Latest reviews about Hotwire.com

stars777 says "how to use " about Hotwire.com

stars777 — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:44:06 GMT

If your smart enough to read and understand what can and can not be done and how to use site properly and what can be guaranteed then you would love the site it provides economical travel for people. Hotwire clearly states in the terms of use what to expect. but I guess for some people that do not read what there are buying. then they would be the one's with all the issues.!

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LisaCarey says "Not as "hot" as it used to be for booking travel " about Hotwire.com

LisaCarey — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:38:04 GMT

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 every time

Hotwire isn't the worst, it isn't the best. It's hard to get a real live person, but that's ok, because they rarely make mistakes in my booking. I do get tired of being "timed" out of the site or my search, let's face it I am a busy WAHM I get distracted and can't always be online as much as I need or want. Overall, Hotwire is one of...

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john-r says "Hotwire stole my money and there's nothing I can do about it." about Hotwire.com

john-r — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:10:53 GMT

I was on Hotwire's site and evidently ordered airline tickets by mistake (although I swear I never got a screen that said I'd made a purchase). When I got an email saying that I now owned two tickets, I immediately called Hotwire's customer service line. That was just the beginning of a long and tedious story that I'll skip the details of, but that ends with me out $400 with no recourse. If the American Express statement said "Hotwire" I'd appeal it, and I think I'd have a good chance of prevailing, but the way Hotwire works, the statement is from Delta, and I have no beef with Delta -- quite the contrary. They were as helpful and sympathetic as could be. Hotwire, on the other hand, wasn't even polite, much less sympathetic, and forget about helpful. I will never, ever deal with them again, and I am writing this with the hope that I'll save someone else the grief.

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greenswitchgreg says "Worth the gamble" about Hotwire.com

greenswitchgreg — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:41:15 GMT

Its a good thing. There is always risk in anything. Some of the negative reviews say that you might end up with the worst room. I travel a lot, and there are times i get a bad room when i am paying full price. So what is the difference? I am not sure i would be inclined to take a chance if i was purchasing a 2 star or below. The idea of a 2 star is scary enough, but a 3 star, hampton inn, holiday inn express etc are pretty consistant. So not much risk there. I saved a ton on a rental car. I usually rent with Hertz, but Hotwire put me with AVIS, that is good because i saved almost $900 on a 2 week rental. That is substantial i dont care how much money you have.

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EttaAlpha says "great deals - with some consequences." about Hotwire.com

EttaAlpha — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:55:57 GMT

I have used hotwire.com several times with good results. The hotels matched the general description given by hotwire (star rating etc.) but realized that I get treated differently by the hotel because I booked with hotwire (or another discount site, like Travelocity or Priceline). This really isn't a review of hotwire so much as it just a warning... if you're booking a 4 or 5 star hotel and not paying full-price you might get treated poorly by the hotel staff.

For instance, I stayed at the Benson hotel in Portland, OR and paid full price and was treated like a queen... ended up there again after booking on hotwire and was treated very poorly and got what Im sure was the worst room in the place. Which is truly a testament to how snobby the Benson is. Unfortunately, this wasn't the only occurance. It seems every time I've booked in a major city at a nicer hotel - I get treated like trash if I get a discounted rate.

Anyway - I spoke with a rep at Hotwire and asked if the hotels could...

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srerazed20 says "Earn cashback on hotwire purchases" about Hotwire.com

srerazed20 — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:52:06 GMT

Join blastoff for free at http://ppl.blastoffnetwork.com/stores and earn cashback on all your hotwire purchases, plus over 400 other retailers. No obligation to buy, just join and save money.

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LoveHate says "Ford Focus...mid-size car?" about Hotwire.com

LoveHate — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:54:43 GMT

I reserved a mid-size car, described as a Pontiac G6 or similar, through Hotwire. When I picked it up, it was a Ford Focus (listed as a Compact Car on Hotwire's website). I contacted Hotwire and asked if I was going to wind up with a compact car, I would have reserved it to being with and saved the difference. They informed me that with the agency I used (Alamo) a Ford Focus was considered a Compact Car. I replied that when I chose a mid-size car with a description of a Pontiac G6 or similar, they should have directed me to an agency who agreed with those classifications. So....guess where I won't be reserving a car from any longer...I want what I pay for and expect to receive what I am told I will receive.

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beberio1 says "Car rental policies don't match actual rental company" about Hotwire.com

beberio1 — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:12:31 GMT

I recently used this website to complete a car rental using a debit card. The verbiage on the site as I started to book the car under the heading "KNOW BEFORE YOU GO" was as follows:

The rental agency will require a credit card or debit card in the primary driver's name. Sufficient credit must be available for a deposit. Funds used for debit/check card deposits cannot be accessed until the car is returned. Amount of available credit required depends on car type, rental period, and optional items. If using a debit card for your deposit, contact the rental agency for its policy.

After receiving the confirmation the verbiage changed to the following:

Christopher S Cole must be present at pick-up with a valid driver's license and a credit card with sufficient credit for a deposit. Amount of available credit required depends on car type, rental period, and optional items. Debit cards may not be accepted. Funds used for debit/check card deposits cannot be accessed until the car...

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timsherriandkids says "Inaccurate Star Ratings" about Hotwire.com

timsherriandkids — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:11:59 GMT

We booked a hotel through Hotwire on 2 separate occasions. Both bookings had problems. The first was a billing problem. The second (after not using them for a few years) was a star rating problem. In each situation customer service did not have the power to correct the situation. I had to get my credit card company involved each time. This last time the star rating was inaccurate to put it mildly. If you dare to use them go at least one star higher than you think you need...

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bleacherbum says "gggrrrrrreeeeeeeaaaaaatttttttt" about Hotwire.com

bleacherbum — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:40:27 GMT

hotwire has great deals . they advise what they can and can't do on the site .so if you do not read the info provided then of course you would think that it's a bad site . i love hotwire ! great deals

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TimE says "Hot wire can not beat the price" about Hotwire.com

TimE — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:49:48 GMT

Hotwire Car Rental

Recently my wife and I vacationed in Kauai for three weeks. Like everyone else we rented a car, I priced just about every rental on the island. I settled for a midsize for $933 which was average with a agency I always use. I saw a advertisement for Hot Wire and tried it for the heck of it, WOW the same car $521. I debated for several days worried how can there be such a difference I went ahead and rented it anyway guess what same agency. When I arrived and went to pick up the car it went very smooth just as if I went to their site and paid full price. Thank You Hot Wire you have a new loyal customer

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CSanity says "Not Worth the Gamble..." about Hotwire.com

CSanity — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 23:36:28 GMT

I used Hotwire.com for a car rental in Kailua-kona , HI. When I read their disclaimer about not disclosing which company I would be using prior to reserving, I was concerned as I surely didn't want the terrible service of Alamo. I took the gamble and lost.

This was the first and last time I will use Alamo. The vehicle was infested with roaches. The staff was rude and unprofessional in satisfying the matter. A replacement vehicle was provided upon request and a meager $20 "Quality Service Program" credit issued. However, the replacement vehicle was filthy and after requesting a second wash, it still was unclean and it too had roaches. The inconvenience and hassle of taking time from my vacation (Honeymoon) to deal with an inept company such as Alamo is not worth the "savings" obtained through using Hotwire.com. I would rather spend more for the guarantee that I will be treated professionally...

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Jillybeans says "Always had a good experience even if they things went wrong" about Hotwire.com

Jillybeans — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:51:43 GMT

Hotwire has been a good company for all my online travel. I constantly check each site even though I usually use hotwire in the end. If you choose a hotel you usually get a great rate, by selecting 3.5 stars on your hotel, I guarantee that not only will you save money you will have a better hotel.

Other sites just don't give you that great of rates on hotels and car rentals. If you are a savy internet shopper I'm sure you will feel the same while shopping for hotel and car rentals.

Once I had a problem because I didn't like the hotel. I was trying to be cheap, but they fixed it! Can't go wrong with a company like that.

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tomberlin55 says "Hotwire is nothing for Families" about Hotwire.com

tomberlin55 — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:26:35 GMT

We are 2 Adults and a 17 year old son.
We used Hotwire 3 times in a row and always had the problem that hotwire only books 1 bed smoking rooms.
I had to make discussions with the front desks to give us 2 bed room, since 3 people cannot sleep in one queen bed!
When I tried to get Hotwires help, I didn't get any help at all!
The only reward I got were 25 "HotwireDollar" which I can only use if we use their service again. But we will run in the same trouble again

Also: they put us in a 2 1/2 Hotel which was dirty and filthy!

So: Book somewhere else, pay the same prices and save all the trouble!

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RRR2001 says "be sure to check hotel reviews" about Hotwire.com

RRR2001 — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 03:51:55 GMT

I booked with hotwire for 7 nights in San Francisco and then checked hotel reviews online. There were bedbugs and mattresses w springs exposed. I called hotwire right back to try to change to another hotel. I was told it had to go to review dept and they would contact me by email win 7 days. They sent me a canned email denying my request on the 5th day. I called hotwire again and spoke w a gentleman who read the hotel reviews and immediately allowed me to change my hotel and credited the 1st hotel bill and charged me only for new hotel. I was glad the gentleman did this for me but very disappointed w hotwire for being so arbitrary in the way things get done. I would have been absolutely miserable on a vacation w my wife, had i been required to stay in the original hotel. The Intercontinental was magnificent.

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