Hotwire Reviews

Mistake was made on website and Hotwire website booked room in wrong city. Made attempts to fix situation and Hotwire's customer service was horrible and agent couldn't speak understandable English and was completely dismissive. Tried again and was treated even worse. Paid for a room and never even got to stay at hotel because it was not in city I needed based on website error! Horrible customer service and company wouldn't even try to hear my complaint or attempt to correct or provide any decent customer service. Will never use them ever and advise everyone else to never use. Pick a company who actually cares about its customers!!! Company sent a response saying nothing other than their goal was to exceed expectations and regret it didn't, obvious computer generic generated response that addressed no facts or problems caused by website!

NEVER use the Hotwire Hot Rate to book your hotel! Use any other company. Hotwire is totally inflexible when it comes to changing the room even if they book you into a fleabag hotel. Hotwire also charges taxes and fees on top of the listed price. So we ended up paying more than the Expedia rate for the Fleabag hotel room Hotwire gave us. We paid 3 months in advance for this fleabag hotel room from Hotwire and they over charged us with hidden costs. Hotwire charged us $156 and the Expedia rate was 143, payable on arrival and you could cancel any time right up to the date. I will never use HOTWIRE again. They don't care about their customers!

We were coming up to Chattanooga from Alabama for the weekend 4/24 and check out 4/27. While we were only driving around an hour to get here we wanted to make sure we could find a great room for a good price before we headed up. We searched online and decided to book with Hotwire to stay at the Holiday Inn Express in Hixson TN being that it was close to where we would be spending our time. When we got to the hotel (a few hours after we booked the reservation) we were informed that the hotel was booked and that our reservation had been canceled.

I tried to book a room through HOTWIRE and they said my card was fraudulent and could not use my card, to contact my bank. Not ONLY DID THEY CHARGE MY CARD twice I called Regions Bank which is my bank and they told me my card wasn't fraudulent and my bank credited the money back to my card. Well the next day Hotwire charges my card again and refuse to give me my money back. These people are a SCAM and unprofessional. I would STAY AWAY FROM THIS SITE!! And now I'm filing a LAWSUIT against Hotwire!!

Be cautious with the star rating you are picking when booking hotels. We have booked 3-3 1/2 star hotels many times with Hotwire always with great results. Free parking, free WiFi, free hot breakfast in many instances. Newer very clean rooms and great locations. Our issue comes with the 4-5 star rated hotels. You should expect large parking fees, expensive WiFi, poor room placement, and no included amenities.

Buyer beware. Hotwire, Expedia & Lemon Tree Suites. I recently booked a hotel for the Anaheim, California area through Hotwire. They advertised a rate of $189.00 a night for $83.25 a night. I have used Hotwire before and have loved the service and value I had received. Therefore when I booked this six night stay my expectation was based on my previous experiences. Once the hotel was booked, I got a confirmation of which hotel was selected. To my utter shock I was notified that I was booked in at the Lemon Tree Suites. I then checked the Lemon Tree website to see the $189.00 room and found that there wasn't one! I was scammed! I called Hotwire and was notified that they go by the neighborhood average for the advertised rate. In other words, there are various hotels in the area with the original rate, this is why Hotwire is allowed to promote this rate. I was advised that no changes could be done to this booking.

Am new to Hotwire. My first booking was for a CDG airport hotel using my phone browser and it worked out well with genuine savings. This is my second booking on my phone browser for a hotel in Milan. I actually already had this hotel as a free cancellation reservation on booking.com for the SAME price. The crossed out price on Hotwire indicated that I was savings hundreds of dollars but I did not save anything. Nada, zilch. I am actually worse off and feel totally ripped off and of course, they say that it is non-refundable.

I booked a hotel under their unpublished hotels. It said the hotel was 3 stars with a savings of 66% off and that it lists at $306 on leading competitive sites. The hotel I was booked in was listed for $120 and I paid $108. When I checked other sites the hotel was also listed for $120 and when I called the hotel, they said that $119 is their regular price. No savings of 66% off at all. When I called to speak with customer service I got told sorry no refunds and that the rates of the hotel change often. A bunch of BS. This company is a fraud and needs to be kicked out of Canada!!

We were going to stay the night in Annapolis, MD. I visited Hotwire's website and booked a hotel in Annapolis for that night. The issue is that Hotwire doesn't actually say what hotel you will get until you make the purchase. Hotwire goes by the stars and location once selected. So I booked the hotel thinking it was going to be Annapolis because Hotwire's website read it was going to be an Annapolis location. And after it was booked it was then revealed that my hotel reservation was a hour away in Columbia, MD.

I just wanted to write and say how I am VERY disappointed with Hotwire and will NOT be booking through them again. I booked 2 hotels in Los Angeles for a trip last week which I ended up having to cut short due to the death of my 17 year old cousin from Brain Cancer. When I called up to ask for a refund or credit so we can go back to these hotels when we re-book in June, I was told that all I had to do was fax in an obituary notice and that deaths in the family are the only exceptions to the refunds.

My story is rather lengthy and convoluted. To be short, Hotwire's telephone agents were unable to put together a vacation package for me. This inability took them over an hour and several misplaced transferred phone calls. I finally booked the package online. When I attempted to re-contact Hotwire, I was hung up on 3 times and transferred to incorrect people and given an incorrect email address to contact them. Finally I was given an Expedia email address as Expedia owns Hotwire and I was directed to contact them.

I was booking the travel through Hotwire. I got a "great" deal for 50 dollars a room. Booking.com had it for 45 dollars per room. I had ordered 3 rooms. I told them this on email and did not get a refund. In this hotel there were free breakfast included. I had to wait for 1 hour before I could check in, because they did not receive the reservation from Hotwire. BUT the worse thing when we should have our breakfast. I went down with 4 adults and 6 kids. I got the message from the reception that I had no free breakfast. I said I would call the Hotwire support and fix this situation.

We rented a car through Hotwire for pick up at 1:00 am. When our flight arrived at 12:45 am we proceeded to the Hertz rental desk only to find out that Hertz closes at 12:30 am. We were stuck there without a rental. I spoke to an agent at Hotwire who want us to cancel the reservation and purchase a new reservation at a higher cost. The rental agreement is effective for 24 hours, why would ** try to wiggle out of the agreement for a higher cost? We were left there having to make other arrangement for a rental. I asked to speak with a supervisor, I was told that a supervisor or manager was not available and that there was nothing he could do about it... We were LEFT without our contract being fulfilled. I want my money back or come type of an adjustment for hour heartache. I will never do business with HOTWIRE again. We will not endorse HOTWIRE for any business. We are reporting them to the BBB.

I would like to show you my dissatisfaction with Hotwire. The advertise good or great hotels for very interesting prices. The customer must take a chance and blindly make a reservation, in return for excellent discounts. Well, I've made my blind reservation and I am completely unsatisfied. Especially because I am paying 99 dollars per night, while the same hotel offers an 89-dollar rate on their website. Unfortunately, according to the Hotwire rules and policies, I am not allowed to cancel my reservation.

When booking the hotel, Hotwire states that the hotel has a resort fee of approximately $17 and includes "free" internet. To make a long story short the hotel charged $23 a day resort fee and $18 a day for self parking. When you add the costs plus tax it added $45.05 a day that I had to pay at the end of our stay. Hotwire does not disclose that an additional self parking fee would also be charged. They also claimed "free" internet, which was false because you get the Internet as part of your $23 a day plus tax resort fee, so it's not free. I am furious that I trusted Hotwire and planned to pay approximately $20 a day at the end of my stay, not $45 a day.

I recently searched for a hotel room on Hotwire. Chose the offered 2 1/2 star hotel, clicked "Book it", entered all personal and payment info to get a message "This hotel room is no longer available!" Really? Okay so I then choose a 3 star hotel and pay twice as much as what I originally wanted to pay. Not too happy but I need the room. Two days later I look at their website and they are offering the 2 1/2 star for the same night that I booked! I called to complain and try to switch but was unsuccessful. After reading reviews I decided to look at my bank account and sure enough they charged me for both rooms!! What a scam! I have never used Hotwire before and I can assure you I will never use them again. I highly recommend everybody to find a better way to book a room. Don't use Hotwire and get scammed like I did!

Hotwire is not only a terrible company to deal with they will cost you more money in the end. I booked a car in CR with Hotwire and was sent an itinerary with all the info and the cost was 256.96. When I arrived in CR I was told Hotwire gave me the wrong information about the reservation and it would actually cost me 753.95 for the car I had reserved. They said this was a common thing with Hotwire. I was stranded with my family and Hotwire left me on the phone trying to deal with the issue for over an hour. Now that I am home and tried to talk with Hotwire about the problem they say too bad. They actually said they don't make money off these reservations and they would not compensate any of the money charged for the car. I hope this review can save you a huge headache.

Two MAJOR issues. 1. They advertise a greater % off than is the case. If you search the price of your hotel on their own site after booking with Hotwire, they're likely comparable rates with nowhere near the savings stated. However, this seems to be under Hotwire policy, as the % off is of the AVERAGE hotel price in the area. Of course, they enlist one highly priced hotel to jack up the average of that area and hotel class and seldom ever offer a single room in that hotel, meanwhile always offering plenty of rooms at the lower priced hotels where its barely (if any) savings at all to book with them. This a very simplistic and fairly unethical trick on their part. However, since their policy states that they're allowed to do their math like this, they can easily trick consumers into thinking they're getting 30-70% off great hotels, when really, they're not. Highly unethical, and highly deceptive. But legal.

So I book a room trough Hotwire's "Secret Hot Rate" and it turns out that their Standard Rate is $2 cheaper at the same hotel. I didn't book the Standard Rate room because a pool was not listed in their amenities and I swim laps almost every day. So I called them - got disconnected the first time when connecting to a supervisor (and again subsequently in a later call). I was told the process to file for their low price guarantee.

I made flight reservations and mistakenly used a short name for one of the passengers (ex. Bob instead of Robert). Airline (American Airlines) would not correct name since trip was booked through Hotwire. Hotwire refused to correct the name and kept blaming the airline. Now we have to worry about TSA letting us on plane when we travel.

My husband and I booked a hotel on Hotwire. While at the hotel my husband and I were having sex and a sub contractor of the hotel just walked in - it was extremely embarrassing for us. I immediately called Hotwire to say I want to want to change my hotel but they said, "sorry we can't do anything about take it up with hotel" - yes the hotel refunded our whole but I believe Hotwire should have stepped in. We have been Hotwire customers for the past 2 and half years spending over $3000 a year on hotel bookings. They say we are loyal customers and we know we are but they do not treat us in this regard. I wish they cared more about us in this situation, just because we got a bargain for our hotel stay doesn't mean we should be treated with less respect.

This outfit is part of the Expedia group. The 'secret hotel' trick. I chose the area to find only 4 offers. Selected a 46% discount offer and paid $158.00. When revealed it was the Radisson Prado which I could have booked direct for only 2.5% more, YES 2.5% NOT 46% less as Hotwire misleadingly advertise. Worse, the hotel has bad reviews - dark dingy small rooms and other problems. Dealing direct with the hotel I might have paid $10 more but at least I could have negotiated a good room.

I cancel my trip due to ill parent. I had purchased insurance. I was told I would get refund to Credit Card, which happens to be AE. I already paid for this trip so in essence I am getting a credit. Due to Hotwire policy I am not given a choice; check, deposit to bank account etc. I was told I now had a credit with airline in the amt of purchase and $200 penalty was waived due to insurance but I was not told until email confirmation that I would have to pay the $200 penalty and wait for Hotwire to reimburse me.

On November 21, 2014, I called Hotwire regarding a hotel room in New Orleans, LA. I was trying to confirm that the facility had a hot tub. The woman with whom I spoke said that she had no way of knowing that information. She instructed me to purchase the room online, and if it didn't have a hot tub, call back and cancel. I could then try a different hotel and go through the process again. I made the reservation, the hotel did not have a hot tub, I called Hotwire to cancel, but I was instructed that the room could not be cancelled per their cancellation policy.

When you are forced to go back and change, other things change in your application such as the date you desire. This change caused me to pay for a rental car on dates I didn't need and they refused to change the dates.

I helped my sister book a weekend's stay in NYC after I received an email from Hotwire detailing a one day sale of amazing deals. My sister and her boyfriend have never been to the city and she was planning a romantic surprise vacation. I understand the terms of "hot rate" deals and the hotel we were assigned to looks beautiful, but... never did I imagine she would be assigned a room with bunk beds! She is disabled and this would not work out for her. I called the hotel to see if we could upgrade her room and they explained that because we booked through a third party (Hotwire), there was nothing they can do.

Hotwire.com is HORRIBLE - DONT USE THEM. I messed up and TRUSTED them by booking a hotel with hotwire. I was looking up my area for hotel, clicked hotel in that area and booked it. Well somehow by me clicking book I gave my info and money and after that THEY CHANGED the state of my hotel on me. So I called back couple hours later and they say I need to call back in 24 hours for me to be in system. Well now it’s been over 24 hours and they said I waited too long and they WON'T give me my money. They're a horrible business who just wants to take your money. I'll be going to PRICELINE now. Hotwire was horrible booking and talking to the workers they have. Overall I give them a F. Sad how they would do that to their consumers.

I booked a reservation through Hotwire NO then a couple hr... had to cancel my reservation. My Business meeting was cancelled... I called hotwire. Not only customer service was poor.. regardless of any situation NO company has the right to keep all your money. It was booked for 7 days. I understand that should be a penalty but keep 7 day reservation... worth almost $800. I know I'm not the only one out there that went through this. Hotwire company should be shut down for good. NO one should have to pay ridiculous amount because thing happen. I will continue writing reviews until something is done about this...

I booked a hotel on Hotwire that was advertised as 60% off: I paid 105.00 per night. Once I paid and found out my hotel I looked at the website and my room was 119.00 per night. I emailed Customer Service and got a form letter response which cited their NO REFUND POLICY.

I am putting Hotwire on full blast!!! Their site gives you the option of picking quotes and charges in Canadian dollars but they go right on ahead and charge you in US dollars. This is highly unethical!!! Who gives them the right to give you the option of choosing Canadian dollars and then charging you something else? Then they charge you right away and later send you an email saying all quotes are in US dollars (in fine print mind you). When you call them to get the matter fixed they have the worst customer service and then give you a handful of invalid excuses that they back track on when you prove them wrong. All in all, thanks for nothing and glad you can trick my family...y'all happy you could basically steal $300 from us? Hope you're happy with yourselves. Heads up to all Canadians they don't care as long as they get their US DOLLARS.

I booked a flight with Hotwire to Atlanta. Due to unforeseen circumstances I had to change my dates for which they said they would charge me $200 plus fare changes. I agreed. So she gave me all segments on Air Canada. I usually like to trust people and assumed the lady knew her job well and was giving me the best options so I told her to go ahead. My boyfriend was simultaneously looking for flights on Hotwire too and he found me a flight that was 50$ cheaper and had more convenient times.

Hotwire.com deal was no deal. I was renting a car for my wife and went to the Hotwire.com site and went through the process and found the taxes for midway were $100 approximately. On a sidebar Hotwire.com had a special or deal for a cheaper price. So I clicked on it. The price was $60 lower due to reduced tax cost. Taxes were "estimated". I thought maybe you worked out a deal with midway. Nope. It felt like a bait and switch. You estimated the cost so, then when she gets to the airport, the taxes are still $100. Unbelievable but true. It feels like deception and fraud. You give us an estimate to get us to sign the deal then comes the real. I will never use Hotwire.com again and when I have opportunity, I will share my experience. Fortunately the car rental company adjusted the rental price to reflect the original quote from Hotwire.com. The first contact with the car rental company was non responsive. When she brought back the car, the rental agency did respond when she showed them the original paperwork. Keep your paperwork and keep presenting your case, someone might just listen and favorably respond.

I booked 2 nights in Paris for 98 Euros each at a supposed discount of 70%. After getting the name of the hotel, I found that the competition had the same hotel for much less. I called immediately to ask for a price match with no luck. Shortly before I showed up at the hotel, the competition was showing 68 Euros. Because a flight was cancelled, I could only use 1 night for which I could have easily adjusted the reservation on competing websites, but not Hotwire. Listed discount is not worth being stuck with a reservation.

Our last two experiences with Hotwire were disastrous. First we were booked into a hotel that had been closed for renovations for a month. When we called Hotwire the message said "less than 2 minute wait." Our wait was one and a half hours during which we incurred long distance and roaming charges. We were booked into another hotel that added 2 hours to our drive after our ruined evening. They gave us a credit for our troubles.

To be fair, I had (as in previously, just today deactivated my account) used Hotwire several times, with generally good results. But the last time I used them, I feel it was deceptive tactics to get me to buy a room at a hotel, only to find out after purchasing that the parking fee at the hotel was 50% again of what I paid for the room. I called their customer "service" and talked to two levels of people only to get no satisfaction. They told me I shouldn't have expected "free" parking since it wasn't offered in the amenities. At no time did I ever say I expected free parking, especially knowing the area (Queen Anne in Seattle). They also lied to me saying that they don't know which hotel I'm going to get, which is total nonsense. They offered the price and location and the amenities, so they obviously know full well which hotel they're selling rooms for.

I booked a car reservation through www.hotwire.com, with (Enterprise rental cars) which was booked at the Miami int'l airport. When I arrived at the airport, they told me that they don't rent cars to locals. And that I would've had to be getting off a plane or had to have an enterprise executive account with enterprise in order to rent a car from them. O.O I wished the rep. from Hotwire had advised me of this when I asked her if I would have any problems with renting a car prior to giving her my credit card information. My advise to everyone out there is go straight through the source. Do not use www.hotwire.com.

I have used Hotwire for years... back to when they had a Loyalty Program (stay 10 nights get one free!). Just booked the Airfare with 3 days notice and it went fine.. Then booked hotel but the screen was not fresh, but their system took my card info and charged me, but never provided email confirmation!! Bottom line: spent 3-4 hours on calls with them and on hold. Then they booked me a new room but it was 2 months out!! (Not in three days like the airfare)... I am still not credited for the $990.00, disputing one of the three charges with CC co... jeesh... No more Hotwire for me...

We haul trailers for a living. We were in Scottsdale Arizona and had a flat tire on our company's 52-ft flatbed trailer. We called Hotwire to book a hotel for the night. We asked the gentleman, who spoke choppy English and spoke too fast, that we needed the nearest hotel under $100 dollars. And that we also needed it that night until the next day (March 18-19, 2015). After letting him know the amenities we required (pet-friendly, one bed, etc.), he told us there was a room available at the Holiday Inn & Suites under 10 miles away that matched our needs. The total was $92.74 after fees and taxes. Once we gave him the COMPANY card information and our email address, he told us to go directly to the Holiday Inn.

I will not use Hotwire nor Expedia again because I only had horrible experiences and there is no way to avoid them. I got stuck with Hertz Rental car and had a most heinous and inhuman experience trying to pay my fee to the Toll Roads after 3 days limit. I have rented thru other companies before but Hertz couldn't help me by phone. Then they charged me $30 for administrative fees as I couldn't pay on line when I returned to my computer after my trip. I have made a complaint to Hertz which went nowhere. I must add that there is NO customer assistance from HOTWIRE phone options so I get an automation in the Philippines who cannot send my call to Customer Relations in the US, just get to shuttled to another Filipina. Never again will I use Hotwire or Expedia - You have no customer service, so your company SUCKS!

On May 12, 2014 I purchase a ticket for the Holiday Season in Jamaica as most West Indian do. However in November I call and ask about cancellation since my father was getting sick. I was told that as long as I cancel 1 day before trip I should be fine. I call three weeks before trip my father had a heart attack. Hotwire has come up with every excuse not to refund my money, they are indicating that they will give a credit if I use it before May 12th 2015. I have just moved to a new state and new job. Cannot travel. I even told them to take the $175 fee just refund my money. I will never use them or recommend them again.

I purchased a deal for a room whose median value was $245 and was discounted 69% so I ended up paying $77 per night. Once the hotel was revealed, I found that the actual value was no more that $114 a night. The hotel is a dive and now I'm stuck with it for a week. I had to call 3 times because my calls kept disconnecting and was told that there was nothing they could do. They eventually just hung up on me.

After traveling 4,000 miles for a family vacation to Hawaii, we were disappointed to find the Enterprise Counter closed upon our late arrival into Honolulu. We ended up taking a $80 cab ride to our resort. The next day, I called Hotwire to resolve the situation thinking it wouldn't be unreasonable to have them bring a car to the resort and amend the Enterprise reservation. Sadly, there was no apology, no willingness to listen, no attempt at recovery and all they did was issue a refund. To me, this is a blatant breach of contract. They offered the car at an acceptable price, I accepted the offer and money was exchanged. When they didn't deliver, they breached the contract. I'll be contacting a lawyer when I get back home. DO NOT USE HOTWIRE. EVER.

Have used them in past but the woman on phone told me it would get days in so I typed in my info and decided not to move on with booking. And a minor in my car out thru by accident and to my dismay I got Americas best value inn which is not even in this location stated on the map and is very dirty and should be basically torn down and rebuilt due to filthy conditions. So I called and asked for simple resolution which they were ignorant and wouldn't do. I am not that picky but wouldn't put my dog there a motel please.

I left my service animal alone in the room for about an hour after checking into the Bay Inn and Suites Seaworld, San Diego. When I returned, the manager **, said my dog was "howling" and told me I couldn't stay. I should preface this with upon check-in, ** said I didn't have a service animal and that my dog couldn't stay in my room. I told him then refund all my money, then he quickly relented and said I could stay. Hotwire refuses to refund all my money. Don't ever deal with Hotwire or stay at Bay Inn and Suites Seaworld, San Diego.

After booking a hotel room on the Hotwire.com website, the Hotwire website failed to send me to the confirmation page. I attempted to re-book the room at the same hotel and was charge $92.00 more than the price of the first "failed" booking. I called the hotel after it was booked and found out that the hotel is booking rooms for $80.00 less than the price I was charged through Hotwire.com. I would have "stayed for less" if I called the hotel directly. It appears to me that the reason Hotwire.com will not disclose the hotel you are booking at prior to taking your money is that they do not want you to know that you could stay at the same hotel for less if you called them directly. Hotwire.com is falsely claiming that their service allows you to "Stay for Less". Don't believe it.

I rented cars twice from Hotwire last year. Once it took me 2.5 hours to get my vehicle and once they didn't have the vehicle I booked and gave me large fuel-inefficient vehicle. Hotwire gave me 45 "hot dollars" in credit. This year, when I tried to use the credit, they told me I could only use them on other, more expensive deals they were offering and they will not compensate me since I don't want to pay more. I will never use them again.

I booked a rental car through Hotwire for 3/4/15. They provided the wrong address for the rental car's office. I had to keep my cab for additional 20 minutes in search of the car's location, at additional cost of $25.00. I asked for reimbursement-- Hotwire refused, since I didn't change my card! (?) I was on the phone with them for 35 minutes. I purchased car insurance through Hotwire, my card was charged 3 week before the date of rental. Enterprise Rent A Car informed me that they do not honor the insurance offered through Hotwire, and I had to pay double. I Called Hotwire: "We are not responsible for a 3rd party charges." I WILL NEVER USE HOTWIRE AGAIN!

I used Hotwire for the first to book a one night stay in Atlantic City with my husband. In addition, I also purchased the insurance because I have a toddler and you just never know. Unfortunately, I was the one to get sick. I called Hotwire to explain I was sick and would not be able to travel. They explained that because the booking was "hot deal" they could not issue a refund. I was ok with that. I asked if they could reschedule the overnight stay for another day. They couldn't do that either. I asked for a partial credit or refund. They could not do this either.

Hotwire put a hold INDEFINITELY when we didn't get the rooms, then lied and said the funds would be released in 24 hours, then tell me that, oh, oops sorry MY bank needs to call them and get a RELEASE code from THEM. That is Absolutely RIDICULOUS! I have used Hotwire for years! I don't think I ever will again! BEWARE HOTWIRE’S POLICY IS TO HOLD YOUR $$$ EVEN IF YOU DON'T GET THE ROOM!!!

I booked a 3-star hotel and they gave me a 2.5-star hotel. They told me they could do a one-time exception for me and cancel that room and book another hotel which would be a 3-star hotel. The people on the phone were so rude, one guy even hung up on me and I wasn't being rude. I told him that I want what I ordered, same price. I finally just gave up and let them charge me more to get a better room because they were going to charge me regardless. I also paid for the insurance and they denied me canceling my room. Very unprofessional, even the supervisor could care less, not to mention they had me on the phone for 2 hours having to figure this out.

Their rep took my reservation over the phone and put in the wrong pick up time for a rental car. And all they have to say is I agreed to all sales were final and have to wait for them to conclude their investigation in order to get a refund!

Booked car rental - tried canceling in less than 24 hrs. (Found much better rate) which seems reasonable. Most other agencies seem fine with this... Hotwire grabs money immediately from Acct... Beware of that! I will admit in fairness they do say no refunds but I honestly thought... Cause other travel agency say that too... That within 24 hrs you could cancel - after all this is a travel/vacation site (not a life or death situation where they can't accommodate their customers).

Had a coupon for $25 off booking with first use of Hotwire app. When I booked the hotel it took the $25 off, yet was charge the extra $25 when applied To my card. Called Hotwire and they said they do not know what happened, but would put the money into a future booking. I never stay at hotels so told them this. They did not care! Wanted me to send them a picture of the original booking that show the $25 off (Who takes pictures of their screen of their computer?) I believe Hotwire does this on purpose to first get you to book then to try to get you to book again with the credit. False advertising, big time! Will never use them again. The person I talked to basically Told me it was my fault. And then implied I was a liar. Not so much about the money, but the total lack of professionalism On their part. I have never dealt with a business Who would do this.

I'll be fair and say that usually Hotwire is fine with hotels, as long as you research their hotels and know they bump up their ratings. With car rentals it's a completely different matter. On a couple of occasions I've been done by their hot, non-refundable deals which magically drastically reduce in price after purchase and just after the price guarantee expires. Once again, I forgot this practice and fell into the same trap and booked a car which became $100 cheaper one week later. Yes, I know we take a chance and that's their policy, but warning to all - when booking in advance there's a very good chance you'll be hit with a higher price. Hotwire argues the price of the car can go up or down but almost in every instance that I've booked with them, the price decreases after purchase. A small price differential is one thing - but $100... Watch out for their practices and by the way, their customer service staff is horrible. I'll avoid them in future.

My flight was cancelled by the airline. I called Hotwire to let them know I still wanted the rental but I couldn't pickup until the following day. Hotwire charged me $240.00 to "change" my res. even after I provided the info from the airline.

I know that you cannot change or cancel a reservation on Hotwire. For my last trip I booked 5 nights in Arizona and purchased the travel insurance. I ended up getting sick, bronchitis. Trying to use the travel insurance is IMPOSSIBLE unless maybe you died, but then you wouldn't be making a claim.. would you?? So stupid. I read the rules that were posted on the site, that day. It did not explain all of the HOOPS you have to go to for them to even consider the claim. I lost $600 and will never use Hotwire again. Their ratings of rooms are ALWAYS higher than other sites; meaning they falsely advertise. I'm just waiting for the day a class action lawsuit is filed against them!

On our anniversary decided to use Hotwire to make reservation and got a credit card invalid error twice. After assurance from the credit card company that the credit card was indeed valid, the next call was made to Hotwire. Hotwire rep was not helpful and couldn't explain the issue, instead provided an out of area phone number to leave a voicemail! In the end the credit card company removed the purchase, which according to Hotwire never existed! Fraudulent activity, please beware!!!

I made a reservation through Hotwire for a car rental at Alamo. We were flying into Orlando. Hotwire told me I could save $200 if I used an Alamo site that was 2.1 miles from the terminal and they had a shuttle that I could use. Being a bit leery I called and spoke with a person at Hotwire and they reassured me that there was a shuttle and it was 2.1 miles from the terminal. I got in Orlando and went to the Alamo desk to inquire about the shuttle, and was told that there wasn't one and that the site was 16 miles from there. I then called Hotwire for assistance, was on the phone for over an hour, was put on hold for who knows how long. Ended up using a different rental agency and paying quite a bit more for something different. I called Hotwire when I got home about this problem and it seems that it's my problem not Hotwire's.

Hotwire provided me with 3.5 Stars Hotel and exampled the Hotel as Hilton, Sheraton. The location was specified as it's in a quite city area and it actually was in totally different location in the middle of noise downtown. The Hotel is not even a two stars in Trip Advisor. The pictures from the previous customers who stayed in this place was bad. I been a value customer for HOTWIRE for the past 7 Years or more. I spoke to the agent and his supervisor. I asked them to Google the hotel and to see. They did and said my purchase was final and they will not refund my money, neither change the hotel for me.

Hotwire.com takes no responsibility for the companies on their site. If there is a mistake, it's your responsibility to contact the company. I rented a car because Hotwire.com said it was unlimited mileage. The car rental charge me an additional 28 dollars for going over 70 miles. Hotwire customer service just kept on saying that they have nothing to do with what the car rental charges. So what's the benefit of going through Hotwire if they don't even know what their vendors mean. So beware if you rent a car through Hotwire because they might advertise unlimited mileage, they don't mean it.

I booked a hotel and car through Hotwire and literally ten minutes later found the same hotel and car for over $60 cheaper. I called Hotwire and stayed on hold for over an hour and a half waiting to speak to someone so they could refund me the difference. Finally reached them and they told me that the room descriptions were different. The ONLY thing different about them were the order the amenities were in. Same EXACT room except the Hotwire one listed the continental breakfast first and the other site listed the free parking first. Completely ridiculous! Will never, ever use Hotwire again. Waste of time.

I have booked with Hotwire several times. I booked a hotel today that stated it was 75% recommended, an excellent deal, and near the beach. When I found out which hotel they had given me, I searched for the reviews online, and every site had the worst reviews I've ever seen for a hotel in my life. Bed bugs, roaches, mosquitoes, a loud train in the back, dirty rooms, bathrooms, etc. It was something out of a horror tv series about nasty hotels or something. I called to inform them of this within 30 mins of booking the room, and they showed zero concern and told me that I was aware of their policy. So I forfeit what I paid for that room, since no one would ever stay there, and I had to book another room NOT through Hotwire. It is very clear that they do not monitor the quality of hotels on their site and are severely lacking in the customer service department. I am no longer a Hotwire customer.

Booked a room that was not there. After 3 long distance calls and a dead cell phone, we still did not get a promised refund. "Customer Service" at this company does not exist. They will not answer my calls now. Do not use this company! There are many better options on the net and a few bucks are not worth the aggravation and wasted time.

Please do NOT use Hotwire. I traveled to Mexico 2012 summer and while purchasing tickets from Hotwire they told me I had to buy a full fare ticket for my infant son which was not accurate. I was only suppose to pay a 10% fee of a full fare ticket. After numerous calls/emails back and forth, they said they could do nothing for me - refused to refund the amount overpaid. I hope they go out of business. Don't use them, they will rip you off.

After paying for, and receiving a confirmed reservation at the Floridian Express in Orlando, FL, it took speaking to 5 people at Hotwire over a span of nearly 1.5 hours in a hotel lobby before my wife and son were able to check into their hotel. The weary ordeal with Hotwire started at 11:30PM and never ended until nearly 1:00AM!!!! There was absolutely no reason for this to happen, and Hotwire created a very stressful experience for my wife after spending hours on the road driving. The savings is definitely not worth the hassle!

I was looking online to reserve a hotel. I noticed that Hotwire had OK prices. I called and spoke to agent Mark expressing my concerns about the city I was traveling to. I stated that I would like a hotel close to the airport because I was picking someone up very late and I had concerns about safety. The customer stated that his system is designed to automatically pick a hotel within an specified shaded area on Hotwire's webpage. He also mentioned that I should not be too far out of the way. Being this my first time I trusted Mark and proceeded to purchase a ticket online.

I was looking at hotels but NEVER booked. Two days later I receive an email saying the hotel was booked and I was charged. I called Hotwire and was told they would not refund or credit my account and in fact had already charged me! I am disputing it with my credit card company now. The dates I was looking at are 2 months away!

We are a modest family of four and we wanted to save money to travel. Unforeseen circumstances made us cancel our trip. Out $1000. Don't risk it. We will never use Hotwire again and encourage our friends and family to never use them. Criminal.

I've used this service 3 times now and was never disappointed. However, today when I purchased 3 nights in Paris (hotel was described as 3-star with advertised price of $261) for $119 per night, I was shocked when I searched the regular price of the hotel and found all websites show the price per night as $141 (including their sister website Hotels.com). A reduction in price of $22 a night is hardly worth not knowing the name, exact location and other details. It's completely misleading to compare a $147 a night hotel with one priced at $261 and had I known that, I wouldn't have made the purchase.

DON'T buy airline tickets from Hotwire. If you miss the first flight, they automatically cancel your return flight on a round trip. After asking for speaking with a supervisor I got transferred to Lia ** in Oregon "she said" and she couldn't prove any of those terms and still did not provide any help. They are terrible, will never use them again.

Booked hotel and car on 2-9-15 for one night stay in Austin dated for 2-14-15 only to get the car and drive to the hotel and find no reservations available. Waited an hour on Hotwire customer service line in the lobby of the hotel then got blamed by Hotwire customer service rep and supervisor for the date changing during process of payment. Kept repeating policy like I didn't understand. Overt-talking me very loudly. How can one book a car and hotel on the same date to arrive and one of the reservation are changed? Left me with a car, no hotel and all hotels were book solid. Never book with Hotwire again unless you got money to throw away.

I was out west skiing when I made a reservation with Hotwire for a car rental for 15 days starting on the 18th of February 2015. The 18th was the wrong date it should have been the 19th of February. I tried to call and change the date to the 19th but waited many hours over a period of a couple of weeks before getting to speak to anyone. I eventually waited them out and got to speak with Mark. Mark had a heavy accent but had no problem understanding my problem. He informed me that I had to make any change within 24 hours and I explained I did not realize my mistake until I got home a week after the reservation and he informed me nothing could be done that I could pick up the car on the 19th as long as it was within 24 hours of the original reservation. I told him it might be more like 28 to 30 hours before I got there and he informed me that I would lose my entire rental.

I've used Hotwire many times in the past. The thing with Hotwire is that you can't expect much when booking a hotel through them. For example, a 4-star hotel in New York City is not going to be a large, luxurious room like some people think. You will get a queen size bed at possibly the W New York or the Westin Grand Central for around $280 a night (normally in the $350 a night range), plus taxes and service charges of around 20%. In Orlando, a 4-star was the Hyatt Regency at $169 a night, when the regular rate was $209, a decent savings, but nothing to write home about. I did get a great deal in San Francisco when I booked the Westin St Francis hotel at $139 a night, compared to the normal rate of $305 per night. The room was SMALL, under 200 square feet, but I saved a good bit of money.

I booked a room 2/14/15 for Orlando, Florida. When I arrived, the hotel didn't honor the booking and explained Hotwire should have contacted me about rebooking my room. I called them and they stated that I must have not checked my spam emails. I explained to them my emails come to my phone and had not received any emails from them, not even in my spam which I rechecked, no email. They then stated they didn't have any room they could book us in, but room refund the money. I explained I have drived 3 1/2 hours and needed a room, rudely I was told this is what they can do! If I flew in from somewhere else I would have been in a lot of trouble. It also was Daytona 500 weekend, no rooms were available anywhere on our ride back home. We were tired from driving over Orlando and Kissimmee area so we thought let's just stay in Daytona. No rooms. We had no choice but to drive home.

Booked a hotel in Times Square through Hotwire. Arrived at the hotel only to be told there were no rooms available and I would have to go to another hotel located near Central Park. Wouldn't mind be in Central Park in July but not February. I called Hotwire asking for help but received none. As stated by others, Hotwire may provide great deals but not worth the savings if you encountered an issue. Terrible customer service - scripted responses and they aggressively try to end the conversation quickly. They refused to cancel my original booking and book another hotel in Times Square even though I offered to pay the difference if the new booking was more expensive. Hotwire would not take any responsibility for me being relocated and were unwilling to help. This was the last time I use Hotwire.

I booked a car rental from 6:30pm on Feb 27th to 6:30 pm on Mar 2nd. During the process of choices, I checked for many times and it showed the day span is 3 days, with the price at $30/day. Also, I added insurance which is $9 daily. I am very confident that I did it, because I discussed with my boyfriend before making this decision.

I received an email from Hotwire, indicating that the hotel for which I received a reservation confirmation is overbooked, and while I can appreciate that new accommodations were made on my behalf, I am very disappointed with the lack of accountability demonstrated for this error. I spoke to a representative over the phone regarding this change in my reservation, and I explained that according to the current published rates at the replacement hotel (on their website), I am not receiving any kind of discount on my reservation whatsoever.

Hotel was listed as 4.5 stars with free parking. Hotel was 4 stars and parking cost 14 to 27 dollars a day. I called customer service twice to ask for a refund but they called the hotel and said they confirmed with Kelly T and Gus. But when I called the hotel, the hotel did not have these employees.

I called in today to see if there was any way I could (if not cancel) just get a credit for my reservation. I'm losing my father sometime this weekend and I'll be flying out Thursday. I asked the rep what would be my options. She advised that I could cancel and she would submit my request to the research team for review for a refund. She also stated that I would have to fax medical information to them. I asked if it was time sensitive because a hotel would not be on my mind while with my dad. I don't think she understood my question and stated that the research team would get back to me within 5-10 days. I explained that wasn't my question and asked if there was someone else I could speak with. She stated she could help me and asked me to repeat my question, I did. Still there was a misunderstanding.

My wife went on to Hotwire to book reservations for an upcoming flight. She is leaving two days before me and did her reservation first. Took a little while but this was expected. After she completed hers, she attempted to do mine. She kept getting a 1320 error (Whatever that is). She called hot wire and was shifted from person to person 5-6 times. This went on for almost two hours without being able to secure my reservation. She actually ended up at the first person she spoke to. While this was going on she again tried several times to make the reservation online and every time she got the same error message. Finally after much frustration she hung up and tried again online. When she was able to make my reservation, they were going to charge an extra $83 for my return flight.

I recently booked the hotel via Hotwire, which is Kauai Beach Resort An Aqua Boutique, 4331 Kauai Beach Drive, Lihue, Kauai, HI, 96766. Hotwire advertised that this hotel is four stars hotel. Actually, before booking the hotel, I tried numerous bidding of four stars grading hotel at Priceline.com but I failed to do so that I visited Hotwire. To my surprise, their deal of 4-star grading hotels was just $113 per night. Compared to Priceline,com, it was real deal, which is much lower than Priceline.com that showed their express deal from $166 to $180 per night for four stars hotels. I booked the hotel immediately. However, I found that most sites except a few indicated the hotel as a 3.5 stars grade hotel. Thus, I claimed it to Hotwire and they mentioned that Hotwire starts with Expedia star ratings.

I booked a room from Hotwire.com in Key Largo. The hotel was terrible! I paid $150 a night for a room that I probably wouldn't even pay $50 a night for! I called Hotwire and they had the hotel give us another room, but all of the rooms are the same. The furniture is falling apart, there are holes in the walls and doors, and the paint is coming off of the walls! I called Hotwire back and they said that they can't do anything for us. I don't recommend that anyone ever use Hotwire!!! There's a reason that they don't tell you where they're booking you!

Hotwire takes no responsibility for the vendors on their site. No matter what the issue is, I have to contact the vendor. If the vendor is not cooperative Hotwire does not help resolve it unlike Expedia. Expedia agents help with rescheduling and refunds. I will NEVER use Hotwire again.

Exasperated! I had a confirmed, printed confirmation directing me to a Budget location in downtown Salt Lake City on a recent Saturday in late January. Having flown in and rushed by cab to an appointment in the city, I then subsequently hauled all my luggage 6 blocks to the designated location, only to discover that Budget had vacated that office 2 years earlier.

I booked a room on hotwire. Right after booking I went to hotel website and found out I could of booked with the hotel for $250.00 when hotwire charged me $281.00. So misleading to me. Feeling ripped off and Hotwire does not care. I feel in booking like this you should have the right to cancel within an hour of booking. I was mislead to thinking I was saving up to 40%, in fact I saved 0. This is not fair to the customer if I booked with hotel I could cancel. I mean their rate was better than hotwire. Buyer beware. Hotwire ripped me off and did not care. They lost a customer and still did not care when in fact I booked the total price of $299.00. If I booked with hotel I would of spent $228.00-- big difference. They gave me $17.00 back. Big rip.

Because my son was stranded in Denver without ID (lost his wallet) I was faced with trying to find him a place to stay and someone to check him in with ID. It was midnight in NY where I was making arrangements and I booked a room close by. When we read the confirmation, however, it was for two days later. I called and was told they would make a one time change and was given a second reservation in Westminster - many miles away. I did not realize there was no way for him to get there but when I contacted him it was clear that Westminster was too far and the person who was willing to help him check in could not go either, so he called and was promised a refund and shortly thereafter, disconnected.

Hotwire? More like cold blooded deception wire! They advertise hotels for double the amount and then when you book give you a lower class rated hotel! These guys are all about trickery and deception!! We booked our hotel that was supposed to be worth 200$ a night and at least 3 star rating. We thought what a great deal. Then when we found out the ACTUAL hotel which has been rated a 2-2.5 star and is only worth less than 100$ a night. We got dooped big time! We looked at photos on tripadvisor and found out they have BUGS at this hotel which is unacceptable! When we called Hotwire they blatantly told is nothing could be done. What a rip off! I will NEVER EVER book with them again!

I was trying to book a 4-start hotel at Hotwire.com but the website had problems. I was redirected to the search page whenever I tried to confirm the payment. I tried several times and at the last round, the hotel I was trying to book disappeared. I was frustrated and called Hotwire. The agent said she could help me with the booking over the phone. Very quickly, she said she found a 4-start hotel at a lower price in the same area as the one I found with even better customer ratings. I asked her many time "Are you sure it's a 4 star hotel" since I didn't see it on my computer. She assured me "absolutely."

I booked a hotel with hotwire months in advance for 4 rooms with friends for a vacation in July. (Busy season), that's why I booked early. Got to my destination in San Antonio and the hotel did not have a single room for us even though I had my itinerary in hand in black and white. We were asked to leave the hotel lobby to dispute the reservation because they had no reservation for us. We ultimately paid an additional 100 per night to stay at the Hilton, the only hotel in town to accommodate us and it was 2am before we got the room.

On 1-24-15, I tried to book a hotel room at a ski resort in CO through Hotwire.com for 2-3-15. I did not receive a confirmation email back stating that my booking went through so after approximately 72 hours, I called that hotel to ask if I was booked. I was told no. Therefore, on 1-27-15 I booked a different room at a different hotel through Expedia.com and received a confirmation email the next morning. Both of the above mentioned rooms were considered "non-refundable".

My wife had a car rental booked with Hotwire. She had an emergency trip booked to see her sick mother. As we were driving to the airport, we received the call that her mother has passed away. There was no longer a reason for my wife to travel back east, so we cancelled her trip. Southwest airlines were wonderful. They had a zero fee to cancel my wife's trip and to push out a trip for many months down the road.

I booked a flight with Hotwire. After booking the flight I received a confirmation email that had links to rent a car or a hotel. I clicked the link to rent a car. It ran me through options and prices, and when I had made my choice with Payless, it ran me through a number of questions. Unfortunately it never asked me what time I was going to pick up the car. The dates of pick up and drop off automatically populated with no fields to enter time of pick up. So I arrive in Sacramento at 11:30 pm and guess what, Payless is closed! So instead, my plan to pay 98 dollars and change was out the window and then payed over 300 dollars.

We had booked a hotel in Orlando through Hotwire on the 31 of December but when we came to the hotel, there were no confirmation whatsoever at their desk and the hotel was fully booked. We had received our confirmation and already paid for the hotel, but there we stood with our two kids without a room. I spent over an hour on the phone talking to Hotwire without them coming up with any solution at all. Then the hotel fortunately received a cancellation and we got a room, but not because of Hotwire. I have written them a letter of complaint and again, no answer. I will not do business with them again and recommend that nobody does.

Recently booked a hotel in Nashville Tn. Was promoted as 3 Star, 73% off listed at $107 per night and comparable to hotels averaging rates of $299.00 per night, comparable to Hyatt, Sheraton, Marriott etc. A Secret Rate Deal??? Upon receiving my confirmation I found my hotel was one block from one of the worst areas in Nashville not to mention the hotel rate was $114.00 per night for a walk in!!! No Savings and certainly not comparable to the hotels they described. This is the second time this has happened to me with Hotwire, and it will be the Last. They practice inflating rates and star ratings to give the consumer the perception of a deal and you are saving money when in fact there is no deal at all. They are just filling rooms!!!! STAY AWAY FROM HOTWIRE!!

I went to book a "Hot" Rate for a hotel in the 33462 Zip. They call this "Central Palm Beach" area. The site said that the median price of the 2.5 star hotels was $249.00 and the Hot price was $89. They said this was a 64% savings. What I got was a hotel that's rack rate was $100 for $89 a savings of 11%. I called to challenge this. I went through four different staff all of which had a different explanation of how their median rate was calculated. The first said stars had nothing to do with it but that if the median price was $249 it couldn't be a 2.5 star. The next was a little bit better but really didn't understand. The next one used the correct method and came up with a median of $175. I tried to explain to them that it wasn't that difficult to do given that there are so few hotels in the area and that only two of them were 2.5 star rating. One was $249 per night the other was $100 per night. That is a total of $349 and the correct median would be $175.

I am very disappointed because, the last night I reserved a hotel in Barcelona and, even I know the policy and terms of this site, the information that were given did not correspond the expectations. Being more specific, this site gave the information that the hotel is in the neighborhood called "Passeig de Gracia" and, it is 5 stars. Moreover, there are other sites that offer the same hotel for a similar price. Even though the hotel is located in the neighborhood "Paseo de Gracia", it is too far from the main points of the neighborhood. In addition, the 5 stars do not correspond to other 5 stars hotels that are much well located. In conclusion, it can be said that the information given are like a false advertising. So, taking in consideration all the complaints above and, that the reservations was made less than 24 hours, I wanted to cancel this booking and they denied it!

I booked a hotel in France using Hotrate as they claim great discounts and they can't reveal the hotel until after the booking as the hotel cannot be advertised as giving away such great deals. After booking I checked the hotel. Reviews not great, a bit far out of town but had I saved? The answer is yes but only £5 on Hotwire's standard rate. I also found some other deals that would only have cost me 4 more with the ability to cancel.

I booked a 3 star hotel and got a best western plus which is rated 2.5 stars on Expedia. When I wrote to complain and ask for an upgrade that I paid for, they explained to me that Hotwire bases their star rating on Expedia and customer ratings. When I booked the hotel on Hotwire it was only 70% recommended and also said the regular price was over $170. But on most sites the max price was $110. Furthermore, the site lists similar hotels to what the deal includes. Best Western was not one of those hotel types.

Booked a flight through Hotwire, they sent an email 4 times with the wrong flight information, therefore we missed our flight... had to spend major money to get home. Wanted reimbursement from them, they responded once with a bs excuse. I emailed the company 5 more times with NO response! They DO NOT own up to their mistakes!!! So angry! Never again...

If for whatever reason your hotel messes up you booking, you will be out of luck. You will never receive a refund from Hotwire, even when an error is made by the hotel. You will likely spend an hour on the phone with very rude customer service managers.

On Jan.16/15 I checked the Hotwire site for hotel deals and found the area that I wanted. I chose 3-star accommodations and being familiar with the area, I was satisfied with the selection of hotels presented to me. I decided to book assuming that I would be booked into one of these hotels. How wrong could I be? I was booked into a B&B several miles away from the hotels indicated. After an hour and 10 minutes on the phone to Hotwire trying to rectify the problem, I gave up in frustration. Never, ever, ever again.

My minor son's credit card was used to book two rooms on Hotwire without my permission. They refunded me for one but not the second, which of course was the most expensive. I was a faithful Hotwire user but they have no customer loyalty.

2nd time I booked a hotel with Hotwire and last time for sure. Before you book a hotel with HW, do it directly with the hotel - it will be a lot cheaper. Hotwire charged me $204 for a hotel in Baton Rouge, LA. I went to the hotel website, if I would have book the room with them directly would have cost me only $122. I believe this is a ripoff. They don't let you see which hotel you will get till you pay for it, then you are stuck with it because they don't give your money back. Be careful. Do your research before using Hotwire.

Hotwire advertises deceptive star ratings and incorrect areas to promote higher prices and profits and delivering garbage.

I made a reservation from Hotwire recently. But it’s not fine. I searched and booked a 3 stars (Diamonds) hotel, but Hotwire gave me a 2 stars hotel. I called to the hotel, and them confirmed it’s a 2 stars hotel. I try to cancel this reservation, but Hotwire doesn’t cancel it. I send lots of e-mail and tried to call.

I made a reservation in December for Vegas on Hotwire. For some glitch in website my Hotwire reservation was made for January. Upon arrival in Vegas hotel informed us that we do not have a reservation. Holiday weekend, all Hotels were sold out. I called Hotwire to help and get us in a decent hotel partner. Hotwire supposedly supervisor was no help and furthermore read policy of non-refund for non-reservation. Although it was all their website glitch. I had to pay quite a bit more to stay in Vegas. Be aware.

What was advertised as an airport hotel had no shuttle and their 'recommended' taxi company did not operate at night. When we asked to simply transfer to another hotel closer to airport, they would only offer a higher rate, a rate that was available on the hotel's website that we were not willing to pay. They would refund our original rate of $60US for a 2 star if we would take a $90US room from the same chain for a 2 star room. In other words, if they could make money, they would 'help'.

When you promise a rock bottom price OR ridiculous rate OR 40% off I do not expect you to match the rate of hotels.com / booking.com etc. So the customer takes the risk and is willing to pay in advance (no cancellation), get a hotel that might be 1-2 miles out of the range he is looking for and even compromise a bit on the quality of the hotel. All would be fine if the price was actually 40% off... You know what even 25% off, but going through all of this in order to get a standard price for a low rated 4* hotel?? Called the support 1 minute after the reservation and asked them to cancel the order or provide another hotel that stands for their offer but they wouldn't do it. Well it's just a hotel so not a big deal but that's definitely the last time I'm booking through hotwire.com. Don't fall into this 40% off trap and book the hotel you want for the same price on other websites.

My son and daughter-in-law booked to flights from MICHIGAN to OREGON to be in a wedding. The morning of the flight, they went to the HOTWIRE website to confirm flight times! (Not knowing that Hotwire website DID NOT have current information) Both missed their flights, because Hotwire information was outdated! Had to spend additional $1800 on 2 one-way tickets to Oregon to stand up as the best man in a wedding. Customer service was extremely poor! They actually forwarded my son's call to a phone sex hotline. When he brought to their attention - the reply was, "Really! That is hilarious! " The fiasco occurred on Jan. 1st -- and as of this writing -- six days later --- ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

Over the holiday I rented a standard car from Hotwire, which states that you will receive a Ford Fusion or similar. However, when I got to Hertz, they said the standard car was a 2-door Altima. If you research these two cars on the Internet, they aren't even competitors. According to the industry, the Ford Fusion competes against the 4-door versions of the Toyota Camry, Chevrolet Malibu, Nissan Altima, and Hyundai Sonata. Additionally, if you look up the specs on the Ford Fusion (only comes in a 4-door), and compare to the 2-door Altima, you will find that the Fusion is considerably larger.

Hotwire booked a vacation with an individual who stole my credit card. They are useless and protect the individual who did this. They told me they would call me back in three hours at the fake number the thief provided!!! How incompetent and lax can you be! Never have booked with them and never would.

I was booking 5 star hotel in Delhi and selected hotel though Hotwire and during booking final stage, Hotwire website gave me option to book similar 5 star hotel at 50% off in same area. I looked at Hotwire site, found only 4 five Star Hotels and all were good hotel so I decided to book blind 5 Star hotel instead of standard hotel booking thinking I will save money. But after booking was done, they sent me hotel name that I will be staying in Delhi which is way far from destination I need to be, only 4 star hotel and actually they charged me 10% more than hotel own website. I called Hotwire right away and I was told there is nothing they can do. Hotel Star rating is calculated by customer rating at Hotwire so even 3 Star hotel can be 5 star hotel if people who stayed before gave 5 out of 5 rating . Somebody sue this company please and stop scam.

I have been a very happy Hotwire customer up until yesterday. Five times I tried to book a hotel, and five times the website said there was an error in my address information and the card would not be charged. Five times my card was charged, and this morning $463.75 is gone from my account. I called your customer service number and the lady who answered would not help me. She told me to contact my bank. I told her I had just got off the phone with my bank. She would not answer my questions and she had an accent that was very hard to understand. I will not be booking with you anymore since your customer services do not serve customers or help in any way.

US airways cancelled my flight from HPN to JAX, so I had to cancel my car rental through Hotwire. I stayed on the phone with 2 people and they were not helpful. They did not refund my transaction to my credit card and stated, "we would only refund the amt in hotwire dollar because you did not book the plane ticket through Hotwire." We asked them about the written policy regarding this since consumers were uninformed about this policy and we did not consent to such "bundle plan" at the time of purchase. Hotwire did not answer the question that we posted, but con't to say "this is our policy and we will only give you hotwire dollar." In addition, they overcharged me on my car rental when comparing the rate to orbitz.com. I am highly DISSATISFIED with my experience through hotwire.com and would not come back!!

I was quoted a hot price when I rented a car. You don't know who you will be renting from. Beware if you rent from Hertz you will pay an additional $13.00 a day for a spouse. We are Hertz club members and never have to pay for a spouse if we book directly through Hertz. When I complained Hertz said there was nothing we could do about it because we booked through Hotwire. Check all sources before using this company. I was very disappointed and Hotwire said they could not do anything about it. Hotwire also pointed out that their information indicates that there may be an additional charge for additional drivers.

I scheduled a trip for my family to Las Vegas to go to the National Finals Rodeo leaving December 10, 2014 and returning December 14, 2014. I scheduled this trip around mid August 2014. I printed out the itinerary on December 10th before we left with all flight details and hotel reservations. When we arrived at the airport on December 14th at approximately 8:10 am for our 9:45 am flight home I was told that the flight time had changed and we had missed our flight. I was informed by the airline that the flight time had been changed at the end of AUGUST and that my travel agent (HOTWIRE) should have updated my reservations then the itinerary would have reflected the time change.

In November, in accordance with a third party, I had booked a hotel in Miami, FL. We were going down to see my son accept a championship. Unfortunately, my place of work rescinded my request for vacation and would not allow me to take the trip. Within 24 hours of booking the hotel with Hotwire, I called them up and tried to explain my situation. I was greeted by a woman whose tone was of utter rudeness and crass. She was in no way helpful and when I asked to speak to her immediate superior, she questioned my request several times. When they finally patched me through to a supervisor, I was disconnected before ever getting to speak to anyone else. After receiving unsatisfactory customer service, I went to my last resort option, which was to charge the trip back on my credit card. Of course, wonderful Hotwire denied that and now I'm stuck with a bill of $683 for a room that I never stayed in. Why could I not cancel my trip within 24 hours? That's complete nonsense. Beware: Hotwire is fine if you want to save a few dollars, but unless you croak, you can't cancel.

I phoned Hotwire hotel reservations on Nov. 17th to see if their online room cost of about $122.00 included park and stay. The rep, Shayna ** confirmed that yes, park and stay was included - so I booked the room through them online. Checking in at the hotel, the front desk person stated that Hotwire cannot book a park and stay, that park and stay must be booked directly with the hotel. The hotel charged an additional $80 to park in their lot. I paid the 80 bucks (deal with Hotwire later). I phoned later Hotwire to resolve additional charge - a manager flat out refused to accept responsibility. I then contacted my credit card Co. explaining the situation. It was decided to contest Hotwire for $80 on my CC bill. Visa allowed me a temporary $80. credit pending refute from Hotwire. It's a wait and see at this point.

Used Hotwire once and will never return. I was shocked by how misleading they are. My grievances seem to be the same as many on here. Hotwire advertised a 48% discount on a $124 room for the Best Western in Indy. Well it was $124 during the Indy 500 and every other week it's between $50 - $75. I stayed here once for $48 a night and never wanted to do that again because the place was a dump. Thinking I was getting a great deal on a "hot rate" hotel I agreed to pay $65 a night plus almost $30 in fees. I was horrified when I learned it was this hotel. I stay in the area quite often and know what the standard rates are. I would never use Hotwire again after this.

Miami Beach, FL, 33139. I took a cab around 9 pm from Miami International Airport to the hotel to only find out that the hotel was overbooked. After almost 3 hours on the phone with representatives from Hotwire.com, they finally found me a room at the 1818 Meridian House located 1816 Meridian Ave, Miami Beach, FL, 33139. I had to take another cab to this second destination. When I got there no one was there to assist me. The office was closed.

I booked a car through them from Dallas to Houston for around $80. Fair deal right? When I dropped it off at Hertz they wanted an additional $250 for an intercity fee and taxes. I called Hotwire.com and they said there was nothing they could do. It cost me around $350 not including gas to drive 200 miles. I've never experienced this kind of business practices and will never book anything through them again.

Selected to be quoted in Canadian dollars on the search page. The results were shown with a dollar sign and dollar amount but did not specify USD or CAD. I assumed since I had already selected CAD that I would be quoted in that currency. To be fair, at the very end when you confirm the reservation, there was a notice that said "All prices are quoted in US dollars", however, if you are comparing prices for packages on different sites, you would not know until you go to check out. This might not be the case if you select a currency that does not use the $ sign.

Was booking a trip to Orlando, and looking for a good deal. After reviewing several travel websites, and seeing that the rates were high for the hotel I wanted, I decided to try Priceline and Hotwire websites. Hotwire was showing a rate of $159, and showed a 52% discount. The next day it was showing a $149 rate, and a 57% discount. The slashed rate was showing $349, which they claim is the median rate for the same neighborhood, same hotel stars, etc. It turns out the hotel they gave me was selling for $177 on their own hotel site. To indicate that the booking was going to be a 57% of the median rate, and then to find that their own site didn't have any 4-star hotels for $349 to me is fraudulent, and is really bad on Hotwire's part. If they would represent the true median rate of these hotels, they'd probably get more customers, and would have better business practices. They are extremely deceitful. BEWARE!! So far, same result as someone else had written before, they have their standard text that they hand out, and will file something with some internal group, and will let me know in 7-10 business days.

Had to take two shuttles from Las Vegas airport to the car rental agency with 35 minute delay each time. Sixt Car Rentals was the only agency off site that was selected by Hotwire. I requested, and paid for Standard size car, as described by Hotwire as Ford Fusion or similar and it was clearly written on my itinerary confirmation. Sixt Car Rental definition of a Standard car is a Honda Civic, unless you complain loudly and then it can be a VW Jetta, again by no means the same size as a Ford Fusion. Sixt Car Rental Agency has a different scale what a standard car size is, and be careful if it has four doors. Hotwire's Customer Service, after three phone calls, three emails and after 8 days says that all four door cars are the same, and offered no explanation. Say What? NEVER AGAIN Sixt Car Rental. Never again Hotwire Car Rental either. I wish I would have seen these reviews first.

I have been using hotels as a means of shelter. I have had no problems with the several hotels around Dallas TX. I have not even had any problems with booking until I ran into HOTWIRE.COM. I booked a room for two nights. After work I went to this hotel and was told I needed a $100. Not knowing this I only had an additional $50. Would you believe HOTWIRE.COM would not refund my money or offer any alternatives. So, I got nothing and they got my money. A complete rip-off company.

My 80 plus parents booked a flight. The reservations read **, A and **, B. Upon calling to add wheelchairs for my parents, I was told A and B were listed as their last names and ** listed as their first names. Hotwire asked for $200 to correct this error. Really? Do not buy from Hotwire if you will ever be in need of customer service. Can you assist me with this matter?

I tried to change the fight timings after 2 days I booked, they charged $200 + $200 differences per ticket. I never even paid such price even for international flights booked so far for 8 years.

First time I used the Hotwire and it looks like worst consumer experience ever. Here is what happened. I was going through the car reservation comparing the option and somehow it booked it for me (I already have my credit card added to the system). Within 5 minutes I called customer service to cancel it as this was for Hawaii and I don't have hotel or flight available. They said they cannot cancel it. Come on guys 5 minutes?? Really bad - never heard things like this.

I have used hotwire many many times for rentals, I will never ever use them again. I booked a car rental through them today 11/23/14 for Thanksgiving week. I booked it for Alamo car rental, on the Hotwire site the car agency says they accept credit/debit cards for the deposit. Since I don't have a major credit card I booked due to the disclaimer. I get to the location and all goes well until the rep asks for a major cc which I don't have. He refused my rental. I referred back to website thinking I misread but I was correct. I called hotwire and told the rep my situation. They said Alamo does accept debits but they offered to book me a rental through Enterprise which I agreed to. As I'm driving, the rep gives me the physical address and I was headed that way because it was close.

I booked through Hotwire a hotel room they claimed to be a 3 star and turned out to be 2.5 stars. When I called to get a 3 star hotel or a refund they refused to do either. A complete scam.

Hotwire runs a scam for car rental, where their computer system quotes a price then on the next screenshot raises it a few dollars figuring the customer will just pay...it's only a couple bucks a day. If you check again from another computer the first lower rate will likely remain. Continually checking from the same computer will result in a higher price (their system can see your computer or smartphone's cookies). I recommend checking prices with hotwire as a reference and then maybe try somebody else like Priceline to beat their price. Their customer service is awful and in the Philippines or something.

On hold for 18 min. Was told wait would be 10 minutes... condescending recording telling me "thank you, a travel specialist will be with you shortly." *BS!!! Called Hotels.com and got through right away and spoke to a human (Alex).

Book a car through Hotwire, and was charged for the rental, and was also charged for the daily rental fee from Thrifty as well. Contact Hotwire, no help. Contact Thrifty, no help, filed a dispute(s) with credit card company. First and last time I use Hotwire.

Got a room from hotwire.com on oahu. This place looked like a jail or some kind of institution inside. The room was literally disgusting. Bathroom was worn out, dirty, cracked and had to wear shoes in tub. Sink was cracked. Blue carpet looked like it was dragged in off the freeway and was yellow at doorway. Walls were chipped, stained and not taken care of. Called hotwire and this was their response: "sorry but that's how we roll." That's cool hotwire... This is how me, my friends and anyone who sees this will roll... Bye bye crapwire.

Hotwire did not give me the option of closer lodging. If I had known prior to purchase that I would have to pay 265 each to and from the airport and Timberline I would have chosen closer lodging etc. However I specifically chose Timberline condos because of the free airport shuttle. Now what I request from Hotwire is to reimburse some if not all of the transportation cost 258+266. If the cost of transportation were less than 100 I would not bother to express my concern for the website misleading information. Had hotwire been clearer then I would have purchased the best option to my budget. Each time I speak with a customer rep, the call is disconnected or they are extremely rude. Not sure where to go from here.

It wasn't our first Hotwire.com reservation, but for sure it will be the last. I'm familiar with anonymous hotel booking procedure in order to get a discounted rate. However, this time Hotwire.com appointed us with a hotel as far as possible in the neighborhood, and the rates are simply same as the particular hotel would charge us if we're to make the reservation through hotel's website.

We arrived at the airport July 8th at 8:00 AM tired and ready to get to our hotel and get some rest. I was instructed to print a copy of the reservation and present it at the Dollar counter upon arrival. After the agent reviewed the reservation he told me he could not honor it as it was too good of a deal. As I explained that it was a confirmed reservation, he argued that they were not going to give me a car at that rate nor would any other rental agency there in the airport.

I booked a blind reservation for a 4.5 star hotel in New Orleans, which turned out to be the Sheraton. In Hotwire's own information, it refers to the Sheraton chain as part of its 4 star (NOT 4.5 star) collection. But Hotwire apparently recently created its own rating system that inflated the Sheraton to 4.5 stars. No other site that I have seen has it over 4 stars - Sheraton's own site has it at 3.9 stars. Had I known how they had changed their rating system so that a hotel like the Sheraton could be considered at this level, I would have never made this booking.

I did a blind hotel booking for Seattle Washington. I choose the area on their map that I wanted to stay (walking distance to Pike Place Market). Then I gave My credit card info and was charged. The hotel it gave me is 1.5 miles from the area the map covered! When I called they said all they could do in order to book me in the area I want to be in is book me at hotels that were double and triple the cost!!! What a scam!!!! I will never use Hotwire again! Beware!!! Use Expedia in the future. Their map locations are truthful.

I booked a room on Hotwire.com and needed 2 double or queen beds. They said there is no guarantee that I will get that at the hotel. I called the hotel and they let me know I would be getting a room with one queen bed and a couch bed. It should not be "guaranteed" that you get the worst sleeping situation. A couch bed is NOT acceptable for a grown man. I realized right after booking that I said this and immediately called the hotel and Hotwire.com to try to get what I needed and to no avail. Hotwire.com denied helping me in any way and I even had my credit card company's dispute representative call them on a 3-way call to try to get what I need. They would rather do bad business for themselves and the hotels they deal with. Stay away from them!!!! Hotwire.com is the worst "middleman" for a hotel I have ever used. When a customer calls after realizing they made a mistake, they should help them.

I reserved a hotel from Hotwire for 3 nights. Hotwire withdrew the funds from my bank account & I received an email confirmation. I called Hotwire to confirm this reservation today only for them to tell me that my reservation is cancelled due to a (fraudulent) phone call. I was livid! I was told I no longer had a hotel and I was not receiving a refund until they received "proper documentation of the funeral"! I explained to them that I was who I was and that the phone call was fraud. There is NO funeral, I wanted my paid reservation, I did NOT call to cancel. They were extremely condescending to me and kept talking over me and repeating themselves. No one listened. I asked several times to be connected to a supervisor. After being on hold for 15 min!, I was hung up on. I called back only to repeat myself to 2 more people and be placed on hold AGAIN for a supervisor who informed me of the same thing. I was not receiving a refund until they received a death certificate (there is no death!!). I was not getting a hotel even though I was the person the reservation was made by.

This was my first experience with Hotwire and the fact that I am taking time out of my day to write about my experience is huge, because I rarely, if ever, do this. I had heard about Hotwire through my Dad. He said that the website gives you a general idea of where the hotel is located, how much you will pay, and the star-rating of the hotel. Because the hotel is randomly generated, you pay less money for the hotel than if you were to go straight through the hotel website. I thought this sounded safe and a good way to save some money. Hotwire also makes this claim as well.

In October I rented a car though Hotwire and Hertz, in Framinham, MA. I drove to Portland Me and when I hit the first toll booth in ME the teller told me that I was dragging something on the bottom of my car. I pulled over and called Hertz to be told to climb under the car and push the air dam back up. I had them call a tow truck. It turns out that someone had duct taped the air dam to the front bumper and was towed to the Portland Airport. When I got there, I was told there were no cars available and to come back around 6 or 7 PM (this was at Noon). When I returned I was told to wait and about 7 got a vehicle. I requested a credit from the manager and was told that they didn't have any authority to do this.

This company steals money with their advertised Hot Sale. I booked a hotel of USD120 rate with a 60% off Halloween Sale Discount. It was a secret sale, you don't know the hotel name until you buy it. After buying it and I got the hotel's name revealed I was very upset as the rate of USD53 was the same, the hotel they gave had published at their website!!! No discount at all!! Don't believe on these offers! When I complained, the only answer I got from them was that it was nonrefundable. Of course I would never ask for a refund if they would have given me a hotel of USD120 rate they promised on their advertisement. It is really disappointing, it is the first time I get ripped-off with a travel agency.

Booked two night hotel stay through Hotwire with caption 'only 5 left at this price' and last person got The Langham hotel. Later that day I received an email for price drop. I opened the email and searched my area and star rating. When I clicked, I saw that last person who booked got the Langham for $20 less per night. Since Hotwire has a guarantee, I thought that I would be protected since not even 24 hours had passed. Therefore, I contacted Hotwire. A file was opened and a request for documentation was received. Even though I had screen shots, they would not accept due to internet security and required a fax.

Online, looking for low-cost car rental for 10 days over Christmas & New Years in San Francisco. Hotwire pops up with an under-$30/day rate, best at the time. Having seen how airfares have risen over the past week, I jumped on it. Name, credit card, click the box that says I agree blah blah blah. Confirmed. Great. Next day, on hotwire, I see a lower daily rate for a larger car. No problem; I'll just cancel the first one and lock in the second, in that order. (At least I was smart enough to know I should do it in that order.) Found the confirmed reservation, now with verbiage I had not seen before, identifying it as a "hot rate" reservation, which cannot be cancelled or changed. What?? I get that they already charged me (which is unusual for vehicle rentals in general), but I can't change it??

This is the first time I have ever used Hotwire and the last time I will ever use Hotwire. I travel often and thought I was finding a great new avenue to book cars, hotels and flights. Due to circumstances that I cannot control, I was forced to cancel my car rental. When I called I was greeted by a very sassy employee who told me I cannot cancel my car rental. When I asked to speak to her manager she told me that her manager knew no more than her and then I asked again. She said something that I didn't understand, then hung up on me.

My 11 year old daughter had my phone and wallet and was getting into trouble on my phone. Long story short, she downloaded the Hotwire app and booked us a hotel in Baltimore, MD. I immediately called Hotwire to let them know the circumstances and was informed that I would have to fax them my daughter's BIRTH CERTIFICATE in order for them to cancel and refund our money. I don't care what company you are. Unless you are a government agency or a doctor's office, you have NO business requesting that information. So I made that ridiculous story up about having a daughter just to cancel a reservation??? Yeah right. I'd understand if I had a history of calling to try and cancel reservations, but I don't have a history with them at all because I've never used them before. I was so angry that I hung up on the guy I was speaking to. Apparently, as a father (or so he claims to be) he has no issues whatsoever about showing his kids' birth certificates to anyone. Now I'm going to have to go through the BBB. I am NOT pleased.

We were trying to book a hotel and after I typed in all the info a pop up window stated that the transaction could not be completed due to a booking error, and that the payment was not processed. So we attempted one more time, and then decide to look at a different area on Hotwire in case it was an issue with that hotel. We received the same error. I figured there may be an issue with my card. So I checked my bank statement online and realized that I was being charged for all of those bookings. This is not what frustrated me. I understand that technology is not perfect and there are glitches.

I have booked trips with Hotwire for years and never had a problem until I purchased their insurance they sell where you can cancel your trip one time for any reason at all. Well, sad to say I lost my money because they fail to explain that not only will they deduct the airline fee for changing your flight which is $200 something bucks, but Hotwire also charges a $200 fee. That's a total of over $400 in fees for a $424.50 flight! This is after I'm transferred numerous times and hung up on when I give my reason to call as booking a flight using a flight credit.