There is much good to mention about Hotwire.com's services. These offerings include the following features designed to make booking travel easier. (After all, who wants to spend as much time or more planning their vacation than actually enjoying it?)

They offer discounts whenever possible. The Hot Rate discounts for travel can be up to 40% off the original price for airfare and hotels. Hotwire also offers steeply discounted car rental rates. (These steep discounts come with a non-refundable clause, so it is important to teak this factor into consideration.)

Mobile App

Hotwire.com has an award-winning mobile app which offers exclusive discounts to app users. This app is available for both Android and Apple devices and is easy to use in both platforms.

Instant Savings Available

Subscribing to Hotwire.com's newsletter gives travelers $10 off a hotel reservation.

Easier (than most of the competition) to find policies on changes and cancellations

Clear policies on terms and conditions for changing or canceling each type of travel reservation via a hotlink document on the website. This could be more predominately featured on the homepage, but the information is available.

Friendly and Professional Customer Service

Hotwire stands out from the competition in their customer service quality.
24/7 customer service
Agents are friendly and able to answer questions and work to explain terms and conditions

Several Options Available to Build Custom Packages

Flights, rooms and car rentals can be added a la carte to provide exactly what you need and want to get the perfect travel package.

Simply because a traveler does not know the accommodation specifics until after they book their itinerary, it doesn't mean that the traveler cannot set some specifics. For example, a traveler can mark in their search that they only want hotel rooms with a three star rating or above. This keeps travelers from booking hotels that are not up to their expectation. There is also the option to search by brand if a traveler is not comfortable with the "Hot Rates," but the discounts may not apply.

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The Bad

Limitations
No rewards program

Limitations

While Hotwire does operate "globally," their network of over 173,000 hotels does have some limitations to it. Hotwire exists on a number of continents, but the number of hotels and operating cities is relatively average compared to other travel agencies. Hotwire can book hotels in the following areas, but they are not guaranteed to have accommodations available in the city of the traveler's choice:

North America
Europe
Latin America
Asia

Hot Rate reservations are somewhat limiting due to:

Travel reservations not refundable
The name and exact location of the hotel is not revealed until after booking

Typical Third Party Travel site woes include:

It is important to remember that when you book with a third party travel site, that you are adding another person into the communication.
Changes and cancellations will need to be directed to Hotwire.com rather than the airline or property.
Additionally, a confirmation call should always be placed to the airline, car rental company and hotel before travel so that if there were glitches (rare, but they happen) in the booking, these can be addressed before you are at the airport or waiting to check into your hotel.

No Rewards Program

Hotwire not only does not offer a rewards program to their travelers, but they are also not compatible with other rewards programs. For instance, other travel agencies will allow travelers to book their accommodations using their travel credit card or redeem their miles using the platform, but Hotwire does not. Since travelers are already getting discounted rates on hotel rooms and other accommodations, travel rewards do not apply. The following "rewards" are not available for travelers to use when booking with Hotwire:

Club Rewards
Discounts
Promotional Programs
Frequent Flier Miles/Points

There may be an exception or two for those booking a rental car. Some rental agencies will allow the traveler to book a retail rate rental with points or earn miles. Other than that, the rewards system is not compatible.

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The Bottom Line

We can recommend using Hotwire.com for booking your travel packages, but acknowledge there are better options. Their customer service is above par, the website is easy to navigate and the discounts offered can be significant. It is important to note though the nature of the Hot Rate reservations are that they are non-refundable and non-transferable (as is the case with many of the low-priced options available from other third-party sites, the airlines and hotel properties themselves). Those who use Hotwire for their booking needs can expect the following from this agency:

Booking options: Blind, but discounted booking
On the go: Easy-to-use mobile app
Selection: Limited destinations/hotel network
Rewards program: Not compatible with rewards offers

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Eddie Rios Ogden, UT

Hotwire.com is an essential tool for travel searches and bookings. They are super easy to use and the options on searches are immense. The site gives you so much to choose from that you can't help but get exactly what you need, and often at lower cost than you expected. There are other services, but Hotwire.com is efficient, very helpful and most of all it is trusted.

6 years ago

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G. Goodrich Jacksonville, FL

In my opinion, Hotwire is by far the best hotel-booking website. They have always delivered on the best prices for better quality hotels. I have top tier status with two major hotel chains, but I still get a better deal with Hotwire. In four years, I've only had one issue, and they were quick and courteous to resolve it. That's much more than I can say for a certain competitor of theirs, who I believe has one of my favorite starship captains in their ads.

9 years ago

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mordy haty Southfield, MI

i booked with hotwire and when i got to car rental place advantage they did not have my suv or any other car available and i called hotwire back they only booked for me another small car bec they didnt want to credit me the difference and they said hertz dont have any cars available. they also only want to credit me with hotwire cash, which im not planning to book with them anything in the future. i had my wife and few kids waiting for a suv and all i get is a small sentra . they do not back there rentals at all.

7 years ago