Hotwire Powered By Expedia

I guess Hotwire is one of those services that almost everyone you know uses, but the only people who bother to review it are the ones who have terrible experiences– note that most of the awful reviews start with, «usually Hotwire is just fine but this time…» (and it’s usually a vague and minor issue that the hotel could have handled rather than the booking agency).
I’ve been using Hotwire for at least the last four years, all across the country– and usually it’s great. Like other reviewers, eventually I ran into issues. Interestingly, both times I needed to contact customer service were cities in Texas (Dallas and Houston, specifically). I called the number in my email, easily got a representative, and my situation was rectified appropriately and with an apology.
I’m plenty happy to keep using Hotwire for hotel stays and the occasional car rental– go elsewhere for flight stuff, seems like they spread themselves a bit too thin when it comes to that area. I do wish they had a loyalty program where you can accrue rewards, like how
offers a tenth day stay free.

If you can give less then a 1 star I would. I have used this service a few times and each time is get worse and worse. This latest situation was that I ordered a hotel and when I got there at midnight in NY the hotel actually changed names and streets. Hotwire did not tell me this. It took me two hours to find the new hotel and it was under construction. Hotwire did NOT refund my money. According to them sales are final. PLEASE PLEASE do not use this service!!!

The worst experience ever.
I make my reservations, with one of Representatives, I go into to details explain exactly what I’m looking for, we go on the website and check the hotel and room, I ask to double check everything, so she (representative) had complete the pictures what we need two –three weeks before we travel, and of course, she took my credit card number and took the payment right away for total balance. …
When we arrived, our room was completely wrong, I call to change our room, and they told me they can’t do anything about it, that was the last available room what they haved…
If I cancel or no check in, in room, they will charge me anyway, there is NO REFUND …
Doesn’t mater what happens???
Wow seriously? ??
One more thing Expedia charge me almost $ 80 more for the same room I check directly in the hotel,
Expedia that was the last trip I had with you,
NEVER AGAIN …

Bait & switch star levels & deplorable customer service — lost customer of 4 year with over 60+ trips booked.
I find it highly interesting that Expedia ranks this hotel as 2 ½ star while Hotwire’s blind booking rate show it has a 3 star.
Hotwire itinerary
68 725 161

I understand you get what you paid for, but I thought I would try to get a credit since I was going to use Hotwire to rent a car.
In a nutshell, no such luck with a credit because I got it at their «preferred» rate, I’m fine with that. What’s really irritating is I went through a first line operator to get me to explain my situation and transfer me to someone else in the U.S. Hotwire, save yourself some money, cut to the chase, get me to the appropriate person.
Here’s my runaround:
— Called Hotwire spoke to Lady (yep, that’s her name).
— Explained my situation only to have her transfer me to Chris.
— Chris says I should call the hotel and see if they could reduce my stay by 1 day.
— Called the hotel, spoke to Courtney and her manager says they can’t because the deal was negotiated with Hotwire — Call Hotwire back.
— I call Hotwire and get «Barry» he has me explain the entire situation and sends me to an English speaking representative — Veronica.
— Veronica is the only one who has the balls to tell me that I can’t get a credit. I’m fine with that, but by now, I’m irritated because there are way too many people to get through just to be told NO.
I like a good deal, but I’m starting to contemplate calling hotels again and paying a little more for where I want to stay.

If there was such thing as «0 stars» I would rate it that. Hotwire stole 90 minutes of my life on hold with them so that I would not be forced to stay in the only hotel in Monterey CA with multiple, recent bedbug reports on multiple sites. Feel lucky to have gotten out of there with a $ 30 upgrade to a suitable hotel so that our vacation is not a disaster. That will be the last time I use them FOR ANYTHING.

It took great effort to convince the Hotwire associate on the phone that I should receive consideration for showing up at the hotel I booked only to discover that the room only had one bed for two adults and a teenager. This, as admitted by the Hotwire associate, was a 1 in 100 mistake.
Making matters worse, the solution, after much debate on the subject, was to book us at a more expensive hotel for the same price. That seemed like a fair deal until I discovered I had been bamboozled. The problem was, the replacement hotel was an hour away in traffic and rain and, although reportedly more expensive, a much less desirable hotel. So, in the end, I paid more for less and had the headache of driving my family another hour in rain and traffic from a nice hotel to an «okay» hotel. Not cool.

Worst customer service anywhere!
Booked flight with them and then airline made changes which I was forced to accept.
Airline reinstated the original flight. When I asked Hotwire to put me back on original flight they wanted $ 200 plus any change in ticket price. I said I would pay change in ticket price but not the $ 200.
Do not use Hotwire — go directly with the carrier. You may pay a little more but you have peace of mind.

I have used Hotwire and disappointed this time. There is no savings, i end up paying more thorough hotwire than hotel website by $ 36. I called customer service, they were not ready to help, Screw that.

I will never, ever use this service again. I rented a car for 4 days, however my trip was changed to be 3 days. They were unwilling to allow me to use the same car reservation for 3 days, even though I was willing pay the same price I did for the 4 days. My reservation expired when I didn’t show up on time for the car and I’m just stuck paying for it, plus the car I had to rent for the 3 days of my trip. They are pathetic. Don’t use it. The inflexibility is not worth any savings.

Hung up on us 7 times was on hold for 4 hours. Took out money and we didn’t get flights tried to call so many times they just hang up on you. And we spent 3000 dollars and only saved 179 dollars. Most unprofessional people I have ever delt with. Plus just a tip, you don’t have to pay the 75 dollars when you book your vacations to be able to cancel or rebook your flights. You can do that at anymore for that price. Scam. But be warned you will get hung up on or extreme attitude if you do call. Good luck! Never using again.

Hotwire has redeemed themselves for sure. Jasmine contacted me after I sent out some emails to several folks in the company letting them know about my issue with customer service before and she went above and beyond the other reps. She explained to me what happened when I booked my hotel and corrected the mistake by offering me a hotel credit. She then even followed up with the customer service rep that I was insulted by and offered me another credit which put my total credits above my original purchase which was more than generous and I commend Jasmine for taking that initiative and making the situation right. This is the kind of customer service I was hoping for when I originality called. Thank you Jasmine!

I recently booked a hotel in LA through Hotwire and at the time of booking, I also paid an extra $ 15 for option of canceling.
As the weekend approached, my plans before and after the weekend changed which affected the time we could spend there so we considered canceling. But the only way I could cancel would be to call up the insurance company to claim the hotel money back — and the only way I could claim it back is if I had an emergency, etc.
I’ve only used Hotwire this one time but I will not be going back. I can’t believe how unflexible they are!!!

Booked room with hotwire live rep asked the rep for a Oakland ca area room the rep quarantee the room would be in oakland best western holiday inn la quinta, but once the room was booked the room was booked in and alameda area hotel. I asked the rep Lance to change the reservation but he said he couldn’t and he would transfer my call to a manager but he transfer the call to another rep name Sasseh which didnt help there was nothing he could change, so again I asked for a manager then I was transfer to manager Williams 1565 the mgr said if he change my reservation to Oakland I would have too pay the regular rate non hotwire rate I told the mgr to noted I would cancel the room, but I have to keep the dark old scary room. Smh

Don’t use hotwire for car rental.
It does not save as much other places (e.g Priceline) and reservation CANNOT be changed.
SUX.

I booked a 3 star hotel n the Manhattan beach area and it ended up looking like the roach motel no where close to Manhattan beach! The carpet was disgusting, there were mice holes n the drapes, the common area was unkept, the walls had holes and the front desk clerk told me it wasn’t that safe to park in the surrounding area. I called and told them I refused to stay there and this was unacceptable and it took over 2 hours of arguing with them for them to find me another place to stay! I’ve never had such TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. The website is misleading and the «supervisors» are unprofessional. One was yelling as if I didn’t understand what he was saying so I hung up. I called back and the next one told me, «I see your not going to give up so I’ll just do what you want to end this conversation». I will NEVER use this site again nor will I recommend it to anyone. I’ll stick to using priceline.

I wish I had ZERO stars. Hacienda hotel was the 3 star hotel I booked with Hotwire and they compared this hotel to Embassy Suite, Holiday Inn, and the Double Tree which was VERY misleading. This hotel was gross.

My first bad review ever. Got a great deal online for 2 people, 6 nights at the Extended Stay America in Brea. When we arrive at hotel, it is an unacceptably small queen bed with a crappy mattress. If we want to «upgrade» it’s an extra $ 25 a night. Bait and switch. Corporate did nothing. This company is the worst, and so is this hotel! Be forewarned…

While searching the web for car rental deals in Orange County up pops what appears to be a great deal. I investigate further, like what I think I see, but have a question about the location for the car pick-​up/​drop off. I pick up the phone and call Hotwire to find out whether pick-​up is at the airport or off-​site. The rep ensures me that pick-​up/​drop off is at the airport. The «distance» I see on-​line, he says, is «the distance to the center of the city».
After such assurance, the Hotwire rep makes the reservation for me himself. It felt like I was getting moved along awful quickly which, in my experience, means I’m getting swindled. I arrive at the airport, spend 45 minutes at the rental car counter, and sure enough: the car pick-​up/​drop-​off is not at the airport. I’ve been swindled. Hotwire lies.
There was a way for the Hotwire rep to explain to me that the car rental quoted was off-​site of the airport, but not too far. He could’ve explained that it was a great deal because a hotel shuttle can take me directly to the car rental location. He could’ve done a lot of things short of lying that might’ve resulted in a happy customer experience. He did not.
If you think you’re getting a Hotwire deal, think again. Think of the headache involved in beginning your trip on a possibly negative note. Think of giving your money to a company that doesn’t care what sort of experience you have on your trip. I’m not sure it’s worth it.
Tip: If you want to bid blindly on hotels through Hotwire (Hotwire’s Secret Deals) you might first want to read this article:

If negative stars were possible I’d use them here.
Booked a pricey room for a one night stay so I could get some rest after a friend’s wedding. Upon arrival at the lobby after the wedding, I was informed that the hotel had been «overbooked.» Because apparently the staff can’t count? WTF is that? Imagine any other business doing this — «I know you paid for a large pizza but we only have this parmesan cheese. So sorry!»
They did have a room for me though! It’s a special room, called a parlor room. And the key feature of this room is, you guessed it, a pull out couch!
$ 300 bucks for a pull out couch? This is a 4 star hotel, Hotwire?
Wait a minute, tell me, why am I using your service again?
You’d figure that when a company f@#$% up this bad they would bend over backwards to fix it. But not Hotwire! They totally embrace the idea of losing customers. To make nice, they offered me $ 25 worth of «Hotwire HotDollars.» Right, so I can get screwed by Hotwire all over again!
BTW, if anyone has an explanation why there are only three reviews here, and all from the month of August 2013, please do tell.
Is the ship sinking?