Hotwire Reviews

I booked a rental car with Hotwire on Jan. 19, 2020, for pickup at Honolulu international airport on August 21, 2020. Due to Covid-19 and mandatory quarantine imposed by the state of Hawaii, we need to cancel our trip, Hotwire refuses to give us the money back. The rental car company Hertz provides full refund because of Covid-19. Hotwire is stealing my money during a pandemic, while every other company is doing the right thing and providing full refund. This company is a shameful scam and only care about itself.

I've been using Hotwire for years and have had no real issues until now. I booked two car rental via Hotwire for my summer vacation to Florida but wanted to cancel due to COVID19. Even with the surge in COVID19 cases in florida, Hotwire refuses to refund my money. I contacted the rental company who stated they don't charge a fee for cancellation but since I went through hotwire, I need to contact them. I was able to cancel lodging and flight without any penalty and with refunds. NEVER AGAIN WILL I USE HOTWIRE!!!!

We planned our trip for April 26. I did not cancel our trip. Due to the pandemic no flights were taking off, no Greyhound busses were running, our Governor had the city on lockdown. I called Hotwire asking what they are going to do, they informed me "NO CANCELLATION". I told the $$$ I am cancelling the Governor is saying no one is to travel. Still not budging $176.20 down the drain. Called Capitol. One my gave me back my money, Hotwire charged me again. We should do CLASS ACTION against Hotwire, will never use them again. That's a promise.

Made a reservation through Hotwire 15 minutes before entering the hotel. Upon arrival, I checked the price I would have paid as I walk up. It was $5 less than I paid through Hotwire. I contacted Hotwire right away via their messaging site. First they said there were no cancellations allowed. I took a screenshot of the confirmation email from them that stated their cancellation policy was in effect on my reservation. Then they said they wouldn't do anything as there was a "time difference" in the pricing..?? I've used Hotwire for DOZENS of bookings. They lost a loyal customer over $5. I will never use Hotwire again. Beware.

Class action lawsuit is needed! I was ripped off by Hotwire for a car rental. I tried twice to cancel and they refused to refund my money. I had to cancel due to Covid-19 and my state being on lockdown. I contacted Sixt rental car and they never received a cancelation or my money from Hotwire. I have filed a complaint with the BBB (San Francisco Bay Area and Northern Coastal California). I have also filed a complaint with the State of California Attorney General's Office. I have contacted an attorney to file a class action lawsuit and if you've been ripped off by Hotwire, I suggest you do the same. The attorney I contacted is **.

Don’t ever book anything with Hotwire. I’ve spent the last month and a half trying to get a refund for a car rental that I can’t use because of COVID with a Force Majeure cancellation. First they blamed the car rental agency saying their hands were tied that the rental agency won’t do the refund. I spent an hour on the phone with them explaining to me that Hotwire books a block of car rentals from them and then resells them to the consumer. Hotwire doesn’t send them any of the money, so they have nothing to refund. After I called out Hotwire about this they kept ignoring the whole point of Force Majeure cancellations and will not refund the money.

Booked a rental car in February and paid in full. After in became clear we would not be able to travel due to covid, flights canceled, the state we we’re traveling to wasn’t allowing tourists, couldn’t book condos/hotels because of governors orders - impossible to figure it out. I tried to cancel almost a month before our trip and never heard from them until today and they said it wouldn’t qualify. They couldn’t do any type of refund. Contacted the BBB as someone else suggested and will see what can be done.

WARNING!!! WARNING!!! AVOID AT ALL COSTS! IF YOU GOT A GREAT RATE, IT'S ABOUT TO MORE THAN DOUBLE!!!! If I could give zero stars, I would. I booked a 'Hot Rate' car, that means an unbelievable price and you don't know which company until you pay. Soooo, we got a one week rental with Nu Car Rental for $75 all in, pre-paid. Nice. When we arrived in Miami, we followed the directions to take the tram and then called the number and waited at the requested shuttle stop. The driver came within a reasonable time and brought us to the office. They had our reservation and asked for liability insurance.

Updated on 06/02/2020: If you were denied a refund by Hotwire because of the COVID-19, I have your solution. Please put a claim in with the Better Business Bureau. I did it on their website. They got involved and now I’m going to be getting my money refunded to me. The BBB is a free service and is on our side!!!

On May 28, 2020 my bank informed me of my reported stolen card being used in this site,,, I chat with 3 different employees asking them to stop it being used,, they gave me a number not linked to Hotwire at all for fraud. This was for $264.99. They wouldn't even help. One employee named John told me that he was going to make sure that I was taken as far as his site would allow to happen.. I'm disgusted and so upset with them not even willing to help me with my issues of my card being used without my authorize. Ok this site,,, it's officially dangerous and needs to be TOTALLY INVESTIGATED.

I booked flights and a car rental for a vacation in August, because of the pandemic I have canceled my vacation, called the airline, canceled my flights without any issues, sent in an online request to Hotwire to cancel my car rental and was denied. I called Hotwire and got the same answer, they refuse to refund or even give a credit for the rental. Everyone is taking a hit because of this pandemic but Hotwire refuses to do their part. I think this says a lot about what type of company this is. I hope that after this pandemic is over that everyone remembers this and refuses to use this company and they go under! Also, I believe we all need to flood social media with the horrible business practices they’ve exercised.

Got ripped off by Sixtcar via Hot wire. Paid for car two months in advance. Had to cancel because of covid19. Won't give money back. Sent an email and tried to call. No answer. Finally got an email from them saying I didn't qualify for refund. Totally bull. I didn't cackle because I wanted to.

We had planned a surprise bday trip for my father in law in July. He has never been outside of Texas and has always wanted to go to Seattle. We booked the trip January 28. Once the nation was put under locked down due to COVID19, my father in law got very worried about traveling to Seattle since he isn't in the best health. I started to cancel everything the middle of March because I knew it was going to take a while. American Airlines refunded, no questions asked. AirBNB refunded, no questions asked. My rental car through Hotwire is a different story unfortunately. I waited about a month with no response. So I chatted with a Hotwire representative who said my cancel request was DENIED! I asked why and they said because my trip was still so many months out and to send in another cancellation form closer to my trip date.

In March I booked a hotel room with Hotwire. Toward the end of the online booking form there was an option to pay for cancellation insurance which I checked and paid for. I needed to cancel my entire trip which included this room due to COVID-19. They refused to refund the $388.77 for the hotel room and the $17.49 the amount I paid for trip cancellation insurance. I will never trust Hotwire again.

Used Hotwire for the 1st time in March 2020 to book a hotel room; on my phone the booking showed that it could not be completed, tried twice and still said could not be completed, finally had to call the hotel to get a room, hotwire charged us for 2 rooms and we only used one. They refuse to give a refund for the unused room. WILL NOT be using hotwire again.

First, car rental location was a dirty dump. Then CoVid19 occurred during our trip, we returned home early. Couldn’t even contact car rental provider, they didn’t answer their phones. Reached out to Hotwire about partial refund for unused days of car rental; representative painted a rosy picture, filled out required forms, then said refund request could take about a month. I finally received a short email with virtually no explanation denying refund. Email stated our travel dates weren’t covered, but they didn’t bother to state what dates were. This was my first and last dealings with Hotwire.

I booked a car rental via Hotwire for a car through "Sixt" rental company for my trip to Philadelphia, PA. Neither company would budge on either a credit or refund for a prepaid car rental for memorial day weekend based on a no cancellation policy. However, when the trip was booked back in early March, it was prior to all the Covid state shut downs. My trip was unfortunately cancelled due to Covid as Philadelphia is still under a state of emergency/"stay at home" order through June 6, 2020 which overlaps my original trip date.

I booked a trip for two, 3 months in advance to Las Vegas with Hotwire. Also a car rental. The week before the trip I was contacted by the airline and told my flight was canceled due to Covid 19 outbreak. Hotwire refused to refund any portion of the trip even though it was no fault of my own. I'm out full price of the two round trip flights and car rental for 4 days. I will never use Hotwire again. That is downright stealing.

I had a car rental reservation for late July. Booked through Hotwire but the car was from Alamo. Sadly had to cancel our entire trip due to Covid 19. All aspects of my trip were fully refunded by airlines, hotels, etc. Even Expedia, Hotwire's parent company, refunded me. Now I get a letter from Hotwire claiming Alamo will not refund my money. Which is a flat out lie.

Booked a hotel through Hotwire and reservation was cancelled by Embassy Suites due to Covid-19. When I requested a refund the hotel stated they were never paid by Hotwire and would not be as they had cancelled the reservation on their end. Hotwire states that the issue is between the hotel and myself per their policy that I accepted during the booking. When pressed I was informed that they have a very strict “no refund under any circumstances policy” and that I would not be getting a refund. I have made a fraud claim with my bank and hope to be successful in getting my money back. I would not use Hotwire for any travel needs. Terrible customer service and even worse internal policies.

Covid-19 cancellation in Arizona, 24 day road trip, starting March 15. Hotwire told me, Sixt is not offering refunds at this time. Sixt told me, they don't have my money, talk to Hotwire. My Visa states that Hotwire took 1200 dollars, 3 days prior to my car pick up date. This company does not deserve my patronage in the future, nor a bailout, while they are withholding money from clients during this pandemic. Note, all my other cancellations were honoured, even those that were locked in.

Rented a vehicle in MN in early March. I had to return the vehicle early due to Covid 19. The car rental agency explained that because I booked the vehicle through Hot Wire I would have to get my refund from them. Hot wire will not return any amount of the unused time. Due to their refund policy I will not use them again!

I book a hotel room in AC for a weekend to see a concert. The concert was canceled due to COVID 19. They would not refund my money. I would NEVER use them again. With everything going on to keep people money who are out of work and can use the money. It's not right.

We scheduled and paid for a car rental for a trip to Myrtle Beach in May. Had to cancel, hotels closed and unsafe. Called "Dollar" who said Hotwire to cancel in full because Dollar Rental is waiving all fees fees, etc. to Hotwire. I called Hotwire who refused, said non-refundable. I called back and forth from Dollar and seven times with same answers.

I had a car rental for April 14-21 and the airline cancelled my flight. I contacted the car rental who said that Hotwire only needed to call on my behalf for the reservation to be changed, they had not (and would not) be collecting any funds until the car was picked up (which I could not do). Called Hotwire and could only chat via text and was told I would not get a refund. I told Hotwire what the rental agency said they only had to call on my behalf and Hotwire replied that the "contractual agreement would be a Hotwire Credit", so I asked for my credit and was told by Hotwire that I would not receive it, that it was for them. How does that make sense? I can't believe they are stealing from people during this pandemic, I will NEVER use this company again. I asked to speak to supervisor and was told to call back in five days, when I did, I was told to call back in another five days....thieves!!

I used Hotwire to book a rental car in February for a vacation to Florida in late May. COVID 19 unfortunately forced me to cancel my trip. American Airlines - no problem. Marriott - no problem. Hotel on Sanibel Island - no problem. However, Hotwire refused to to allow me to get a refund or even get a credit on my car rental. Trying to contact them was a nightmare. I was on hold for hours. Book Direct - don't ever use this website.

I booked a rental car, $354.36. Hotwire texted me on 3-21-20 to confirm/cancel. I canceled due to virus. Dr. did not want me travel or rent car. Called Hotwire, spoke to Kathy on 3-30-20 and sent doctor's note. Called National car rental on 3-31-20, spoke to Leo at LAX, said no charge or penalty to cancel. I was to email Hotwire Customer Support with doctor's note and they would get back to me. Today, April 7, Customer support says I had no such reservation number. I've now contested this on my credit card. Total incompetence! Hotels.com canceled non-refundable hotel room with no problems whatsoever so guess who I will use from now on?

CA 866-468-9473 HOTWIRE-SALES FINAL SEQ# **. Date: 4/2/2020. This is what I seen at my bank, I did not schedule nor buy a travel package. I tried to contact Hotwire. Never getting to talk with a person. They needed the itinerary # or the phone number used when booking. Duh I did not have this information since Hotwire accepted payment from a person who somehow got my number and stole my money!!!! I wanted to know the itinerary the destination of this travel and I would have had the police at that location to arrest the thief!!!! Hotwire and companies like them should have a better more helpful way to handle things like this!!!!

I normally only had good experiences, booking through Hotwire. This time was the exact opposite. I got to the hotel a little bit late, but it was if not close to midnight, maybe 5 or ten minutes after. When I got there, the front desk staff was on the phone with Hotwire already, and they were actually cancelling my reservation already. I used a prepaid card to book my room for 5 nights, coming to about 444.00 CND, and so when they had told me that the transaction did not go through, I checked, and there was a pending transaction for Hotwire for the amount of my room for 5 days just as there should have been.

Like others, being delayed and/or denied a refund from Hotwire as a result of the virus! Unconscionable! People are hurting and in need of funds and they are holding our money. Yes, we all understand the terms of your service. However, nobody can control what has happened as a result of this virus. I have an atty friend who is also going through the same situation. He is not taking this lightly. I urge everyone to notify state and federal authorities. At a minimum, contact the Congress person in your state. I am tired of being jerked around by Hotwire. Everyone will know of OUR collective experiences. Stay healthy and safe, all. NEVER AGAIN HOTWIRE!!! Screaming it from the rooftops.

Hotwire is the worst company. I booked a car rental for Hawaii in mid April for 9 days. Due to the global pandemic, we had to postpone our trip. I submitted an online request form two weeks ago; never heard back, I’ve been trying to get through, finally got through today on the phone. I asked if they could help me make the changes, they said no because of the terms I agreed to when I booked. This is a very unfortunate circumstance and out of everyone’s control. I can’t even get on to the Island even if I wanted too. They simply refused to help me change the dates. These people are thieves, stealing $400 from me. Horrible company, awful policies, and extremely rude customer representatives.

Hotwire will not refund a $700 car reservation. Our daughter and her children were coming from Germany and we needed a larger vehicle to fit everyone. Well they obviously can’t come any longer due to the Coronavirus. Hotwire says sorry, it’s not refundable or changeable. All of the other companies I booked through, hotels and flights, were very helpful in making refunds and changes. I will never use Hotwire again. In fact I will only book directly with the company I’m ultimately using. No middle man! Even if it’s more expensive, some things are worth paying more! Now we’re out $700!

Hotwire is the most unprofessional disgusting company I have ever dealt with in my life and I travel frequently. We had to cancel our trip due to Covid-19. First off, their phones were literally NOT WORKING or "off the hook" the first week I tried canceling. I decided to email since that was the ONLY option to get through to Hotwire. In the interim I continued trying to call, which when their phones starting "working" they would hang up on me intentionally before I could even get my information out. I then tried using their online chat, to which they continued saying they refused to refund my money and there was nothing they could do. They also decided to finally respond to my email that they cannot process or respond via email (even though that was their directions on their website) because of their high volume.

One of the few travel companies refusing cancellations during Covid-19. I had travel plans for April 2-5. Travel included a hot rate rental through Hotwire, a subsidiary of Expedia. I cancelled the reservation using their heavily promoted Covid-19 self-cancellation tool on March 21. Based on Hotwire messaging of overwhelming call volume and delay in responses, I was not surprised to not hear back. Today I received my "rental reminder". After a second cancellation did not process, I made the call which was answered immediately and was told "Lowest available rates will not be refunded". Beware - the self-cancellation tool will not provide a "no refund" message and you will be caught by surprise 24 hours prior to rental.

I booked a trip to Salt Lake City and I did a car rental with Hotwire. I have tried on 2 occasions to get a refund due to Covid-19. It's sad that this company isn’t giving refunds due to Covid-19. So many are unemployed and all they care about is profit over reputation. I won’t book with Hotwire again.

Rented a car for 10 days from National through Hotwire. Had to cancel plans due to the Covid virus. Form on Hotwire said call volume was so heavy they had a on line form. Form said refunds would be processed on cancellations due to the situation. I made sure the hot rate or whatever it was called was mentioned. It was. Called tonight, polite customer service however, my cancellation is not refundable because of Nationals agreement with Hotwire. Because it was not mentioned on the form I am out almost $600. Thank you Hot Wire, thank you National for being so considerate during this time. Never again.

Due to force majeure, I have tried to cancel a car reservation & receive a FULL REFUND, but to NO avail! I will NEVER use @Hotwire or EVER recommend their services. They are a bunch of greedy crooks who are not being sensitive to the current pandemic situation.

I have been a Loyal Hotwire customer for over 10 years, and thought they were a pretty decent, and fair company, until now! Today I attempted to cancel a car reservation I made through Hotwire, and was told the $231.00 I paid for this rental could not be refunded, and no credit, even a partial credit would be issued due to the terms of the agreement. I live in Florida, and make a yearly trip to Ohio in the early part of April to have scheduled appointment with my accountant to file my income taxes.

I used to enjoy using Hotwire. I WAS a very good customer. I would often be surprised when I would get a great deal on lovely hotels, car rentals, etc. That all ends today. Earlier, I was horrified to learn from a Hotwire Customer Service agent that my car rental for Hawaii starting April 10, is NON-REFUNDABLE, as it is a Hot Rate car. Normally, I would be okay with this policy. There is NOTHING normal about having to cancel travel plans due to a global pandemic. Hotwire, you have lost a customer today. I will tell anyone and everyone how you treat your customers during an international crisis. I guess I can't afford to save so much money. $600 out the window. Way to go!

I booked a rental car for July and due to COVID-19 I am unable to travel at that time. Contacted Hotwire. Was told they are unable to be human and refund my money for the rental car. This is the worst company I have ever dealt with, they put money over health. Do not deal with his company. They are very greedy.

3/30/20 : Prepaid reservation for car rental to FL with Hertz. We filled out cancellation form twice. They said Hertz isn't honoring refund policy. We called Hertz and they said they are not charging Hotwire to cancel and refund or 24 month credit. We called Hotwire back and have them a Hertz representative's name and number to verify this policy. They said they aren't issuing any refund or credits and don't plan to. Hotwire is an Expedia company. Boycotting both companies and filing complaint with every agency is our plan. Good case for lawyers to go after them in a class action suit.

Do not rent cars or hotels with Hotwire. My hotel reservation was cancelled by the hotel. They are not allowing people from NY to travel to their Caribbean destination. Therefore, I don't need a car because I don't have a hotel to stay! Hotwire doesn't care. They will be bailed out.. Double dipping. Someone has to stop this.. Spread the word! Give me my refund! Corporate greed at work!

Due to the co-vid 19 pandemic, we had to cancel our travel plans to Florida during Easter week, we pre booked and paid for a rental car. Per Hotwire's cancellation policy a worldwide pandemic does not justify them giving us or crediting us a refund on a future rental.... Insane. Will never use this company again!

We had to cancel our trip to Vegas due to the Covid-19 pandemic. When I reached out to Hotwire all they could say was they had strict policies. Per their website, they say their are very willing to help, however that is not the case. I asked if we could just change our reservation and I would pay any difference. I was advised was up to the car rental place (NU Car Rental) to give me a refund. So I reached out to them and was advised only Hotwire could make that decision. I then reach back out to Hotwire to asked if I could just change my reservation and then was told it was cancelled. I asked to speak with a supervisor. I was told there was not one I could talk to by Anna but I could call back in 5 days and then they may be available.

I booked a car March 28th till April 1, 2020. I prepaid for this car. They booked the car with Dollar. I tried to call Dollar but no answer. I had to cancel the reserervation because of the national emergency we are experiencing. I called today 3/27/2020 to ask why I wasn't refunded. The rep told me that prepaid reservations are nonrefundable. I told him that my airline refunded me no questions and that if I did fly to Ft Myers it could potentially kill me. He repeated again that it was nonrefundable. I told him the governor of Massachusetts declared a stay at home order. The rep didn't care. My daughter and her family were traveling to Ft Myers and received a full refund by Thrifty and airfare. I travel to Florida about 6 times per year and I will never book through Hotwire or Dollar ever again! They don't care that there is a worldwide pandemic that is killing people they only care about the almighty buck! Don't book anything through Hotwire!

We had to cancel our vacation due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Flights as well as hotel. This is a global emergency, circumstances are beyond our control. They insist on their strict policies. Their actions are not in the best interest of the customer. They are keeping almost $500.00 knowing that we cannot make the trip. Nationwide pandemic. They should be sanctioned.

If I could give this place zero stars I would. I had planned a trip back in February to celebrate my birthday in Vegas, at the end of March. A friend suggested I book with Hotwire as they have good deals, I typically use Expedia. Anyway I booked my hotel. A few weeks later, my whole state put in place the "shelter in place" policy as others have mentioned due to the Corona Virus, I felt that my health was important, so I needed to cancel my trip. When I tried calling the phone number on my itinerary, there was an error saying they could not take calls. When I tried using their message service, the message service online portal was unavailable. I also tried calling the hotel who informed me there was nothing they could do and that I would have to talk with Hotwire.

I made a car reservation through Hotwire before the COVID-19 pandemic hit my country hard. Due to this pandemic, the need for the car rental became null and void. Hotwire refuses to allow me to cancel my reservation and refund the charges even though Alamo has said they would (twice Alamo has told me they would issue a refund, once with a Hotwire representative on the phone with us). I can't believe with the state of our planet right now, Hotwire is not looking out for their customers like every other business is during this unprecedented time. I will never do business with Hotwire again because of their disregard of human decency. Had to give one star, otherwise I would not give any unless it was negative.

Long before this Covid-19 virus was what it is ... I had planned a Florida trip for Spring break with my girls - like many other families. As the virus got worse, listening to the Mayor, the government, etc we were forced to cancel our trip (hotel and car rental). Originally, I had prepaid for both the hotel and car rental. A HUGE THANK YOU TO HILTON as they reimbursed me for my entire stay which was not the policy but due to the (Worldwide Pandemic) circumstances they allowed guests to be reimbursed. However, HOTWIRE (ordered through them. Car rental place was Thrifty.) has refused to reimburse our money (more than $300.00) for a rental car that under the current circumstances we have been advised cancel.

Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, the city where I live implemented a “Shelter in Place” order to take effect until April 8, 2020, which basically means no unnecessary travel, or departure from your home in an attempt to combat the rising incidences of the CoronaVirus. I called Hotwire to cancel or modify my upcoming reservation (April 6-7, 2020), they refused to cancel or make any modifications despite the Circumstances!! Use Booking.com for your travel needs!!!

Most companies have been extremely flexible with their terms & conditions as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. At the time of writing this review, Hotwire is not one of those companies. I waited a full week before writing this review in hopes that they would reconsider their stance, given all the negative reactions from their customers because they wouldn't be flexible to provide credits for non-refundable "hot rate" purchases. I lost $260 with them. Many people lost much more than that. I truly believe people will remember the companies that didn't come to bat for them when this crisis is all over. I believe Hotwire will realize they made poor judgment. I for one will never use their service again, unless they offer me a full credit.

Made a hot sale bid on a rental car in Las Vegas for April 26, 2020 for a week back in January 2020. Now we have issues with pandemic and Hotwire sticking to non refundable. Doesn't matter if Las Vegas could be shut down still. I think in this situation Hotwire could lighten up. They claim they paid Sixt car rental already so there's no money to give back. BEWARE AND I PLEAD NO ONE USES HOTWIRE just because they are heartless.

Today is 3/21/20, I made a reservation on 2/28/20 with Hotwire for a rental car pickup on 6/6/20. Now due to Coronavirus Pandemic and family distress and sickness, they are completely unwilling to refund or credit for future use! I am told that I am basically screwed as no refunds or cancellations are allowed!! For God’s sake people, don’t have a death in the family!! I’m out now $324 and will NEVER use this awful company EVER again!! CAUTION...DON'T use this company because life happens...and you will just be screwed too!! Pass the word.... I wish I could rate them a MINUS 10!

NO CREDITS OR REFUNDS GIVEN BY HOTWIRE after trying to cancel our reservation for next week.... I would be OK if they offered a credit towards your next reservation due to the unforeseen circumstances with the Virus. #boycotthotwire

We had purchased the hot rate for a car rental months ago for our vacation. We had my husband listed as the driver. Before arriving, my husband lost his wallet, with his driver's license inside. We thought it would be simple fix of just switching my name over as the driver. The rental car company informed us that we would need to make all changes through Hotwire. So we called and were disconnected 4 times. After 3 hours of being on hold and getting disconnected repeatedly, we finally got through and were informed that because it was a hot rate, there were not changes or refunds allowed. We informed them that we didn't want a change or a refund, but rather needed to change the driver's name due to our circumstance. They informed us that this was impossible.

We booked a family vacation to Florida, everyone including Disneyworld, Discovery Cove, Sun County and our VRBO all were amazing in letting us rebook our vacation. Hotwire won't even respond! HORRIBLE. I spent over 8 hours trying to get through on 4 different "customer service" lines.

I have been trying to call Hotwire Customer Service for 3 days. I’ve tried 4 different numbers. The number listed on my car rental confirmation has a message they are experiencing technical difficulties. The other three numbers either disconnect after 40 minutes of wait time or there is no music or recording after I’ve supposedly been transferred into the queue. I’ve contacted Enterprise Car Rental and they said absolutely they are issuing FULL refunds but that I must contact Hotwire since the reservation was booked through them. From the reviews I’m seeing, it looks like Hotwire is taking advantage of the Coronavirus pandemic. Customers need to demand refunds. While typing this review, I was disconnected a fourth time after being on hold for 51 minutes. I won’t be using Hotwire in the future.

I have a trip to Boston and I had to cancel it due to Coronavirus. I tried to reach Hotwire via all possible phones, emails, chat.... but nada.... No one takes care of the customer. This is a big shame!

It takes 3 minutes to make a reservation. Cancelling is a nightmare. I got on the phone with a woman who could not speak English and talked over me as I provided details. I told her my reservation for March 20th needed to be cancelled as President Trump has told us all to avoid unnecessary travel because of the Corona virus. She asked "Saturday March 28th?" I said "no, Friday March 20th." She asked again "March 28th?" I responded "No, March 20th. Two zero! March 20". She came back and said you have no reservation for March 28th! I said "It is not for March 28th! It is for March 20th!" She said, "It's not refundable!" I said, "Well it better be! The President of the USA told us not to travel". She told me not to worry. She would make a call and and try to cancel the reservation and call me back in 5-10 minutes.

The country is in a National emergency due to Corona. I do not feel comfortable traveling. Therefore, I will not be using their services next week in Fla. Under these extreme circumstances Hotwire should be refunding their customers. I feel taken advantage of and bullied. They're basically stealing money from consumers who booked with them not knowing this crisis was coming. Hotwire needs to do the right thing and refund!! The way they're handling the situation, is by shutting down their phones. Not a professional way to deal with these frightening times. Shame on you Hotwire.

I have used Hotwire multiple times over the years for car rentals, hotels (national and international), and airfares, and have generally been satisfied. There were hotels that I would not have selected if I was making the reservation myself, but live and learn. However, I will never use Hotwire again after my recent experience. We had planned to travel to Kirkland, WA for our granddaughter's birthday, arriving in Seattle on 3/13/20. I made a car reservation through Hotwire and was informed that it would be through Thrifty, which was fine. I had made hotel reservations with Country Inn & Suites in both Bothell, WA and at at the airport. The Bothell hotel reservation I had made through Orbitz. In addition, I had airline reservations with Southwest and Alaska Air, and an airport parking reservation. Everything was prepaid (i.e nonrefundable).

My husband and my son booked A hotel through Hotwire. The event that they are going to was cancelled and we called hotwire to get a refund on the hotel at which point they told us that it could only be cancelled if the hotel authorize the cancellation so the customer service rep put me on hold while she called the hotel. I was on hold for five minutes and she came back on and told me that the hotel did not authorize the refund and therefore could not issue a refund to us. Instead she offered a $60 cancellation fee and leaving of $960 credit with the hotwire to use within the year. I said, "No I do not want to take that option" and then she said OK.

Do not book a "non refundable" car rental (or anything) through Hotwire. We had to cancel our trip due to Coronavirus and hotwire will not refund us or give us credit to rebook in the future. SHAME on them. This is a global pandemic. Our flights were booked through Jetblue (thank God) and they were so easy and quick to work with and get the flight cancelled and refunded despite also being "non refundable." Hot wire DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THEIR CUSTOMERS. We can not afford to just throw away 400$ on a car rental we are unable to use. They should be more understanding.

I used Hotwire to booked Hotel, as I was traveling from AZ to PHL to DE to pick up my extremely ill mother and relocate her to my home in AZ. My mom was hospitalized days before the trip and while Hilton was ok with a 48-hour cancellation, I had to go through Hotwire to make the request. I wrote Hotwire twice within a 24 hour period days prior to travel with no response and spent several hours on hold with NO RESOLVE, and this is also during the Corona Virus. Hotwire is not a company I will do business with further as their focus are on profits first, second, third and to hell with what else is going on in the world or with others. Never again!!!

If you read a majority of the complaints filed here and with the BBB, most of them are about the "Hot Rate" deals... A majority of people complain of being misled, and when asking for help or guidance, are told "Our Hot Rate rentals are deeply discounted, and as such, are booked as final and non-refundable... We obtain deeply discounted rates in exchange for guaranteed reservations. If our partners can be absolutely confident reservations will be used as sold, they are willing to offer reduced rates." - this is a direct quote from a complaint written 2/14/20. The reply was written 2/24/20 by Bianca V. Customer Care Relations, Hotwire Corporate Office

I entered on their site that I wanted to pick up a car at the Bangor, ME airport. When all was done, they switched it to an off site rental that I have to travel to. You think they would answer the phone when I tried to call? NOT! Now I'm stuck!

BEWARE OF PREDATORY PRACTICES!!! I have used Hotwire.com in the past to book hotel stays for me and my family in the past and have noticed a pattern that has increased over the years that only seems to be getting worst. Hotwire.com has two types of offerings for hotel bookings on their website. One is the typical booking that one would expect from other online hotel booking brokers where one books the hotel knowing which hotel one is getting and another method where, for a slight savings, one can book a hotel without knowing which hotel one gets but know the general region one will be staying in. I have historically booked with only the latter method.

Sorry return the truck for days before I was supposed to and they won’t give me a refund because their stupid policy says it and I thought they would because of my surgery got cancelled so and also I am in Canada. Should have pay in Canadian dollars and I ended up paying it in US. So will never use Hotwire and will not suggest it for anyone to ever use. Big scam.

I purchased a hotel stay through Hotwire. I have done this many times over the past 25 years. I have NEVER had such a bad experience. This hotel was not updated since the 60's. The door was UNLOCKED when we went to the room. As we tried to lock it it wouldn't lock. The lock was loose and jiggly, and we had to adjust the door to get it to lock.

I used one of their hot deals. This is a deal where they don't tell you the hotel and where it is 'til you have booked, They show you a blob of green and your hotel is in that area. I needed a hotel at Logan airport. I paid for the deal. Then I get the Hotel Name and address. It is a Red Roof-Logan. Sounded good because it had the name Logan in the name so I thought we will be close to the airport. However, upon closer inspection the Hotel was in Saugus, Massachusetts. It is 1 hour and 30 mins by bus. 25 minutes by car. I called customer service and they told me to deal with it basically. I looked further and I could have got the hotel on another site for $4 more than my great deal. That will now cost me $35 cab fare both ways. I have used this website many times and I have been mostly happy with the service. I will however never use it again.

I booked a Hot Rate hotel on Hotwire to get 5 hours of sleep before an early flight. I was put in a 15 x 15 room that STUNK of sour smoke and mold - in a non-smoking property. The ONLY window was a narrow window up along the ceiling and it was screwed completely shut. I had to stand on my toes to look out. The property was in disrepair and should be closed for renovation or demolition. It was the Seaside Beach “Resort” in Panama City Beach, Florida. Lol at the “Resort” in their name. Hotwire did not seem to care that they put my safety and health at risk and offered me a $25 credit. I spent $180 rebooking at a Hampton Inn on my own. Beware of misrepresentations using hotel ratings/photos/reviews on Hotwire.

My hotel payment was still pending awaiting authorization when I arrived at the hotel. It stays pending until they know if you can cover the room. The hotel front desk told Hotwire I didn't have enough on my card. Therefore, I shouldn't have been charged.. I was also denied a credit to hotwire..

Booked and pre paid for a car in Orlando Fl. Looked at the display of car rental companies with whom they work and was comfortable that the non refundable price would be OK. I was assigned to the NU Car Rental Company. A few weeks later, but 5 months before my trip, I researched the NU Car Rental Company represented in Orlando by Action Car Rental. The NU or Action Companies were not listed on the Hotwire main page. After searching I was able to locate some reviews and NONE were good. They included lack of cars, dirty cars, rude desk staff and fear for the reviewers safety in the NU/Action vehicle. I contacted HOTWIRE to ask if I could be reassigned another company or get a refund. (Yes it was a Hot Rate deal) The "chat" rep was unwilling to be of any assistance but did do a great job of evading my claim of a potential BAIT AND SWITCH scam. The rep said contact the NU Car Rental Company.

Hotwire, never again!! Tried booking a round trip flight. First part went through fine, but would not let me book the return trip. No reason given, the processing simply sat there on screen spinning and spinning. Then tried to cancel outbound flight via email cancellation connection provided in email. Link did not work, saying system was unavailable. Called the number given to cancel by phone and the number was for Ryder Truck Rental, not hotwire!! Finally found a number online to call to cancel. Took 25 minutes to cancel. Silver lining - the representative on the phone was very nice and apologetic, but the system itself truly lacks credibility.

I used Hotwire’s services for over 15 years and was always treated fairly. After this week, however, I will never use them again. They have changed. I had an emergency arise and had to change a travel plan through no fault of my own. When I called, they said because I prepaid such a great “hot” rate, nothing could be changed and they would keep my money with no recourse. I called the car rental company directly to rebook. Guess what? Not only was I told the rate was cheaper but I didn’t have to prepay. What a scam! I might understand the policy if it was really a bargain through Hotwire but they kept my money and it wasn’t even a bargain.

I booked a car rental through this website that indicated both credit and debit cards were accepted as form of payment. It was after I booked the reservation did I learned a major credit card was needed for deposit. I was then told it was non-refundable or no cancellation.

I've been a loyal customer for years, last month I made a reservation with their Hotwire Hot Deals for my BD vacation but I had a medical emergency and had to do a surgery and called the hotel and told me that I can get a refund but need to contact Hotwire, I contacted hotwire and they told me that It will be OK to get a refund, now a month pass and I called them again and they said no I can not get a refund, they kept asking for so much documentations that I feel I'm sharing all my personal life with them, I don't have all of this time for this. Worst customer support ever!

They have good deals but they do not give any refunds if anything changes on the account so DO NOT PAY in advance. Place the order but DO NOT put your card information in the system before you pick up the car. I work hard for my money and DO NOT agree with paying for services I did not receive. I am currently looking for alternatives because I travel a lot but if I can avoid Hotwire I will.

That is ridiculous how disrespectful these people are. I reserved a car from Hotwire. They blindside people with hiding the company the car is going to be rented, they tell You after you pay it is going be a company where nobody wants to rent a car because they that bad. I decided to give a shot....my pick up time 8pm, I show up on time in the office and found people in line unhappy with the agency waiting for hours to be helped, one of the agents were playing on the phone. The second one was arguing with clients. Fun!

First experience, they allowed me to book at a location that was closed. They blamed me telling I'm not at the correct location. After over an hour and an additional 100 dollars charged, they allowed me to switch to a new location. Second experience, I booked a convertible because weather was predicted to be warm but now it's very cold. Asked them to cancel that so I could Rebook a normal car. Was denied even though the policy states "cancel anytime". This is a bait and switch company that screws up your reservations and blames you but keeps your money. Buyer beware!

I was charged twice and have been trying to contact hotwire for weeks and no one has gotten back to me about the refund or charge to my account. I have called Risk Management numerous times only to have to leave a voicemail. The customer service agents won't even let me speak to a manager or supervisor.

I booked a car rental with another company and I thought I had 48 hours before pick up to cancel. I went on cheap car rentals to see if I could find a better deal (72 hours before my trip) and I found one with Hotwire and it was cheaper "Hot Car Rate" which you can't cancel if you book... I called the other company and canceled but they said I could that it was finally when I booked which I didn't recall that. I contacted Hotwire 5 minutes after booking to ask for compassion, the person was very kind and he said he would check with his other department and put me on hold, before he put me on hold he said he doesn't think the answer would change.

Booked a rental car from Ft Lauderdale with a drop off location at Palm Beach. Given a price and confirmed it. When I received the confirmation it showed me picking up the vehicle in Miami and taking it back to Miami which was not what I booked. I immediately called them back. They refused to refund my money. They claimed that I must have put in Miami. This is totally not the case. They messed up and will not stand correct it. Will never book with Hotwire again. They are fraudulent. Until now I used hotwire very frequently. They will now never get my business again all for $30.

Fraud company. Please don’t ever order. The location changed after I paid in full. I sit on the phone with them for 1 hour. They continue to give me the run around. They asked if I can pay again not through them but online again due to my payment was not working they stated. Why can’t you just change the airport location back to the correct one?

I rental a car only for the location to change when contacting in trying to change the airport. It was stated I need to pay again this company is scamming people and nothing is being done about it. They lied to my bank stating I requested a hotel instead asked for phone recordings due to them lying.

I have had a good experience as far as dealing directly with Hotwire. But, I reserved a car through them from Alamo and Alamo refused to honor the agreement. I had prepaid, and while I was left standing at the Alamo counter without a rental, Hotwire did agree to refund my pre-payment.

I put as my car rental pickup/drop-off Sanford/Orlando airport but after I had completed my booking noticed that the car I had reserved actually had to be picked up and dropped off at Orlando international airport, which is a 30 minute drive away! So sneaky! I tried to contact customer service to see if I could have an alternative pickup/drop-off point preferably Sanford airport but they said that everything was final. They won't even refund me a penny because I paid in full. Never pay them in full. Actually now that I think about it - don't ever use them at all. It's highway robbery rip-off the customer with them.

DO NOT USE HOTWIRE! Hotwire precharged my car for a rental at Dollar. When we arrived I was told we could not use my card that had been precharged and my husband had to pay with his card. Dollar told me not to worry, that Hotwire would refund my card and I wouldn’t be charged since my husband was now paying in full with his card. Hotwire refused to refund the charge and would not return my calls. I emailed them the proof that I was double charged and they still refused to refund the charge & lied about the breakdown. I have the breakdown clearly stated on my receipts we were double charged. I also have my original email from Hotwire showing the rental was supposed to be $13 plus taxes. They charged me 2 days for a 1 day rental and Dollar charged us the full amount for the one day rental as well. So what should have been $21 max according to their site cost us $60 because they refused to do the right thing. DO NOT USE HOTWIRE, it’s a scam!

I rented a car on Hotwire and less than 24 hours later, I needed to cancel it. I messaged, spoke on the phone and had private messaged on Twitter and they REFUSED to work with me. When I asked them why I should ever use or recommend Hotwire if their prices are not any different than any other sites, 0/3 had a response. They all said they didn't know. Use a different site or go directly to the car rental company because they're more likely to work with you. Hotwire is trash.

This is one of those companies that has everything outsourced so if you have any issue you have to speak to someone in India just to have them tell you to go ** yourself...So I made two huge mistakes - the first was booking with Hotwire, the second was grabbing my state ID card instead of my drivers license when I was running out the door to catch my flight (I had just purchased a new wallet), ANYWAY, I arrived at the Minneapolis Hertz location and they understandably would not rent to me because I had a state ID with me instead of my license - they needed HOTWIRE authorization to either refund me OR to change the reservation to be under my girlfriend's name. MORE THAN AN HOUR ON THE PHONE WITH HOTWIRE'S *HORRIBLE* CUSTOMER SERVICE - and they did NOTHING. It was an unusual circumstance and they did not care at all about finding any resolution.

I am very disturbed about the experience I have had with Hotwire. Me being in a profession field of nursing, I am very sanitary. Hotwire recommended I visit a hotel called Columbus Grand in Columbus, Ohio. Other than feeling like being in a real life game of Grand Theft Auto, the staff was horribly rude and refused to refund my money after trying to convince me to stay in a room filled with cigarette burned bedsheets, condom wrappers and a stench that A raccoon wouldn’t stand to bare. Please think twice before approaching this area and motel.

I recently rented a car through Hotwire. They neglected to tell me about the extra seven taxes and fees that I would be charged for along with the $200.00 deposit. In addition the car rental company told me that hotwire only took $217.95 but my checking account was debited $247.00. When I attempted to rectify this with them they said I was mistaken. I was disappointed in this whole experience.

I have utilized Hotwire to book vacations for many years and overall been pleased with the service. I recently booked a car rental but within 24 hours needed to adjust the date, so I reached out to customer service and was the absolute worst experience. The reps were not helpful at all. I called and also used the messaging app, but my concerns are still not addressed. This was by far the worst customer service experience and I recommend finding another provider. Staff is unprofessional, non-responsive, and I will not be using hotwire services in the future based off this experience.

After a 7 hour drive from VA, checking in approximately 9:30pm... At the Fairfield Inn, there were multiple body hairs in the sheets. I called the front desk to ask housekeeping for a sheet change. The night auditor, Ron said he was the only one present and to give him a moment. He came with balled up sheets in hand, to give to me. He told me I would have to change the sheets because he had to get back to the front desk. I, again, asked for housekeeping, and he stated he was the only person at the hotel. I pause for what felt like 5 minutes, questioning myself if he was serious. He was...

Got a Hotwire hot rate deal for a 3 star Hotel in Kissimmee Orlando area, I was allocated Comfort Inn by Hotwire staying it’s a 3 star, when I looked on Google it has 2 star rating. To be honest when I checked in - The hotel 2nd floor hallway smells wired, hotel infrastructure is very outdated and room allocated has many issues - Room options are like 2 start or less than it!! Bathroom tub doesn’t drain well, wood around mirror has chips, remote has tape around the battery section, TV is 32’ and AC making sounds when turned on high. Not sure how hotwire company or their mother company Expedia rated it as 3 star hotel. I am so disappointed how things have unfolded. I have all the pictures of the issues captured plus the rating around the hotel (Google - Rated the hotel as 2 star) to back my concern. Regards, Sunny.

I will never book a reservation with Hotwire again. I made a reservation for a car when I got there, hotwire never made the reservation prior to a five month reservation. I had family of eight with no car in Mexico. I suggest not to make reservations through them, because when I asked the agency about the reservation, they said it was never made. They make the reservation seem so committed because they even charged me for the insurance.

The hotel was terrible! I had to move rooms 3 times and still could not get a clean room. Called Hotwire back to let them know about everything and the rep was very rude and did not listen and end up rebooking the same hotel again.! Then I asked for a Supervisor 3 times and the 4th time I asked one can on. After being outside in the cold with a 4 year old child!, I was put on hold for OVER 2 hours while trying to figure this situation out. I called from a different phone just to get hung up on after being on hold for a extra 45mins and still has not gotten nowhere with the issue. Now I’m stuck outside with a 4 year old who is sleepy and hungry with my money tied up in Hotwire and no place to go. This is utterly the worst night /service/Customer service I have ever received. I WILL NEVER BE USING THIS SITE AGAIN.

Booked a car. Cancelled the reservation per the company policy and was told I would receive the funds back within ten days. One month later the money was not returned and I am now told that I never cancelled. Bunch of lying crooks.

We tried to book a vacation package through Hotwire, their buggy system keeps returning error message price has changed. Please resubmit with the new price. After a few attempts my credit card was declined due to HOTWIRE made huge holds on the card and my credit card is useless until they remove these holds. Called HOTWIRE customer support a couple of times, they do not have a clue as the system did not generate any reservation. And the worst part of it was they put you on hold for few mins and disconnect the call. This is worst customer service I have ever seen. The worst part of customer support was they can not do anything, due to this mess I can not use two of my credit cards. I do not have an option give -ve or zero stars in ConsumerAffairs. if I have a choice I choose -ve rating.

I was promised a rate of $87.20 for my hotel reservation. I have a screen shot of the amount I was supposed to be charged before processing my card. However, when my card was processed, I was charged $102.20 because the coupon didn't process even though it had already deducted from my cart total. I called customer service and was told they could give me a $15 credit toward my next purchase. When I explained that didn't help them overdrawing my bank account and that I would not be purchasing another trip, it didn't matter.

I recently booked a flight from Victoria to Toronto using this useless and betraying website. This website has an option of selecting CAD currency and when I booked the ticket the price was $685. Then when I looked in to my credit card statement its was $900 cad. Now my concern is even now dated Dec 9 2019 if I book a ticket to Toronto it is costing me only $650 and might be much cheaper if I had booked it before at the same time when I booked ticket with these betrayers. When I called the customer service I was put on hold for 1 hour long and the interesting point is they gave me no solution till now.

I have rented cars through Hotwire for many years and always felt good with the price, until recently. In a certain location of the US, I have been told by the car rental agency that the amount due at the counter is higher than what Hotwire quoted. When addressed to Hotwire, I was told that I should discuss it with the specific rental agency, which I have done. But this is a Hotwire issue, not a customer issue! Hotwire is the one who is giving inaccurate information. Showing up at the counter, after prepaying a portion of the rental cost, is not the time to find out the overall cost will be significantly higher. If you decline your rental, you don't get the money back which had been paid to Hotwire. I don't think I'll rent through them again.

I had a horrible Hotwire experience on 12/7/19 and I don’t think I’ll ever use Hotwire again. I reserved a hotel room in Indianapolis on Friday for Saturday night only, and I got to the hotel on Saturday night late with my son, only to be told that the hotel had no rooms available. I called Hotwire but wasn’t able to get any help. There weren’t any hotel rooms available within 40 miles. I was stranded in the middle of the night, in the cold, in the middle of nowhere, with my four year old son. I had to do a 45 minute drive at 2:30am to find a hotel that had rooms open because Hotwire said they could not do anything for me. I've never, ever had this kind of terrible experience with Kayak, Priceline, etc.

Hotwire are liars. I had a problem with a room in Seattle on Sep 25th. Other booking in Las Vegas on Dec 4th. The operator cancelled my reservation on Dec 4th to apply the funds to look for another room for me in Seattle. My room in Seattle was paid in full. Did not authorize them to cancel my room in Las Vegas on Dec 4th. Then they said they gave me a full refund to my credit card. WRONG. Never happened. They moved the funds to a hotel problem in Seattle. 2 different bookings. When I showed up in Las Vegas, I found out my reservation was cancelled Sep 25, the same date I was having trouble in Seattle. They never said anything about my Las Vegas trip being cancelled, no email, they stole my money in order to move it elsewhere. They ripped me off for 73.90, and act like I'm stupid or something. Never use Hotwire again.

We booked a hotel traveling 85 South around Spartanburg and by the time we got an answer, we were booked at a Baymont 20 miles backward and then on I26. Weary travelers at 11 pm after 11 hours driving do not want to turn around and go backwards through some of the worst construction, so we immediately said no. After being hung up on, put on hold and spending another hour with customer service, we were advised only $38 of $58 could be given in "hot dollars" as if we'd use this site again and they automatically keep $20! You took time off my life, money out of my pocket and ruined my holiday trip. It is my mission to let everyone know about your policies including highway robbery and tormenting the weary travelers!

I've called Hotwire multiple times starting 12/05/2019 in reference to a refund. I spoke with two outsourced representatives, given the run around. A parent passed away 12/04 and reservation was never used. I got my deposit back from Red Roof Inn (Richardson, TX) yet when I call to get the funds from the booking refunded the representatives ask for a death cert, obituary, and/or other documents in order to get the refund. The rep at the hotel told me to call hotwire and they will conference with hotel manager to approve the refund knowing I didn't even go in the room (117). I'm so disappointed cause I honestly didn't utilize the room/didn't even get in the room, this should be a quick and easy fix. Hotwire is taking me thru so much in this time and I just wanted my money back. The hotel gave me my deposit back immediately.

So you rent a car on Hotwire. You preen through all the choices and you as a consumer have a good reason to select a car, not just say, "Give me anything and I will pay." WELL surprise. This IS THE NEW Hotwire WAY. You rent the car you think you are getting and when you go to the rental agency, they give you something totally different. When you say, "It's not the car I booked", or, "I dont want this car," they say, "Too bad. This is all there is so you HAVE to take it." It could be really tiny and your 6 friends wont fit in it,, or it could be a huge gas guzzler and just you in it. Too bad. That's the deal HotWIRE makes with the car rental agents.

Almost 3 weeks ago I booked a 2 night hotel room (not a secret deal, ie. full price) via Hotwire. I used my debit card for the transaction and after entering and sending all my information I got a message saying the room I wanted was no longer available. Now that I'm back from my trip I notice that Hotwire charged my debit card for the room, they never sent an email or any sort of notice they did this. I called them and they say that the reservation wasn't made so the money should have been returned in 3-5 days to my account. However, it's been almost 3 weeks and the money HAS NOT been returned. They don't want to help me investigate what's going on, take no responsibility for this charge and don't even provide a complaint ID# so I can track this. Terrible customer service and they are robbers for taking my money for a reservation that was not completed. DO NOT TRUST THEM!!

Hotwire is great until you find a price match. I booked 2 hotel rooms for one night, and 3 weeks prior to reservation I found a match on Expedia for $400 LESS. So I contacted hotwire right away. They said to send pictures of the deal so I did. No response. So I called and they said send them again. So I did. No response other than the email that said "We got 'em! You'll hear from us within 5 days". Never did. So I called again and they said to send the pictures again. This went on for 2 months, now past the reservation date so of course they would start off every phone call saying "it's past the reservation date" and I would explain every time that I had been pursuing the matter since 3 weeks prior to the reservation date.

Delayed Flight arrived after midnight. Had a prepaid car reservation through Hotwire with Alamo. Alamo had already closed, leaving me stranded at the Halifax International airport. Thankfully Avis stayed open to service the delayed flight. I deal with a TBI (traumatic brain injury) from a car accident. This makes it difficult to get tasks done timely.

Never ever book with Hotwire. They conveniently lost our HotDollars, which are Hotwire Dollar used for future purchases even though we have emails showing that we have them -- and they haven't expired yet. The story began when We had originally booked a hotel about 10 months ago for 3 people and they only had a room for 2 when we showed up after a 7 hour drive 9 months ago.

Rated a 4 Star by Hotwire - Metro Hotel Marlow Sydney Australia::: From the moment we entered the room, we could tell we were in trouble. The 8 foot glass sliding door that opened to the dressing wardrobe was hanging on a thread. Despite notifying the front desk immediately that we would soon be impaled by glass shards the size of a small iceberg, no action was taken. Moving into the bathroom, one could easily feel the warm dampness of mildew cutting the airwaves.

I rented a car through Hotwire then found that I didn't need it. The car I chose had the words Hot Rate in red, with no asterisk or explanation. When I tried to cancel the rental, I was told that it was non-refundable. This information is not given when going through the booking process. After you have entered all info including credit card number, a big red BOOK NOW button appears. If you click that, you're locked in. To the right of that button in small print it finally says non-refundable, but you aren't likely to see it because you are taking the final step to BOOK.

Reserved a FULL SIZE SUV, through Hotwire but company was THRIFTY, When arrived at car rental the customer service rep was giving me a Kia Sorrento, I told him that when I reserved it was a full size suv, description was CHEVY TAHOE, FORD EXPEDITION, NISSAN ARMADA ETC. Never was there a Kia sorrento in the description. On top of that he wanted to charge me $80 extra a day plus I was charged a deposit which I never have been charged. I contacted Hotwire about the situation. Customer rep asked me the same question over and over through the whole chat. Customer service rep seemed like they wanted to get off the chat already, no knowledge and tells me they the rental company gives whatever is available. When I went to get vehicle there was a row of full size suv. Be careful with Hotwire and thrifty car rental.

We booked through the site months in advance for a hotel reservation at a small college town, Stillwater, for homecoming weekend. When we got to the hotel there was one car in the parking lot and hotel was closed!!! Knocked on locked front door and the security guard came to the door to say hotel closed for remodeling and that they had been telling Hotwire.com for months!!! Called hotel's customer service, she put me on hold to call hotel, while I’m standing there with security going. He tells her same thing!! She tells me she will try to find us a room, but I knew she wouldn’t, it’s a small college town that gets booked up months in advance. We drove 1000 miles to get there and no room!! Then she has the nerve to tell me she won’t charge me a cancellation fee and she’ll give me back my money!!!! Never, ever again.

I was researching renting a SUV in San Jose Costa Rica. I had been looking/watching rates for a month. The airport code is SJO. When I entered that code, SJO, on Lowfare.com one of the sites it took me to was Hotwire. Unknown to me that site changed the code to SJC = San Jose California. I booked a car, when I reviewed my booking I noticed the error. I called Hotwire within 10 minutes of the booking and the refused to refund my money citing that I had booked on a Hot Rate program. I didn't notice that but they didn't care that their site changed the location. Why did it do that? Because Hotwire doesn't have a Hot Rate program in Costa Rica. No money back but they credited my Hotwire account - which I did not have, but had to establish. Never use this site!!

Hotwire will confirm flight bookings when the flight does not actually exist. In my case, they booked a 2-way trip from Calgary to Bangkok and back. They apparently "confirmed" my booking for the last leg of my return trip. But when I went to check in with the airline, they mentioned flight does not actually exist. I ended up being stranded in Vancouver and having to book a new flight altogether. Their customer service will not help you, nor will you be getting a refund for a flight that does not technically exist. Buyer beware!

I recently booked a vehicle and had added charges by the rental company and had a hotel not have a room available. Hotwire was no help in resolving either issue. I am still fighting with the rental car company to reverse incorrect charges and I had to pay extra for a last minute hotel and hotwire refuses to refund the difference because I didn't ask permission first. I only had a couple of available options and I selected the least expensive one. It was only $20 more. I would understand if I picked the $500/night hotel when my original booking was $80 but I selected the $100 hotel.

I repeat DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! BUYER BEWARE.... HOTRATE/HOTWIRE IS NOT THE WAY TO GO. So many better options without the lousy customer service run around and policy nightmare you will find yourself in when trying to rebook or change any details regarding your car rental. They don't care and will take your money and laugh all the way to the bank. Save your money and shop around. There is better places to rent cars from with much better customer service! I repeat do not use Hotwire/Hotrate for car rentals..

Not recommended, at least for Car rental. If you are Canadian, pay special attention to the currency, even on Canadian website, like Kayak, they could use USD. Be very careful about HOT RATE, it could be more expensive than other rentals, but they would not allow cancellation, even for bereavement, except for the primary driver's immediate relatives.

I booked a car rental for a family vacation a few weeks out from trip. Realizing the next day logistically we would need to get the car at a different time from a different place I called to try and cancel or move the car. I called customer service to change or cancel my booking but was told because it was a “hot rate” they said there was nothing they could do about it. It was my first experience using Hotwire. From my initial Google search, to booking the car did I see anything that said “hot rate deals” were final and unrefundable.

Be careful when you book with Hotwire for a trip. I was charged twice for the same one reservation through them. I caught it on my credit card bank statement which is easy to overlook when traveling. They eventually refunded me but did not take responsibility for the overcharge either. Really!

I booked a Hotwire rental to take my daughter 5 hours away from our city, due to my daughter’s blood low iron the day before the surgery it had to be canceled, it was not under my power to continue with the booking because it was already canceled surgery until my daughter’s blood work would go back to normal, I did not even had a time frame to rebook just it was a matter of time. I called HOTWIRE I explained I submitted authentic documentation to support the reason I could not pick up the car. They did not care and said my money was not refundable that I lost my money and I asked for a forgiveness to please understand and they did not care I lost $157.00 on my rental. Please be careful with this company who gives a damn.. I will never use them again and will not recommend HOTWIRE.

Updating my review of Hotwire car rental experience. After the awful experience with the rental car, Hotwire actually came through with a refund of the difference between what was supposed to be our car rental fee thru Hotwire and what we ended up renting right off the plane. I have to say "Jena" really came through and it was a pleasant surprise!

This is a terrible company. They have customer service out of u.s. and they put you on hold and hope you will hang up. I would never use again. They say they can't do anything and you need to call hotel who then says you need to call Hotwire. A big runaround.

Freehand Chicago is ok - but booking it through Hotwire is a scam. Booked three 'rooms' at the Freehand Chicago through Hotwire, and ended up in a 4 person dorm. Even better was the two people I was travelling with were male, and they put all of us in a female dorm, and they charged room rate for the dorm beds - so the hotel ended up charging us an extra $110 fee to 'upgrade' to a room. Do not book through Hotwire. Would not recommend the Freehand until they fix this and stop using Hotwire as a third party booking agent.

I booked a room in Clarksville, TN with trip insurance. When a family member became ill, we tried to cancel and were given the runaround from Hotwire and Allianz about cancelling. Essentially, they want a doctor's note or death certificate to process a refund. I will never deal with Hotwire or Allianz again .

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. I always use this tool. When I arrived at my hotel this time, there was a safety issue that worried me, so I called Hotwire. They rebooked the room to a different hotel no questions asked, at no additional cost. I will always use Hotwire and the hot rate option.

I recently rented car from Hotwire. I was listed as the primary driver. I hurt my knee and was unable to drive. I called Hotwire to change the primary driver to my husband so he could pick up and drive the car. They would not allow the change, so my only hope is to get a doctor’s note when I get home. How stupid that the company was unwilling to change the reservation to my husband. They would rather me go through the doctor’s note process rather than change the 1st name on a reservation. I am completely disgusted. To boot, the agent and the supervisor were rude. Bad company. Ridiculous policies. I will never rent from them again!

I booked a car rental in Rome, Italy from Hotwire.com. I booked it because price was reasonable(around $200 including estimated taxes), but when I got to car rental location I was asked to pay double (around $400). Also, Hotwire offered me to buy insurance from their partner, Allianz, but apparently it is not valid in Italy and I had to buy insurance directly from the rental agency. When I contacted hotwire, all they could do is to apologize. I was trying to get at least a refund for insurance policy that that was sold to me but is not valid in Italy, but got no response at all. Very disappointed with Hotwire. Very poor customer service.

When the website showed that my credit card 3 digit code was wrong I call my card company. They asked if it was Hotwire and said no problem from their side and code was correct. I tried multiple times on Hotmail. Called and wasted 40 minutes with rep who couldn't find the amount, flights or times and said they could only see what was currently on the site not what was there 40 minutes earlier. I asked multiple times if they could confirm that my info was correct and that their website was the problem and to issue the selected flight. They read me non responsive answers over and over. They would not correct their error and the flight was no longer available. I will never deal with them again and booked instead at the same price through Priceline with the same airline.

I purchased one of their "hot rate" deals today. One night for $98. The ONLINE confirmation showed the $98 plus "Mandatory hotel fee" plus taxes. The email confirmation showed the $10 fee as a "service fee." No problem with the taxes but the undisclosed "hotel fee." I had a long conversation with their customer service about misleading advertising. The best they would do was to give me a $10 for a future booking. LOOK VERY CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU BOOK A NONREFUNDABLE ROOM WITH THEM.... LURKING AND UNDISCLOSED FEES. There are many alternatives which I will be using in the future. I should have gone to Booking.com, my usual favorite. My recommendation: Hotwire is no longer the deal it once was. Look elsewhere and save $$$$.

I booked a 4 star hotel for Las Vegas and when my hotel was revealed I went to the hotel website and it would have been more than $14.00 per night cheaper per room and I could have had the rooms together. All in All the reservation was about $115.00 more on Hotwire than had I booked direct with the hotel, just wanted to share this experience, book with caution.

TOTAL THIEVES! NEVER USE THIS COMPANY. Hotwire could not and didn't confirm a booking, even though their site states confirmation email will be sent, so you book again then they charge you for both. Refuse to return the money they take for the first booking even though they can't find it and never confirmed it. The site crashed just as we input our credit card details. So we called them from Australia about 5 minutes later, delayed the call to allow the system to reset, they confirmed no booking had been made. We booked a second time and got the confirmation email this time. Raised a dispute with my card provider and they are all hiding behind "no cancellation policy". I keep saying, "I didn't cancel it. You confirmed it had never been booked..." $661.00 AUD gone.

My family and I were planning on a trip to Boston, and I checked out the Hotwire hot deal. I got shown the following possibilities: Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton DoubleTree, a Wyndham hotel and one other of the same caliber. When I selected the option, I got a Comfort Inn! Their response was those others are just to indicate that we would get a national chain. I find it very suspect why they didn't show me Comfort Inn as one of the possibilities. I would never have chosen it.

Would highly recommend avoiding this service. Website glitched and did not honor my dates for reservationm. Only after I paid did it list the dates, which were wrong. I called immediately to fix or cancel. Which they absolutely refuse to help with. Too many good sites to use. Would never consider this service again.

We booked a car rental through Hotwire and when we arrived at the location we were told that Avis couldn’t do anything and they were oversold on cars and had a waiting list of 20 pleople in front of us. We were told we had to call Hotwire. Called Hotwire and waited on line for over 35 minutes and we were told they couldn’t do anything. But they would give us a 20 code for a future car rental. HELL NO! You acrewed me once by not having a car available. You really think I must be crazy to book through you EVER AGAIN. They suck!

Hotwire will take your money and will not assist you afterwards. Don’t not purchase the insurance because it’s all a lie. It’s just a way to get more money. I purchased the insurance and needed to cancel my within 24 hours of booking and they gave me the runaround. Wasted my time and money!

I booked a package flight and hotel to Orlando from MSP and reviewed my credit card statement to find that I was billed twice for my vacation package-over a one thousand dollar error. WATCH YOUR CREDIT CARD STATEMENTS WITH HOTWIRE. I will not use this company again. It looks like I am not the first person to report this problem. I did call twice today and the first time was instructed to call the airline to figure this out after talking with a rep from Hotwire, the second person from Hotwire said the additional charges should come off my credit card in 2-3 business days. There was no rationale as to why I was billed twice to begin with. We shall see if the problem is resolved. I wonder if I hadn't called, if they would have found the "Error".

Hotwire definitely offers cheap deals. This may be worth it if everything goes to plan. If, however, anything comes up during your travels and you have to cancel, delay or re-arrange your reservation at all, good luck. I spent 45 minutes on the phone with Hotwire due to a change in my travel plans outside my control. The experience was so mind-numbingly frustrating that it convinced me their customer service agents are trained to try and make you give up getting a refund out of pure frustration.

My husband and I booked a hotel via Hotwire for our stay in Rome, Italy. Before we booked, we made sure our hotel choice amenities included Complimentary FREE internet. Beforehand, we made sure this was something our hotel had regardless of the area we stayed in since in Europe a lot of places don’t offer free WiFi just like that. When we booked, it states that one of the three hotels we would get would have Complimentary FREE internet. But when we arrive at our hotel they actually told us they charge 10€ per night for internet AND we can ONLY use it in the lobby and not in our rooms. We were immediately upset because we chose specifically a hotel that had Complimentary FREE internet as advertised on Hotwire.

There was an error with our booking date that had to do with our timezones and we were sent to a hotel that did not exist. When we explained this to customer service it took close to two hours and four people. We were hung up twice! Who does that? What business condones that? How can they resolve our problem if they are running away from it. I'm appalled that any person would conduct themselves or any business in that sort of manner. How can a company implement a protocol with no resolution where the customer is repeatedly put on hold and hung up on. I've never experienced such rudeness in a "professional" setting. Shame on you Hotwire for hiring such incompetent people to enforce your lack of policy. As of now we never received a refund and have not had our issue resolved.

I booked a hotel through Hotwire in Anaheim for three nights at the Hilton For 550 dollars. I arrive at the hotel and they have no reservation for me at all. (Which was totally embarrassing by the way.) Anyways I call Hotwire customer service and they put me on hold for a good 45 minutes trying to resolve this Issue.. Which per the man at the desk would not even be possible tonight as third party reservations are done through a lady who works Monday through Friday 9 to 5. (It’s 11 pm on a Thursday at this point) so I had to pay for my reservation again or have no place to stay.

Reserved a car rental for MCO/shuttle. Because I thought the shuttle was still on airport grounds, I booked. That was not the case and I was to be taken offsite to get car and I didn't want that because I am a female and didn't feel comfortable doing this at 1 AM in the morning by myself. I called immediately after reservation was made and they said they couldn't give me my money back, but would allow me to rent a convertible/sports car as this is all they had. That is not true. There were more to chose from but she said this is all she had. Remind you I booked an economy car. So I declined that car because that wouldn't work for us. The phone convo was disconnected.

Do not rent a car from Hotwire. They did not have a van available as promised. They sent us to another rental place. They called ahead to see if there was a van, there was not. We got a small vehicle, lost time and money. It was a business trip and we could not transport inventory - we lost money and sat on the phone for hours with no relief.

Hotwire car rental is such a scam!!! I booked car online on September 30th and I got HOT RATE for it. When I went to rent a car agency (Ace) they told me that there is mile limitation for my reservation (150 miles a day) and that I should cancel reservation because if I go further than 450 miles in 3 days I will pay 25 cents per extra mile. These conditions WERE NOT in terms and conditions when I accepted reservation.

Horrible. A bait and switch operation. Gives low prices but will keep every penny if something called a life event happens. You get no change to a reservation, no cancellation fee of any kind. They simply keep ALL of the money they immediately charge the day you booked. When asked, they casually say. "Next time, don't book with our low prices, use the higher one". Leaves you feeling raw and violated from such practice. Never again. $372.00 lost.

Hotwire is mostly a ripoff. First of all, it is nothing more than the run-of-the-mill database on available hotel rooms, excempting that they claim to offer "hot" deals. As another reviewer pointed out, you could deal directly with the hotel and get the same kind of deal. I doubt that that is true 100% of the time; however, I can vouch from personal experience that the assertion does have some validity, as I had checked out a room rate directly with a hotel and found that it was nearly identical to Hotwire. The big difference is that I had more leverage to change or cancel a reservation with the hotel itself--despite Hotwire's insurance protection (which is $15 of uselessness).

Went to Niagara Falls ON, to celebrate a special 30th birthday in a “high end” suppose to be nice hotel and booked specifically a falls view room through Hotwire, was not given the falls view. Instead was on the complete opposite side of the building. Very disappointing - the whole reason we went here. Also went to the falls view restaurant so we could enjoy some of the view, was VERY small portions of - approximately 1 cup of food for 44$.

Hotwire.com is the biggest ripoff I have ever encountered. Low price guaranteed? Nope. The hotel would have provided a better price if I had called them directly but since I booked through Hotwire they couldn’t do anything about it. Now normally I suck it up. Lesson learned. But they do have a low price guarantee. I tried to fill out the online form, no luck as it would not submit. I called and the rep constantly repeated themselves just telling me to bad prices change. I asked for a supervisor and she proceeded to tell me the same thing. "Tough luck buddy. Prices can change at anytime and you're stuck with it. We will do nothing to try and accommodate or please you. Goodbye." We are talking a difference of $89 a night people. Don’t use Hotwire.com. They are crooks.

I went onto Hotwire to book a room for a event that I had 7 hours away from home. I paid for the room online and anxiously pulled up to the hotel. At the front desk, I was told that I had an additional $100 a night hold fee that would be released in 10-15 days. What?!! I called Hotwire to inquire about this fee that was never disclosed to me. Bottom line was the agent and their supervisor told me that after talking to the hotel there was nothing they could do. They (Hotwire) refused to give me a refund, I wasn’t able to cover this hidden fee to get into my room and I ended up sleeping in my car. I’ve called back several times for the corporate number and the agents always give me the wrong number. Please stay away from Hotwire!!

A very nasty, stubborn, deceptive, unprofessional company! Just about every rental company in the world will allow cancellations on a rental car... NOT Hotwire!!! I reserved a car rental a month out and Hotwire put my rental car with Alamo. Alamo has a cancellation policy that states you can cancel your rental car up to 24 hours. I called Hotwire a week prior to renting and I was denied! I disputed charge with my credit card and it was INSTANTLY removed without any questions... Final decision in my favor!

I recently booked a "Hot Rate" hotel with travel insurance for an upcoming trip. My husband can no longer make the trip and they will not let me cancel it. So I asked, "If I am going alone to the city can I get a rate adjustment for the lower rates or switch to a safer hotel at a lower rate." They just kept repeating "No, it is a common fact we don't price match ourselves, no one does". Really?! Other places definitely do, Disney World even does. I will never recommend or use these services again. Unless you have money to spare stay clear cause they will steal it all.

My husband and I wanted to stay in downtown Boston for one night at the end of a New England fall foliage trip. The hotel prices were outrageous. I saw a Hot Deal for $88. We discussed it and decided we’d try it and see what happened. Once I booked, I learned that we were booked at the Boston Hilton Faneuil Hall area, which was great. However, when I call the Hilton to doublecheck that they had our reservation, they did not! I was patient and waited a couple of days and tried again, still no luck. When I would call Hotwire, I would be put on hold for extensive periods of time while they called the Hilton, spoke to Hotwire reservationists, etc. They would then ask me to call back in two days to allow time for Hilton to receive the resubmission of the reservation.

I live in Canada, Rented car with Hotwire in Canada. The price was showing $ sign with no clarification it was USD. I book, got my bank notification and minute later called them to cancel saying this was a misleading interface. The price was much higher than a direct booking. Spoke to an agent, spoke to a supervisor. They confirmed the interface is misleading but refused to cancel my booking, Will never ever use Hotwire again. Scammers.

The Townhouse Inn in High Point NC was shockingly different than how Hotwire and the property represented itself online. There were holes in the doors and walls where someone had clearly punched them. The carpet was damp. The wallpaper was peeling. There were cigarette holes burned in the carpet, bedspread, and tub. The bathroom door had clearly been torn down at one time. The lampshade had a hole in it. Paint was peeling as well as wallpaper. The bedding was stained, the office chair had white stains on it. This property was disgusting. There was a sign in the lobby prohibiting visitors... presumably drugs/prostitution must be a problem there. The property was in an unsafe part of town and surrounded by razor wire. Neither Hotwire nor the property will take responsibility for this misrepresentation. I will never use Hotwire again!

After scheduling & paying for several excursions on Hotwire's website. I was informed by multiple excursion operators they didn't pickup/service customers at my resort. I called Hotwire's third-party customer support center five times before I received an email response from Hotwire about the case, not the refund. Hotwire's third-party customer support team was stating they couldn't reach the excursion operators to verify they didn't pick up/service customers at my resort. When I asked Hotwire. Why would they offer me excursions from operators that don't pick up/service the resort I was scheduled to stay at? Do they verify the excursion operators before offering them to customers on Hotwire's website? Hotwire never answered. I reserved the resort on Hotwire's website. It's logical to think the excursions being offered pickup/service the resort that was reserved.

I rented a car via Hotwire for a trip to Canada. They gave me a very affordable rate. However, when I arrived at the rental company, they informed me there was a mandatory $27/day insurance fee on top of the price I already paid, even though I already have insurance through my credit card. This website signed me up for an exploitative scam and was unable to offer any assistance after I declined the rental.

I booked a car and called an agent to simply change the name on the res. They told me they couldn't do that and that I had to cancel and rebook. I didn't want to do that because I knew it would be more expensive but the agent looked it up and told me the total cost was actually less than what I booked it for. So the agent cancelled the reservation and rebooked. I then received the confirmation and the res. was completely incorrect even though I was just asking for the exact same reservation with a different name.

Left on the street with nowhere to go at 4 am in Atlanta. Can someone please point me to a Hotwire associate that can help explain why my booking was sold out after being booked for days. They had no where else to put me and took my money and hung up on me at 2am. I was told there are no supervisor and this is the worst customer service I have ever experienced. #Hotwire

Upon booking a car-a-rent through Hotwire, I realized the web browser reverted back to my original dates for rental so I had the wrong rental period, off by 1 day. Spend hours trying to get the rental from Wednesday to Wednesday, to the correct Tuesday to Tuesday. No big deal right, as hotwire still has the same offer for pricing, looking at it right now. No! They will not help in any way except to offer me another reservation for Tuesday at over $85/day. I wondering how many people have had this problem with their website; the dates change back to other searches. It is not worth the headache to make sure that your not getting screwed over on every level of interaction with this group. Thank you Hotwire for starting my trip off in a very frustrating manner.

I booked a room using this site for a last minute deal. I was given a single queen bed for 3 adults. The room was disgusting, the carpets were filthy and the room smelled like stale cigarettes, not to mention the bathroom. I spoke to the lady at the front desk and she suggested I call Hotwire to see if they could help. The person I spoke to was very rude and no help at all and I basically paid double for a 1 star hotel. I would never book using them again and I advise other not to either, book on another site so you will know what you’re getting and can get help if you run into problems.

I didn't book with them because I did read the policy and since I don't like surprises, I elected not to book a car with them. The price they quote for a rental is a 'base' price and is paid directly to them at the time of booking. When you return the car, all of the taxes and whatever other fees are due. I checked their base price against Costco (who I usually rent through); Hotwire was higher. Once booked, nothing can be changed or cancelled and since life is uncertain, losing money isn't high on my list of favorite things. :-) Just do your homework with Hotwire and elsewhere before signing on the dotted line.

I used the Hotwire for hot rate hotel booking for the first time in a hope I will get a better deal but the hotel I was given was not what one would expect Considering the same hotel is available for lower price on other website. Given hotel was on the left most edge on the chosen area (Hard to even see if it is part of the area) . When I called them within 10 minutes of my booking, customer care representatives along with the supervisor was so RUDE that they hung up the call on me. They NEED TO AT LEAST LEARN THE BASIC COURTESY TO RESPECT CUSTOMER. This has been the worst experience with Hotwire and I would never ever return to Hotwire for any of the booking I might need in future. The same deal on their web site was available for lesser price within 24 hours and they said they can not match the price as Hot Rate hotel might turn into different hotel eventually so they can not honor that request either.

DO NOT USE HOTWIRE! You spend extra money on insurance, FOR ABSOLUTELY NOTHING (because you aren't allowed to MAKE ANY CHANGES ON A TRIP). All of the reviews for this are horrible and I should have listened. Beware of Hotwire scam. Better deal with honest services like Priceline, Orbitz, Expedia, etc. - they are always upfront and no surprises.

Please do yourself a favor and never book from this company. I book a room that was guaranteed to be one of 4 chains and they put us in a 1 star no chain room. We called immediately and the first person hung up on us and the "manager" was no help at all. This is a scam website.

I booked a mystery hotel. I ended up with a motel 40 min walk from the beach. Hotwire also charged my credit card twice. The hotel was attached to a pub and wasn’t a hotel but a motel. Hotwire said my ‘Hotel’ was a 4.5 Star. It was not even a 3 star hotel. As soon as my hotel was revealed I was beyond upset. But just thought to make the most of a bad situation. Lucky for me the hotel room was so bad that I couldn’t even stay there due to chemical odours coming from the room that the hotel staff couldn’t do anything about, I was offered a refund from hotel staff as there were no other rooms available. When looking for another hotel to stay at I notice my credit card had been charged twice. So not only did I have nowhere to stay, I was out of pocket $500.00. Hotwire is a total scam. TL;DR I was charged $220 per night for a $80 per night hotel. Hotwire also charged my credit card twice and I still haven’t received my refund.

All of the reviews for this are horrible and I should have listened. Hot Wire is useless. It's all a SCAM. I wonder if they all make commission.

Just finished booking a car rental. The total after choices shows $46.28 and after payment processed switched to 55.28 with a message "thank you for your money! You cannot cancel this if you are not satisfied..." Then customer service over the phone gives you a lot of explanations why they had to be dishonest in the process... Beware of Hotwire scam. Better deal with honest services Priceline, Orbitz, Expedia, etc. - they are always upfront and no surprises.

I'd stay away from Hotwire for any type of reservation! First, I cancelled a flight within the 24-hour grace period, and they refunded the ticket but kept a $10 "service" fee, of which I wasn't aware. I booked a new flight elsewhere, but then noticed they offered the cheapest rental cars. I was quoted a certain amount but ended up paying $35 extra when I returned the car. When I called, they made all sorts of excuses, blaming the rental company (Thrifty), saying they weren't aware of the taxes and fees. Really? I've rented so many cars over the years, both through the rental car companies and agencies such as Hotwire, and have never run into this before. Hotwire is a deceitful, misleading company, and I will never book anything through them again. Beware, you may think you're saving money, but you really aren't!

They lied about the hot deal saying that the savings was from 143 to 60 though motel they booked was only 63 dollars. After they added their tax and fees it was 72.5 dollars. I paid extra to use the stupid website. I will never use them again. Better to look for myself and get an honest price.

May or may not get a room. Booked 2 rooms three weeks in advance for a weekend trip to Atlanta to go to aquarium and zoo. A football game and baseball game going on as well. Arrived at the hotel at 1030 that night only to find out that my rooms were not reserved. And the hotel was completely booked, as well as all of the other decent hotels that weren’t $500 a night. All I get from Hotwire is a sorry here’s a refund and $40 “hotbucks” that’s only good for hot deals, and you're on your own. By the time I got through with them doing nothing it was 1130 and I had to drive over an hour further away from the aquarium and zoo to find a hotel on my own. Terrible customer service. I had confirmation number and everything. Beware of hot deals on busy weekends in popular areas, they may give your room to someone else. Hotwire should have confirmed my reservation.

I accidentally booked 2 car rentals for the same day. Hotwire Customer Service is the worst. On par with AT&T, Wells Fargo, and companies where you can never reach a live person via phone. They refused to refund me for one of the reservations, and I ended up having to pay for both. Save yourself the drama, and book through another company because if even the slightest thing goes wrong, they will not help.

Went online for car rental at San Antonio - great pricing, easy access, easy confirmation. Well, my funeral got rescheduled so I had to cancel my reservation. Politely called Hotwire & explained my situation to them - WOULD NOT EVEN CONSIDER a compromise! Did not even PRETEND to acknowledge my dilemma. All sales final - non-refundable so I lost $180. So, if BEWARE! READ THE FINE PRINT. WILL NEVER USE THEM AGAIN! What a DEVIOUS, DECEITFUL way of conducting business.

I booked through Hotwire the other day not really caring where I stayed but simply because it would save me some money. While some of the "Hot Deals" warned of extra charges with regards to Resort Fees, there was no warning at all that the hotel I was assigned was a Valet Parking only hotel and that I would have to pay an additional $33 to park Valet, not to mention the tip for the valet guys.

I rented a car through Hotwire for a funeral I was going to. I only needed the car for a couple of hours as I was flying home the same day. My flight was delayed out of Atlanta and when I got to DC I was already late and turns out the company I got it from was actually off of airport property which I didn't know because I was searching for an airport. I ended up renting a car on property since I was there and was late. After the funeral I called customer service to request a refund since i did not use the reservation. I was told that I would need a copy of the death certificate and the obituary to receive the refund which was only $40. I told them to just keep the money because I was not going to ask my aunt for the required documentation and that was very disrespectful wanting those documents.

I recently rented a car through Hotwire special deal. I got to the rental and I was told they only have one car available and it was Ram 1500 pickup car. I am a small girl who can barely drive a small car, and they wanted me to drive this huge pickup (which I was planing to drive from Dallas to Austin, about a 4 hours one way trip). At this point it was a matter of safety. So then, I called Hotwire and explained the situation. Hotwire called the rental first, verified my story and told me to go ahead and upgrade to what the rental have available and they will reimburse the difference.

I used their service to book a rental car on August 28, 2019, from Indianapolis airport to to the Knoxville, TN airport. Their app booked it wrong and had me going back to drop it at Indianapolis, even the guy at the desk knew I was going to Tennessee. So because of their booking it wrong the rental car company charged me an extra $150, and Hotwire is like, “That's too bad for you. It's not our fault, sucks to be you.” Don't use these clowns. They don't stand behind their stuff.

I was using hotwire for the first time. The same hotel listing came up over and over. Every time I went to buy it, it said... "oh sorry, now it's sold out" in the three minutes it took me to fill in my payment information. I kept trying with this "great deal" thinking every time I saw it pop up again, they had decided to release more rooms. Little did I know, it was authorizing my card each time, even though saying NO to the room. They give a $10 promo code for signing up. It doesn't just transfer into your account, you have to enter it. It's impossible to select and copy, so you have to enter it manually. It's about 20 digits long. That’s just annoying. I'm sure most people don't bother. Just give the discount or don't but don't make it extremely hard to use.

Buyer beware! Do not trust this site. False advertising and misrepresentation of the hotel properties offered. Do not trust what you see and what the site quotes as comparable hotels. And of course, no recourse once you have paid. Expedia is much better to use and worth the extra money, without a doubt.

I booked a reservation stating Taunton Massachusetts as my rental location for a car. When the reservation posted, it came up as Boston, Logan Airport! I immediately contacted CS. Since I used my DEBIT card, it should have been canceled. They REFUSED! I filed a complaint with the BBB.

I've been on hold for 35 minutes and still listening to music. I booked a car rental and read ALL the small print. Nowhere did it say that I couldn't take the car out of the state or that I was limited to miles. Once you hit confirm all the details pop up. Then they tell you it's too late. Really??? This is the very worst ever. Do NOT use HOTWIRE. When I called I was told 11-13 minutes. It was 22 minutes. Then I was put on hold again. It's now 38 minutes.

Reached out on twitter and was offered compensation for the amount i had to overpay to secure my own accommodation. I’m very pleased with that as a resolution, but failing to make the booking that was paid for and then sending stranded customers to horrific hotels is still something that should never happen.

I booked multiple flights, a hotel, and a rental car to go from Minneapolis to Milwaukee. When I picked up the rental I was told there was a $500 drop off fee to take it to Milwaukee. I spoke with 5 different people in different departments at Hotwire and not one offered to assist me. All just said "it's non refundable". I've used them for years and discovered that when it counts their service is as cheap as their prices.

HOTWIRE A FRAUD. I have spent over four days trying to make reservations for a hotel in New York City at the end of November. I kept getting a message that reservation did not go through and that the credit card was not charged. After several tries, I contacted Hotwire and they told me to give it a rest and try at a later time. I literally spent all weekend trying to make this reservation. The site continued to have this specific deal available and the price even went down a couple of dollars. I called this morning and the representative attempted to do it manually. He, too got the same message and told me to call my credit card company as it appeared it might have been blocked after so many tries.

Recently booked a room from Hotwire for a one night stay. My two young kids and husband were planning on seeing a baseball game. We arrive at the hotel and they had no record of any reservations for us. Although the $ had been taken from my account. Hotel was completely unaccommodating and told me I had to call Hotwire. Spent 30 minutes on hold with Hotwire getting nowhere. Then decided to try a live chat with customer service. Ended up getting NOWHERE!! Hotwire was also unaccommodating. We ended up leaving the area, missing the baseball game, and paying full price for another hotel 20 minutes away. It was just a bad experience. I will never use Hotwire again and would discourage others as well. I couldn't get answers from anyone. No one was accountable. No one cared that our trip was ruined. Hotwire's customer service is less than desirable/awful, if you have an issue.

Hotwire uses bait and switch when you book with them. They said I was guaranteed to receive my car rental from Enterprise, Alamo, National, Hertz, Dollar, Budget. When I went to book car rental they gave me Advantage. I called them to mention that Advantage was not advertise in my five guaranteed car rentals companies. They did a bait and switch on me and they refused to switch me to one of the other car rental companies. In which they advised I was guaranteed in their online listing. I reviewed Advantage and their customer reviews had so many negative complaints with this car rental company. I didn’t feel safe using them for my family trip. Hotwire refuses to issue me a refund or switch me the the rental company that they guaranteed to me. I will never use Hotwire ever again. Poor customer service and not a trusting company. Their bait and switch was very dishonest. Buyers beware.

We were charged $110 in addition to what we thought were paying at the time of checkout. They charged us USD even when we selected Canada as our location. On customer service they refused to refund us any money and were blunt. Horrible experience - we will not be using their services ever again. They told us it was a "hot-rate" and so they can't refund. Seems like they give that excuse to everyone. It's a shame and the firm is clearly is unethical.

I have been booking Hotwire Hot Rate deals for years. They are the deals where you don't see the name of the hotel, just the area. It has always worked out great. But today when I went to book a hotel, the site just spun and spun, finally giving me an error message and telling me to refresh the page, which I did, to no avail. I attempted the transaction again, with the same result. So I went to a competitor and booked a non-refundable deal there. Lo and behold, the minute my second hotel was booked through a competitor, the charge to Hotwire posted. I called them and explained what happened, but since I had no screenshot of the error message and they had no record of me getting an error, they did not budge. And since I paid with my debit card, not credit card, I cannot have the charge removed from my account, I can only dispute it and hope for the best weeks or months from now. I will never book with Hotwire again.

I was traveling from FL to Texas and needed a car for my family and so I booked a car using Hotwire online. I waited for a confirmation number and never received it, So I waited a few more hours and still no confirmation number. Thinking that my order do not go through I tried booking it again and did received a confirmation within minutes after placing my order. Assuming that everything is OK I picked up the car in Texas and went on to enjoy my vacation with my family. I checked my billing statement a few day later from my credit card company only to find that Hotwire double billed my credit card.

My wife booked a hotel reservation thru Hotwire. When booking they sold her trip insurance, stating it covers unexpected emergencies. The day before our reservation she was admitted into the emergency room with internal bleeding, she was kept overnight and had a procedure the next day to stop the bleeding. She was discharged at 3pm, since we are 7 hours from the hotel and she can’t travel today we tried to cancel reservation. The representatives for hotwire transferred me to an insurance agent after talking to the supervisor, insurance agent told me to get my refund they need a letter from the emergency room doctor saying my wife was under their care. Quite the scam, I’m sure the Dr. has all the time in the world to write me a letter for hotwire. DON’T BUY THE INSURANCE!!! Will never use them again. Disappointing is all I can say.

Do not use HOTWIRE!! If you have a problem with a reservation and cannot use the reservation you made. Hotwire will not refund your money, even more than a month out. Do yourself a favor and use another honest company.

HotWire confirmation number: Itinerary # **. Price Paid to Hotwire: CAD 418.53. For the Same room and same dates Hotel Price on their website: CAD 257.89. I had a very bad experience doing reservation with Hotwire. I planned a trip to Calgary, Banff and Jasper and used Hotwire to book hotels for my stay. They charged me the double the amount what Hotel was charging for those days. Also sent screenshot of the hotel page of the amount what hotel was charging as a proof to there support team. I talked to their supervisor named Christine from customer support.

Two choices given for hot picks price. Hotwire gave same star rating to each hotel. Paid the price. Found out hotel was Baymont not Holiday Inn Express in Kearney, NE. Baymont is a disgusting rundown hotel. Definitely not on the same par as Holiday Inn Express. Hotwire’s advertising was definitely misleading. We signed the terms of agreement so don’t expect we’ll get a refund. However we will NEVER use Hotwire again!!!! With the myriad of ways to post reviews which reach thousands of people, Hotwire might want to consider being more honest in their hotel ratings.

Hotwire is a SNEAKY SNEAKY company! I booked a hotel that was advertised to be 1.1 miles (1.77km) to the destination I needed to be able to walk to for an event. Upon booking the reservation I was sent the name and address of the hotel that I would be staying at. I then learned that the hotel is actually 8.33 miles (13.4km) away which takes 2 hours and 31 minutes to walk. When I realized this I called the company to ask to move me to a closer hotel or refund my money. The rep told me she couldn't refund my money because this was a "Hot Rate" hotel booking and they don't offer refunds on those bookings. I explained that I understood the rule, but this was not a cancellation because "I changed my mind." The information that was presented to me was FALSE! I said Hotwire's website CLEARLY STATED that the hotel was 1.1 miles away from my destination and that was the only reason I booked a 3 star hotel that cost me $200 CAD.

I booked a car rental this morning and selected the Phoenix Mesa airport when searching for rates. I found a great rate and booked it. When I received the confirmation it showed Sky Harbor airport which is not what I selected. When I called, less than 5 minutes after booking, I was told I could transfer to the Phoenix Mesa airport for 4 times the cost of what I thought I was booking at Sky Harbor. When I complained of this bait and switch the rep, Alejiah, admitted that they do this to offer rates at surrounding locations. You should not have to check your pickup location once you clearly request where you want to pick it up. Horrible company with deceptive practices. I

I used the "Hot Rate" feature to pick a hotel on my recent trip to Washington, DC. I was staying in the Georgetown area, so of course, it didn't matter which hotel they gave me, they were all going to be nice, right? It said I would have one of the 3 hotels shown - one I had never seen or stayed at before, but I was okay with that. After all, it's Georgetown.

I booked a hotel through Hotwire and this is my experience. It says in the website 4 star and stuff so I booked the hotel and I paid $187 for this. I went to the hotel. From outside it look like a house first impression then I was trying to open the door door was locked. There was no parking in the front so have to park far and walk. I try to call the hotel no one was answering so I went back and call Hotwire and try to cancel and they said I cannot cancel. It's a nonrefundable booking and they said I should have wait more time in front the hotel and they are open 24 hr and I told them I have my child with me. He is special need. Still they were not willing to give my money back so people booking through this site very careful.

Booked with another couple. They booked 2 nights. I booked 2 nights. She landed Loews Boston Hotel. It was a definite 4 star. I landed Boston Park Plaza. The hotel may be 4 star but the room ranks below a lower floor cruise cabin. So small no luggage rack, shower was maybe 22 or 24 inches wide 3 feet long. Found gnat type bugs in bathroom. Bed was small. Frames around doors old and painted over peeling paint. Carpet shredding by bathroom. And they charge a 25 nightly resort fee with no extra amenities like bottles water or nice glasses. Nope cheap plastic wrapped glasses. Not sure how they check the rooms. It the secrecy deal for a four star room did not work for me. Could have paid the same price and got a nicer room somewhere else.