How to Use Hotwire (And get a Great Deal Somewhere Else!)
Written: Aug 02 '01
The Bottom Line
Hotwire looks like a better priceline, but it isn't -- it sells the same tickets for higher prices. Stick with the original to get your best deal!
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Hotwire is a new approach in the web's opaque travel market. This market was invented by priceline -- and in my opinion, priceline is still the best. But Hotwire does have some value for the consumer. Let's take a look at how they work and how you can use this site to get your best deal.
First, you need to figure out what the going retail rate is. You should try Travelocity, Expedia, and Orbitz for this. Take the best rate you can find and note the flight times you see here. Flight times may be important to you. If they are (meaning you value your time MORE than your money), you should book your flight on a retail site. This will help you to maximize your satisfaction, believe me. If you really don't care what time of day you'll be flying (meaning you're okay with trading some of your time for less money out of your pocket, go to the opaque sites).
At this point, you're ready to start using Hotwire. Take the price that you've found in at the retail site and head over to Hotwire. Plug in your cities and your dates of travel.
This is the first big difference b/t Hotwire and priceline. In order to perform a search at Hotwire, you need to give personal information. At priceline, you don't need to give any information to use the site, unless you actually want to buy tickets. You need to create a login name and password and give some general demographic information before starting the process. This doesn't take more than 5 minutes (depending on connection time), but I still find it annoying.
Once you identify yourself for your search (and become a hot prospect for email marketing from Hotwire at later point), you can see what price you'll pay for the tickets. Hotwire, like priceline, allows you to access unpublished restricted fares that are much lower than retail. Because you give up certain things -- cheifly time of day for flying and airline brand, you get a discount. Hotwire shows you the price you'll pay, but it doesn't show you the itinerary. Make sure you're clear about this -- once you accept a hotfare, there's no going back.
Here's what you do next to make sure that you're getting a good deal. Compare the fare you've found at the retail site to the HotFare. Is it worth it to give up your time for the money you'll save? If so, you should purchase your Hotwire fare by completing the web form.
If it isn't (or if you're curious to see how much more you can save), take the Hot Fare information to use as your opaque price discount and go to priceline and make an offer. Take an additional 30% off (or whatever you'd like to try) of what you found at Hotwire and see if you can get it accepted at priceline. The fact is this -- the retail sites, HW and PCLN are all selling the same seats. So if you ask Hotwire for the price, you can be sure that priceline will be selling the same flight for lower (they have the lowest rates from my experience) and you'll be on the same plane for less $$$!
In this way you get your best deal!
Recommended:
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About the Author
Member: Brian H
Location: Northeast
Reviews written: 297
Trusted by: 108 members
About Me: I'm an Internet GEEK.
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