HotwireReviews 770

Horrible. Booked a Hotel through Hotwire, and even purchased the travel insurance protection plan. The hotel closed the week of our stay due to COVID, and the hotel itself offered to refund my money, but due to booking on Hotwire, I had to go through them. Travel insurance said pandemics aren't covered, so that's a scam. I than contacted Hotwire and after 3 months of being told I would be refunded, they now decide no refund is necessary. They advised the hotel is the one not willing to refund the money, but i called them direct and they are. Hotwire is a scam. Paid for a hotel I didn't get to stay in, and travel protection that covered nothing. THANKS FOR NOTHING. I'll use another site from now on.

Let me start by saying I always liked this site and used it often before covid occurred I had even booked a hotel to stay in for the second week of June 2020, But since covid happened and I live in a highly impacted area palmbeach county and have been near individuals with covid due to work I figured it would be best to cancel my reservation for June in may... And this company basically told me their hotel partner would not take my cancelation and basically OWELL to me losing all the money I spent on this hotel reservation. Im basically being told it would have been better for me to travel and put others at risk and myself at risk rather then do the safe thing which is hold off travel until a time that's safer Even if i would've just gotten a credit towards a reservation to use later would've been better then just saying owell moneys gone have a nice day

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. I will be booking everything priceline from now on. They refunded my money within a matter of days no questions or hassle. (All the same travel time period). Meanwhile the one reservation Hotwire did manage to refund is because myself and the wonderful front desk manager at La Quinta Inn Huntsville Research Park had to speak to them multiple times telling them I was owed a refund.

I booked a rental car after reading all the qualifications, but once they received my money I found out I actually didn't qualify because I wasn't traveling from out of town. So, I cancelled. Upon cancellation, I found out that it takes 30 days to get my money refunded to me. I waited the 30 days and nothing happened, so I call and the customer service I experienced was horrible. None of the agents were on the same page and couldn't give me a definitive answer. They asked me to wait an additional 30 days after I had waited the initial 30 days for my refund.

Booked a pet-friendly room in Abilene TX at a great price $64, was very happy with price and hotel. Once we arrived we were informed we would have to pay $100 NON-REFUNDABLE pet fee. It was never communicated that pet fees would be that high. I figured there would be a pet fee but the norm is $20-30 per pet at most hotels, which I would have gladly paid. This is extremely misleading to book a hotel at a great rate only to find out afterwards of the extremely high extra hotel fees, fees that are higher than the actual cost of the room booked. I should have been given the option to accept or cancel my reservation.

I recently had to fly into DC Because my daughter had to go into the hospital. I foolishly rush to get a hotel on Hotwire.com. When realizing she would be transferred to another hospital I tried to get a refund and was told I would have Get a doctors note written on a letterhead with dates etc. I ask you when you're in the middle of a medical crisis is that ever top of mine? No compassion whatsoever. I did send them documentation but it was not to their satisfaction.

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. Air BNB refunded, no questions asked. My rental car through hot wire is a different story unfortunately. I waited about a month with no response. So I chatted with a Hot wire 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. Today (5/26/2020) I called to get a status check and they said THEY COULD DO NOTHING FOR ME! COULD DO NOTHING! What kind of customer service is this?! We are in the middle of a global pandemic and all this company can think about is THEIR MONEY! It is absolutely absurd! I will continue to email them EVERYDAY until someone gives me another answer! THE CANCELLATION IS NOT OUR FAULT! We would of LOVED to get away from Texas for a little bit but I understand my father in law's concerns. SHAME ON YOU HOTWIRE! I WILL NEVER USE THEM AGAIN TO BOOK ANYTHING! RUNNN! DON'T BOOK WITH THEM! BOOK WITH KAYAK! THEY ARE MORE CUSTOMER FRIENDLY AND DO CARE ABOUT THEIR CUSTOMERS! I seriously wish I could leave NO STARS!

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. Most other car services are allowing for either credits or allowing cancellations with refunds due to these extenuating circumstances. What did both Sixt and Hotwire tell me? Well, they basically said I'm out of luck and won't receive a refund or credit. Both Sixt and Hotwire have exhibited poor customer service in comparison to other companies who provide the same services. I would highly recommend using more morally sound companies for your booking needs. I know I will.

We booked a hot rate car rental through Hotwire for a 25th anniversary trip to Florida in June with our 6 kids. I booked the car in February with no clue a pandemic was coming. We have had to cancel the trip. I had no trouble with Frontier airline or Mariott for our hotel. However, we booked directly through these companies. I canceled the car rental in March with Hotwire and have contacted them repeatedly trying to get a refund or a credit for future travel. They keep telling me it is Enterprise rental car's fault. Tonight I contacted Enterprise directly and was told they are issuing refunds or rebookings. Since my contract is with Hotwire, there is nothing Enterprise can do. The agent offered me a ton of sympathy as she has received numerous calls from Hotwire customers trying to get rental car refunds. Please save yourself a ton of trouble and book directly with the car, hotel, or airline. I sincerely hope this terrible company goes out of business! Travelers beware!

IT"S A SCAM! After paying Hotwire for a room the hotel required us to pay for our room a second time as they had never received payment from Hotwire. The hotel said the issue would have to be resolved through Hotwire. Calling customer service, directed us to email where we got no response, emailed again, no response, chats directed us to email a third time, each time sending copies of all receipts/transactions that had transpired. They claim they will get back to us but never do. We are stuck in an endless loop and it seems they are just trying to wear us down so we'll give up. They have essentially stolen our money, and refuse to return it.

I have read so many bad reviews as it relates to getting a refund due to COVID-19. Honestly, I really felt from reading all the bad reviews that my money had taken a one way trip. First of all, I booked a Hot Rate deal which normally does not allow any cancellation or changes. However, due to COVID-19 exceptions were made. It is true that when you call, there is a long wait and you may even have your call disconnected after a long wait. However, if you check Hotwire's website, there is information on how to cancel your reservation for a car or hotel, and yes even if your reservation for was a Hot Rate Deal online. It will take some time to work through the process, but it does work just be patient. I followed the instructions and cancelled my reservation 48 hours before I was to pick up my car rental. I was advised I would receive an email in three days to confirm my cancellation. I did receive the email, however, it was about two weeks later. The good new is, Hotwire has assured me that I will get a refund in the form of a Hotwire credit towards a future rental. Per the email, this process could take up to 30 days. I have no problem with waiting. Just wanted to share my experiencing in trying to obtain a refund due to COVID-19. Just be patient. Hope this helps someone.

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. We ended up just paying the hotel for the night, which was 80$, and just waited till morning to call and ask about the other 444.00 that was pending on the card. When I called in the morning, the agent told me that my booking had been cancelled, due to the transaction not going through, and that I was being issued a refund (is that an oxymoron, or an idiom?... Seriously?) I of course responded by saying that doesn't make any sense and may I please speak to your supervisor. When the supervisor came to the phone, I let them know that if this wasn't figured out by noon, that I would either have to checkout, and because of COVID-19 I wouldn't even be able to go sit in a restaurant. The supervisor told me that they would put a note that the request was urgent, but that the transaction team would be contacting me by either/or by email or my phone number. Well, it's 9:35 pm, and I have not heard anything from the transaction team, and not only that but I have phoned twice already this evening after 8pm, and both phone calls lead me nowhere. The first time the call just started beeping and dropped, the second I was transferred to a menu that asked if I needed my booking reconfirmed and otherwise led me absolutely nowhere but to a electronic message.
I am so horrified at the customer service representatives of hotwire, and how they have treated us during a time that's already stressful for us all, but they couldn't even have been bothered to even deal with the situation at all. I will definitely never be booking with them again and I would be even more inclined to highly NOT recommend booking with them yourselves.

HOTWIRE YOU SUCK! I booked a a hotel reservation at The Crowne Plaza in New York, but due to the Covid-19, New York has canceled my vacation. Hotwire will not refund my $1,908.98! The representatives are extremely rude. I do not appreciate being laughed at, refused to let me speak to a supervisor, or to be hung up on! I will NEVER book anything through Hotwire or Expedia again. I hope your million dollar company enjoys my money while my family is struggling to survive through this epidemic!