure 

• the site has made some improvements along the way but it still is a bit of a pain to search and use, especially when going through your booking process 

• Does give me great car rentals prices almost ev...

Avoid! Hotwire will cancel mid-trip in case prices increase!

Overall

Rated 2 out of 5

Ease of use

Rated 2 out of 5

Features

Rated 3 out of 5

Customer service

Rated 1 out of 5

The "risk management" is only a clever distraction from what they are actually doing. When Hotwire realizes that a lot of people are trying to book and that they can increase the price, they will kick out people who have already made the booking at a lower price under the pretext that there is a "risk management" issue.

The truth is simply that they want to resell the room at a higher price. As this practice is clearly illegal, they are trying to hide it under the pretext that there is a risk managment issue, which makes most people think that there is something wrong with their credit card.

A clear case for a class action lawsuit. This could be won 100%.

Horrible Customer Service - Terrible Company

Overall

Rated 1 out of 5

NEVER go with Hotwire. My husband and I have booked several hotels through hotwire and have had the luck of the draw - before. THIS time we booked in Vegas and ended up at a hotel without a casino. Who goes to Vegas (other than folks with kids) and stays at a hotel without a casino. I realize that the whole premise of Hotwire is that we select blindly...but a hotel without a casino...really? We even bought insurance, which we came to find out only covers medical catastrophes or loss of job. So when I called customer service, their response was "too bad, you agreed" Is that customer service? Hardly. Basically by the ommision of casino under ammenities, we were supposed to figure out ...

I am a loyal Hotwire.com user

Overall

Rated 4 out of 5

Hotwire is not for everyone.  Nor is it good for every situation.  However, I have been using Hotwire for years for a variety of travel needs and I have been very pleased with the results.  Just incase you are unfamiliar with Hotwire.com, it is a service where you can select hotel rooms based on star rating and other amenities, general location within a city, etc.  You do not know the name or the exact location of the hotel until you have already booked the hotel and paid for it.

My family has been successful with this site.  We have been very pleased.  However, you have to expect that the star ratings are accurate.  One time we booked a hotel room in Orla...

Hotwire practices bad business.

Overall

Rated 1 out of 5

Mother's Day Weekend'''

Called Hotwire for a car rental. I had a major bank debit card carring a visa logo. I am a

San Francisco resident with a perfect driving record. I was told to go to the San Francisco

Airport, issued an iteniary, and confirmation number. Upon arriving at the car rental agency

I was informed that unless I had roundtrip airplane tickets, or a major credit card, that

I could not rent the car. The whole reason for going from San Francisco to SFO was

because San Francisco car rental required major credit cards. Needless to say, my

husband went with me. Between bus, and bart, not to mention the time factor incurred,

we spent  $40.00. The very least that Hotwire ...

Hotwire 'NOT SO HOT' rate!!!!!! FALSE Advertisement!!!

Overall

Rated 1 out of 5

Ease of use

Rated 1 out of 5

Features

Rated 1 out of 5

Customer service

Rated 1 out of 5

Very Poor! False Advertisement! Steal Customers Money!

When renting a car watch out for the new "hot" rate. It is NOT hot! Hotwire locks you into this rate and charges your account ASAP. We rented a car and two months later the rate was $143 cheaper for the week. They offered NO REFUND. They took/stole our money, continue to earn interest and see no problem in false advertisement. No where did a "regular/non hot rate" pop up on the website.

Horrible customer service, they have you over a barrel..

Overall

Rated 1 out of 5

Ease of use

Rated 3 out of 5

Features

Rated 2 out of 5

Customer service

Rated 1 out of 5

They do not budge they read from a script. Last April 2010 I made arrangements to Hyannis, I looked at their rating system and chose a 3 Star hotel, expecting a Holiday Inn, Radison, Double Tree, Wyndam, Best Western, Holiday Express, Hampton Inn. Etc. and They put me in the Hyannis Harbor Hotel, within 5 min. making the reservation I called to change it as Trip Advisor had this as a 2.5 Star Hotel. very bad reviews.. They would not budge, went to the hotel, and had an unkept room, dirty shower, and slept in my clothes could not wait to leave early in the mng. to go home and shower. I would never use them again... Buyer beware.........

Do not use Hotwire...Use Price Line or Hotels.com

HOTWIRE.COM CAN GO TO HELL

Overall

Rated 1 out of 5

Ease of use

Rated 1 out of 5

Features

Rated 1 out of 5

Customer service

Rated 1 out of 5

DESPICABLE!!!!!!!!!

They misrepresented the quality of the hotel I booked, which was listed as 4-star ratings and turned out to be sleezey excuse for even a 2 star rating. I spoke to an associate before I booked the room about certain amenities my husband requires in a room, and was told that they were available I just needed to call the hotel direct and request such a room. However I find that NO such room exists in their entire facility. Then a Hotwire.com supervisor claimed no such call existed before I booked the room, according to their records I never called them prior to booking the room. To ensure I didn't hallucinate the entire conversation I checked my call log and saw a 12 min. call to them the night before. I didn't even ask for a refund, just to switch hotels and they were rude and accused me of lying and ROBBED me the extra money I paid for a Cancelation Policy. NEVER AGAIN!!!!

Hotwire.com: Very Good Prices, But you Must Take What You Get

Overall

Rated 4 out of 5

  Hotwire.com is a vacation travel web site that helps customers find discounts on their vacation related needs. This web service is useful for travelers who are more flexible with their travel plans and are willing to tolerate a little bit of uncertainty in order to obtain the lowest possible price. Web Site Commentary: Hotwire.com offers many travel services. Flights, Lodging, Vacation Packages, Car Rentals, and Cruises are offered for sale here, with several different ways to narrow your search and find exactly what you want.  I have used Hotwire.com on and off again since first signing up for this service a few years ago. From my experience, I have found that airline fl...

Expect to be treated like the lowest class possible.

Overall

Rated 1 out of 5

Checked into a "3 star" hotel...Tampa Florida - Chase Suites Hotel...hardly! It was one step up from a trailer park. I booked 2 nights....took the loss and left after one. At 3 a.m. the dumpster removal (or a train wreck) was going on for 10 minutes outside our room. We asked to change rooms bur were told there were no other rooms in our "category" available....meaning the bottom of the barrel. The clerk at the counter said that we should be okay the second night as the dumpster removal only took place every second day....at 3 a.m. SERIOUSLY! The pictures of this hotel were outstanding, although I'm not sure they were actually of this hotel because you'd be hard pressed to convince me that ...

Terrible customer service! Not worth it in the end!!

Overall

Rated 1 out of 5

Don't use Hotwire! It once was okay and we used it a lot, but given the recent boom in reviews and ratings, it has become apparent that the rating system is wildly inaccurate.

For our recent trip, we booked a one night stay and then after reading reviews from tripadvisor (also part of the some company as hotwire incidentally...) found reports of bedbugs. We called hotwire to ask if we can get credit to rebook our night elsewhere, and a very rude and mean customer service woman told us we couldn't change it. Asked to speak to her supervisor which was Carl (employee # 1312) who was equally helpful.

No wonder hotwire no longer has won customer service satisfaction awards! They do absolutely ...

HOTWIRE RUINED MY TRIP!!!!!

Overall

Rated 1 out of 5

Ease of use

Rated 1 out of 5

I am very disappointed.

Features

Rated 1 out of 5

Customer service

Rated 1 out of 5

Of the Four different people i spoke with over the 6 1/2 hours one person was trying to help but in the end did nothing for me.

Hot wire send me a confirmation e-mail stating that alamo car rental accepted debt cards as payment. Well imagine my surprise when I arrive to pick up my rental and they do not let me use my debt card. I do not own a credit card which is the reason i chose the rental I did. Because of Hot wires mistake I was stuck for extra day. I missed school due to there mistake. To top it off i was on the phone with them from 2:30pm to 9:00pm and got no help from hot wire. In the end I got home a day late and had to pay 150$ more then I had budgeted for, not to mention the aggravation. I will NEVER use Hot Wire again and i will encourage everyone NOT TO USE HOT WIRE! they are carless and due to there negligence THEY RUINED MY TRIP.

LOUSY, UNCARING SERVICE!!!

Overall

Rated 1 out of 5

DON'T USE THEM!

HOTWIRE is a SCAM! DO NOT USE!!!

Overall

Rated 1 out of 5

My fiancé booked a hotel from Hotwire that the site claimed it had 4 stars. I would not give that place 4 stars if someone paid me. The pictures were in NO way the hotel they advertised. We drive 7 hours, to not be able to access the hotel, or the main entrance, let alone vallet. They were having 3 events. They had no one directing the cars coming in or out after we sat in line for another hour, just trying to be able to park somewhere to check in. They "claimed" the had on site parking for hotel guests. We could not even access it. I forgot to mention that we were surrounded by gang activity, bars, "lounges" & liquor stores. We found a parking garage to park and call the hotel to see what w...