Hotwire

Hotwire stole money from me by overcharging on a hotel booking, then would only offer a Hotwire credit instead of returning my funds. They also add taxes and fees to the charges, but after booking they state that there are further taxes to be paid at hotel!
Dishonest, unscrupulous, placing the customer as a sucker. AVOID Hotwire!

Horrible service! We had a reserved hotel in Paso Robles for $231.94 a night. Upon arrival at 9:30 PM we were told that the hotel is sold out and they did not receive our reservation from Hotwire. We spent the next hour and a half trying to reach someone from Hotwire (the phone number was directing us to Expedia). Finally, a person somewhere in the Philippines said that we can go to a Motel 6 that was 20 miles away, this was a horrible 2 star Motel 6 where we were charged $205 per night by Hotwire even though it was advertised at $60. Hotwire gave us a $27 credit and they felt like they were doing us a great favor. We are NEVER using Hotwire again!

Hotwire.com is a great way to pick up sweet deals on hotels, but has a bad history in meeting the accommodation requirements that it's customers sign up for. Sources at hotels recount that many customers who previously stated on hotwire.com that they require 2 beds are only provided with a single bed room upon arrival. This lack of attention to detail by hotwire.com creates stressful mix-ups at inconvenient times during already high-anxiety trips.

Hotwire.com has a good premise but it needs to improve upon it's booking system and customer service before I would recommend booking with them.

Written by Nick Mau, hotel review enthusiast

I used to love Hotwire, which I have used only to book hotels, but two unfortunate experiences with Hotwire's customer service has me looking for other discount sites. Latest. Somehow the CAD denomination was showing above the hotel prices. I booked before it really registered that I, with a US credit card, US address, and US destination, was going to have to pay in Canadian dollars. I called immediately. Experienced long holds and not-even-marginally-friendly customer service rep. Be very careful when you book. NOTHING can be changed, including the currency in which you are paying. Oh yes, they do say this on the site. And the rep did say, "Sorry."

I could not add a booster seat to my car rental reservation through Hotwire for December 23,2023. The following directions to add amenities on their website are inaccurate; "please call the car rental agency at the number shown on your confirmation before the scheduled pick-up date to check availability." When I phoned Alamo Car Rental, the agent told me to call Hotwire. When I phoned Hotwire, the agent told me to call Alamo. Finally, after being transferred to three different Hotwire customer service representatives, the agent told me to request a booster seat at car pick-up and that there may be fees associated with the item. There will be fees, but my concern is that a booster seat may not be available to rent on one of the busiest travel weekends of the year, whereas reserving a booster in advance would have given me cause to expect to have one waiting as part of my reservation. Hotwire should have an online method to book or request amenities during the car rental. This option would give the customer peace of mind during a stressful time. If I can pick up a booster seat at the Alamo desk on December 23, my 2-star rating stands. If not, I'll be back on sitejabber after Christmas with a 1-star rating only because 0 stars isn't an option. Hotwire Itinerary #*******449

I had an error on my reservation. The car I originally booked was "cancellable". Then I got a change on my reservation in an email the dates were incorrect and now it was Non-Cancellable. After multiple messages all not willing to work to correct the reservation, I asked to speak to a manager. I had to call two people before getting to talk to a "supervisor". She read some lines off a sheet of paper and went back to sitting in her cubicle after hanging up the phone on me. Such Customer Service! NOT! Don't be fooled by these high rates. I called direct to a company and got a rate $300 cheaper but am forced to stay with my reservation that was changed on me.

They are not reliable of something goes wrong. Terrible customer service. They left me stranded in the middle of the night. I ended up having to walk far to another hotel and pay triple out of pocket since Hotwire did not help.

Do not use! Hotwire gives you the opportunity to pay more! By using a "low price guarantee" that compares apples to oranges Hotwire never has to honor this so-called guarantee. Point being, Hotwire requires payment up front, however Hotwire won't consider doing so with the supplier directly equivalent. They always compare their price against less restrictive terms. Pretty cleaver - buyer beware - in fact, I suggest buyer go elsewhere!

We saw several available cars for rent and tried to book them but unable to book them every time. Spoke to someone and she saw the same vehicles I saw but then just suggested a bigger more expensive option. When I said that didn't work for me. She did not offered to honor price or suggest a similar option. She just said thanks for reporting this issue and check back later or tomorrow. Terrible service! Stay away

Military person trying to visit family. Tried to get a rental car. My dates of travel ended up changing and they would not give me a refund or credit to use later. Customer service was rude and basically i lost out on 70 bucks. You are better off going to rentalcars.com

If the deal looks to good to be true... then it is! Spend a bit more and use a consumer trusted company. 65% of people that used Hotwire gave the a rating o 3 or less. You have been warned by many other travel before me... The decisions is now yours have a great vacation with another company or just settle on what Hotwire deems appropriate for your hard earned money. One last thing, forget about asking for changes or upgrades... not happening!

It starts off with 3 hotel options;. Eg. Two are 4.5 stars and the third being 3.5.
Anyone who knows probability will agree that your chances of nailing a 4.5 star hotel in this scenario is 2/3 (66.66%), but this hot scam is guaranteed to land you the least rated hotel - ALWAYS!
Plus, I ended paying extra fees at the hotel which the site did not disclose. To make matters worse, hotwire has the highest booking fee in the industry = 13% and they will not give you a refund upon cancellation. I called to complain about hotel extra charges and they literally laughed at me on the phone.
In summary, I got a 3.5 star hotel at $95/night on website, but ended up paying $140/night. Tax was only $12.35.
DO NOT USE hotwire!
Expedia is more transparent and reliable enough to resolve quickly any issues that may arise.
Thank me late.

Reserved a hotel through hotwire. Went to the hotel and no available rooms. Hotwire says sorry no refunds. This is a fraudulent company. Customer service can barely speak English. It's one of those scam companies located in India. They stole my money. Stay away!

We thought we were getting a brand name hotel for a good price. Then it gave us another hotel. No refund. We paid $83.00 more than the listed rate, for a run down motel with peeling wallpaper, sinks without stoppers, broken dresser, patched ceiling in bathroom, no soap for shower etc. First class rip off. Will never use Hotwire again! Lesson learned!

From the airport I reserved a pay-in-advance (the only way Hotwire operates) automobile to pick up at my destination. When my flight was canceled only a short time later, I immediately phoned Hotwire. They kept my money but refused to use it toward another car or to refund, or to make good in any way. Furthermore, when the $1100. 00 appeared on my American Express card, Customer Service refused to help, stating that the "merchant" would not let them open a dispute case against them. (Who's in charge here?) Beware of this and Priceline, with whom the customer service rep said Hotwire was associated. I can only hope that someone decides to file a class action suit against allowing companies to get away with such unethical practices.

I only speak and understand English, I can hardly understand their customer service representatives on the phone their English is not good, I've experienced so many bad situations with Hotwire there's not enough room to write it all. If you don't get what you booked don't be surprised, also good luck getting your money back. I would give no stars, but gave a 1 star to submit my review.