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About Hotwire
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Hotwire is a travel and vacation website that offers deeply discounted deals on hotels, car rentals, flights and more. With Hotwire, you can book deals directly from the site or through the company’s app.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Deals in many categories
- Easy to book online or with app
- Significantly discounted rates
Cons
- No cancellations
- Doesn’t show hotel name until booked
Bottom Line
Hotwire sells hotel rooms, car rentals, flights and vacation packages that might otherwise go unsold for discounted rates. It partners with many major companies to provide a variety of options.
Top Hotwire Reviews
I reserved a hotel room using the hot rate tool, which gives you an undisclosed hotel in a certain star range for a very good price. ... When I arrived at my hotel this time, ther...
Read full reviewHotwire gives best deals and details and handles issues much faster than others. They give you area comparisons and options to add to your trip like rental car and outings. The de...
Read full reviewWhat is Hotwire?
Hotwire finds hotel rooms, rental cars and vacation packages at deeply discounted rates. Travelers can look up travel information on the website or the mobile app and access 24/7 customer service.
The company advertises the ability to connect you with four-star hotels at two-star prices, and it partners with leaders in the travel industry, such as Hilton, Hyatt and most major car rental companies and airlines.
How does Hotwire work?
You can use Hotwire to search for flights, hotel accommodations, rental cars and vacation experiences. You will not see the hotel's name until you book your stay — this is what allows Hotwire to offer such deep discounts.
Hotwire gives you other information about the hotel, such as the star rating, customer reviews, the city where it's located, an area map and sometimes even a detailed description of the local neighborhood and a list of local landmarks.
Hotwire has an easy-to-use filter option so you can narrow down your search by location and date.
- Hotels
- Enter your destination, check-in date, check-out date and how many guests will be traveling to have Hotwire show you a list of hotels in the area, their discounted rates, their Expedia reviews and other basic info. No names or addresses are included.
You can filter your search by hotel class, price range, amenities, guest rating and the general area. Before you book, you’ll see the base rate, your dates and additional fees. Once you book, the sale is final and you receive the name of the hotel, the address and other specifics.
- Car rental
- Booking a rental car on Hotwire works much like booking a hotel. You enter your dates and pickup and dropoff location. Hotwire lets you choose your preferred car type and set your budget before presenting a list of rental cars at discounted rates.
- Flights
- When you’re booking flights, Hotwire tells you the name of the airline you’ll be flying with. It also gives you flight details such as change fees and the number of layovers.
- Vacation experiences
- When you book a vacation package with Hotwire, you have the option to bundle your hotel, car and flight.
Hotwire prices
While Hotwire strives to give you the best vacation experiences at low prices, there are a few other fees to consider before booking. Before you confirm your purchase, Hotwire shows you a breakdown of your purchase, including the base rate and its “tax recovery charges and fees.” These fees vary based on the hotel that you're assigned.
It's also important to remember that some hotels have additional costs, such as parking, resort fees and convention fees. These charges typically aren't listed as part of the booking process, and travelers pay these extra fees with the hotel company directly.
Travelers can save more money with Hotwire by downloading the app and taking advantage of last-minute travel deals.
Hotwire FAQ
Who owns Hotwire?
How do I get a refund from Hotwire?
How does Hotwire work for hotels?
Does Hotwire have promo codes?
Is Hotwire legit?
Hotwire is a reputable travel company that is recognized across the globe for providing valid and discounted travel accommodations. It is owned by Expedia Group, another trusted and well-established leader in the travel industry. Some people may not like not knowing the name of the hotel they’re staying at until making a reservation, but Hotwire is worth checking out if your primary goal is keeping costs down when traveling.
Hotwire Reviews
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I reserved 2 non smoking rooms on the Hotwire website. One minute after reserving, the motel called to let us know they did not have any non smoking rooms. Neither the motel or Hotwire would refund our money even though the room we reserved was not available. False advertisement from Hotwire.
Customer service at Hotwire is unknowledgeable, unhelpful, they promise to call you back and they never do! They say they're going to help you and lie to you. I will never use hotwire again!!!! Specifically Josh which was the name of the agent that I had encountered. They booked the wrong hotel which was too far from the area that I was going to, and when I called for help he said, "Yes we will take care of this and we will call you back specifically at 9:00 a.m. the next day so we can get in touch with the people at the hotel to change a booking."
Well my wife for a hotel chain and I know how the system works! Josh said he to hold on while he called the hotel to see if they change it or cancel it without any penalties. Obviously he didn't call because he came back to me and said he couldn't reach anyone at the hotel which is **, There's always someone at the hotel. He repeatedly told me he's going to call the next day and contact me at 9:00 a.m. to help me with the situation. 2 days later I'm still waiting, mind you the same thing happened when I originally called and asked for help too using the hot wire bucks! Four days later still waiting for that call back! My customer service at hotwire says they're going to do something to try to help you, Don't hold your breath!
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I booked a car with Hotwire. It was SUV Tahoe my had mistake in my reservation. I called the agency for just change the drop off time, they said we couldn’t change it but we canceled reservation and give you credit for new reservation. The new reservation agency booked for me Ford Fusion the same price with Tahoe and they said I can’t change or cancel this deal.
As Hotwire first customers, I wondered why people would not rave about them. With my most recent experience now, I know why. Their principle and ethics have diminished along with their customer service "TJ" agent ** a reflection of such poor quality. I made a car reservation for April 12, 2023. Held my end of the deal, the unreliable agency NuCar never showed up to pick us up. Was sent on a wild goose chase, following the instructions on the reservation email. After several voicemails. Later the agency sent an email stating they were close. Yet neither company has the decency to take upon any responsibility. Stranded at the airport without any human contact, this turned out to be on the customer. For all I know this arrangement could easily be a scam to rob people of their money with a bogus offer and a bogus agency. This is the end, to our continued business. Very disappointed.
On Sept.2nd 22 I was looking at hotel rooms in Jasper Alberta as I'm taking the Rocky Mountain train from there to Vancouver for my daughter's 21st birthday.
As I was searching for a hotrate from Hotwire popped up, once in a lifetime $3000.00 room at the Fairmont Jasper for 90% off book now before it's gone. I jumped on it, paid the almost $400 for the room, I let my daughter know how proud I was to reserve such a room for her at such a bargain. For the next few months I tried to contact the Fairmont Jasper but they had no record of the reservation, so I contacted Hotwire for the third time for more information as the booking number and reservation had no record at the hotel. They informed me that it was a 3rd party booking so the Fairmont won't have the information until April 2023, so I patiently waited, then contacted the hotel only to find out I was booked into a standard room for $300.00.
This is not only disappointing but I feel bamboozled and tricked, like I was mislead or lured into buying an inflated priced hotel room for profit. Hotwire refuses to change my booking or refund my money because it was stated in the agreement, that is how they get you, if I had just gone to the hotel it would have been too late to do anything, so I contacted them, Fairmont is not at fault, Hotwire is being deceitful by over inflating the room types and prices to lure guests into thinking they got a great deal when they did not.
I went to book an online car rental and the last step was to confirm the booking. It booked and the resulting page said they increased the price from $310 to $415. Not we are changing the price do you still want to book? But we've booked it anyway at a higher price. Waste of my time. Now I have to call and cancel. Shady bait and switch.
We purchased a rental car through Hotwire for a recent trip. Our flight was cancelled by the airline and the car rental was cancelled and rebooked. Hotwire has a rigid hidden policy that does not allow refunds for any hot deals. Once we realized of our cancellation we immediately reached out to make the change. After numerous times trying to reach customer service we were told to provide documentation to back up the cancellation to get a refund. Then we were recently told of this policy of no refunds. I'm sure this happens a lot with people and they are making a lot of money off the backs of people by no fault of their own had this happen to them. In our case it was about $500. Stay away from them and any other company that has this rigid strict policy that is not based in reality!
Be careful before booking a "Deal" with Hotwire. Unfortunately, Hotwire is not what it used to be. I reserved what Hotwire called a “4 star” hotel at DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Buffalo - Amherst. Check in was very pleasant. Front desk staff was extremely curious and helpful. Sadly, as we walked through the halls towards our room we started to notice it was worn and dated. As we approached the door, we noticed it was quite dirty. As soon as we open the door we saw the room had cracks and stains in the ceiling. The (very cramped) bathroom floor was worn and filthy. There was what looked like mold on the shower ceiling. Aside from the beds being clean and comfortable, this was more what I would expect from an 80’s motel.
We booked for two nights but we checked out a day early. I received an email from Hotwire a few days later asking for my feedback and if I would recommend the hotel. I tried to click on “No” however after numerous attempts, it would only take me to a page that said “We're sorry but the page you tried to access is unavailable.” therefore I decided to place my complaint here instead. I will never risk using Hotwire again after they were the ones that said they were recommending this “Deal” with a 4 star hotel and it ended up being a complete dump. Doubletree has lost me as well.

I booked a hot rate hotel through Hotwire. Experience was really bad. Called Hotwire but they refused to give me a refund or credit especially when the hotel room was $250/ night. Do not use Hotwire. Very bad customer service, not accommodating after the sale, all Hotwire cares about is the commission from the reservation they make. I will never use Hotwire again.
Hotwire does not deserve even 1 star. I had a horrible experience booked the hotel for 2 days and when I went to the hotel there was no one at the Reception and when I called Hotwire customer care they were saying to wait until the next day outside to reserve the hotel in that freezing cold and they already deducted the amount from my card. Beware of this petty ** site which does have standards or responsibility to hear to the customer.
Hotwire Company Information
- Company Name:
- Hotwire.com
- Year Founded:
- 2000
- Address:
- 655 Montgomery St.
- City:
- San Francisco
- State/Province:
- CA
- Postal Code:
- 94111-2627
- Country:
- United States
- Website:
- www.hotwire.com
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