Hotwire

I purchased a hotel room from hotwire.com. Thought I'd get my best deal based on their claims. Quoting from their website: "We get substantially reduced prices on airfares, hotel rooms and car rentals. You choose your destination and date of travel - we'll show you the best deal available." I thought I could depend on it. I decided to go directly to the hotel's website and SHOCKED to find it was cheaper. Surfing their website for DOUBLE THE DIFFERENCE GUARANTEED, finally found it. I just happened to miss their 48 HOUR timeframe to submit.

I was very disappointed first to find a cheaper rate, and then was disappointed when I missed their 48 hour guarantee. In today's business you want the best for your dollar and I don't feel that Hotwire.com provided me with the best deal. I have used expedia in the past and have never found a cheaper deal, I don't have to second guess if I got a good deal based on my experience with them. Guess I will stick with a good thing in the future and forget about hotwire.com

I was looking for a hotel near the Ft. Lauderdale airport.  A search on Hotwire yielded two hotels in the "Ft Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport FLL" area. I choose one, which turned out to be over seven miles away, didn't even advertise itself as an airport hotel; didn't offer a shuttle service. Thus, I will spend more on cab fees to and from the airport than I saved booking through Hotwire. I wrote an e-mail of complaint only to get a response that my feedback was important and they were sorry I was not happy.  They said that a check of their map showed that the hotel was in the Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood area, avoiding the point of my complaint which was that it was not in the airport area, as advertised and therefore, was misleading.   In sum, Hotwire simply refuses to acknowledge the problem and, ironically, at the same time, continues to tell me from their "customer care" unit how much my feedback means to them.   I can't imagine using Hotwire in the future.

It sounds like almost everyone here is pleased with his or her experiences with Hotwire. I, myself, have always been in the past with my previous purchases. Today they have shown me a different side though. I encountered some problems with my reservations and needed to talk to the customer support department. Let me forewarn you right now that there customer support department is horrible and they do not care one cent about you as a customer. You have made your purchase and they have collected their money and now you’re just an old record in their file cabinet (database or whatever). Do not think for one instance that they will budge or give you any leeway from their policies when you have problems. All they know how to do is recite their policies over and over again is if a robot reading a scripture. Heed this warning that although you may have had good experiences with them before when the time comes and you have problems they will NOT be there to help you or work with you at all.

Hotwire. I booked a hotel that was in "East Lansing, Michigan State University". According to the yellow shaded map, it would be in that area - it wasnt. It was an the far western edge of the "yellow shaded area", literally on the black line, and in Lansing, MI. I called, and they gave me a bunch of rigamaroll about how they cannot change it, and that it is in the "yellow shaded area" - when in reality, any reasonable person would disagree. They FLAT OUT LIED in the description of the hotel. 

I used to use Hotwire a lot, but now I would rather pay 10 times the price than use them again. The problem is I just got a hotel in a completely different city and county than was portrayed on the website. I thought for sure this was just an error with the website so I called customer service. That was unlike anything I have ever experienced. The manager was the rudest lady I have ever dealt with. She told me that although the hotel was in a different city and county it still fell in the very tip of the shaded area. She told me that next time I should read like an adult and she called me an idiot.

Please do not use this service ever again. As long as people keep using them, they can keep getting away with the deceit and disrespect of the consumer.

I will never use Hotwire again and I will discourage anyone considering using them from doing so. I purchased a hotel room and I even paid extra for the insurance. I suffered an unexpected major heart attack 3 months before my trip and was being treated at the Cleveland Clinic. My doctor wrote a letter stating that I didn't feel well enough to travel. (I had been planning on taking my young son) They didn't accept my letter and said that I would have to have the dates of travel included on the letter. I hated to bother my doctor again, but I did --- he was nice enough to write another letter with the dates included. I faxed them the letter and they wrote back that they would still not refund my money. At this point I will be disputing the charge on my credit card. To make matters even more infuriating, I found out that there is a huge festival the days that we cancelled and the hotel will most likely have no trouble renting our room for more than what Hotwire is keeping from us.

If you use Hotwire to book your hotel, expect the unexpected. Like 1 bed no matter how many guests you have. Or getting a crappy Travelodge even though you selected 2 stars, and everyone knows that any Travelodge is lucky if it's rated 1 star.

We booked a hotel room, went through the process, and received confirmation of a room with a king bed.

They didn't give us a room choice so make sure you are single or don't mind sharing one bed with whoever else is going on the trip.

We have kids under 2 but that isn't an option when listing who is going to be in the room. So we now have a king bed for 4 people. Sweet Hotwire, way to go!

We needed a room with 2 beds and would not have booked the reservation had we known that the default and only option was a king bed. There's no disclosure about this on their site AND they won't give us a refund. We've called and called and been hung up on, and been put on hold for an hour, and been hung up on again. They argue and have zero customer service skills. What a waste of time and money. We can't cancel the reservation and we can't use the room.

Hotwire screwed up my hotel reservation and ruined my New Year vocation to Cancun. They initially refused to give my money back because there is a 'no refund, no change ' restriction. After a lengthy fight, they finally agreed to refund but not the full price I paid. They only refunded the wholesale price they paid to the hotel and kept the profit to themselves. Considering all the inconvenience and frustration I have been through, they are keeping 100% of the profit. WHAT A GOOD DEAL!

I booked what I was told would be a 2 1/2-star hotel in Pensacola, FL in May 2009. What I got is a dumpy La Quinta which should have been rated 2 stars at most according to Hotwire's own rating guidelines. Contacted Hotwire several times, but they would never acknowledge their product representation and would not give any refund. Stay away!

It's save you couple bucks to make reservation at HotWire.com, but it will cause you lots of trouble if you need a small changes or if little thing goes wrong! Horrible customer service!! Marshar XXX, with the old-lady-voice is mean, she sounds like she is in the crisis of the late middle ages.. poor old lady still have to work in this age..
HotWire.com has very wrong refund policy.They keep coming up with stupid reasons for not refunding our money. Everybody needs to careful when making reservations with them!!! I will tell all my family and friends that HotWire.com is a BIG NO!!

Today I booked a 3 star hotel on hotwire.  When I received the confirmation, it was for a 2.5 star hotel (even by Hotwire's own site).  I called the customer service number and was told that they consider this hotel to be a 3 star.  That was it! They did not care that even their own site said 2.5 star.  They offered no compensation or even to cancel.
I am sending an email to customer service but don't expect a response.  Needless to say I will never use this service again, ever!

For a week I was debating should I trust Hotwire or not.  Then today I decided to give it a try.  I was looking for a hotel in Salt Lake City, searched all the ratings on Expedia.  Then I picked 3-star rating on Hotwire.com.  The description indicated Holiday Inn, Radisson, Double Tree.  When I paid for the hotel, Hotwire indicated that it was LaQuinta Inn.  Under Hotwire star guide system LaQuinta is listed as 2 star.  What a fraud!!!!.  I called them but they claimed that their star rating is reliable and that particular property in "their" judgement is a 3 star.  They refused to refund my money.  So if you ever wondering should you try to save money and use Hotwire - think twice.  By the way, Expedia listed that hotel for the exact same price as I got on Hotwire, but with no risk, guessing game involved.  It's absolutely disgusting the tactic used by "reputable" company. 

The website was easy to use and appeared to be the best priced. However after picking up my rental car and being charged additional fees I was not impressed.
I rented a car through hotwire. When I picked up the rental one, it wasn't what they showed on line. Then I was charged an extra 15.57 because hotwire for some unknown reason retained part of what I paid.

Do not rent through hotwire!!!! Better off contacting rental agency directly.

HOTELS: Our first experience was a 4-star hotel in Atlanta for $64 a night (Omni). The room was fabulous and there was never any mention of using this travel service upon check-in. I recently booked at the Wyndham
in NM, a 3-star hotel, during the balloon fiesta, for only $85 a night. Although you can't pick your exact hotel, you do pick a particular region of town. And, using the description provided with the bid and some popular travel websites, it can be narrowed down to a couple of hotels for each star rating.

CAR RENTALS: We also have booked two car rentals, and have gotten Avis and Hertz. Although you can't pick an exact company with bidding, the companies are all top notch ones. And, you specify which size car you want.

The only downside to this service is that once you book your reservations, they are non-refundable. So you are taking a chance, in essence, if your trip does get canceled.

Hotwire can be a deal but you HAVE to do your homework - sometimes their prices are NOT cheaper. Research wisely using expedia, orbitz and hotels.com first. This is essential in getting a good deal!!