Hotwire
Reviews and Complaints

I rented a car for pick up July 2nd at 1:00PM and drop off July 6th at 6:00PM. I put in the pick up and drop off times in the drop down menus on Hotwire site. I got a total purchase price of $142.37 and was given Hertz as my car rental company. When I picked the car up Hertz told me I owed an additional $21.28 because they charge by the 24 hrs. I told them I did not agree because I had a TOTAL of $142.37 confirmed by Hotwire. The lady at the desk told me this happens all the time with Hotwire and she is so sick of "them" she then proceeded to tell me that when I contacted Hotwire they will blame Hertz. I told her I rent from Hotwire a lot and have never been charged extra but that it was my first time getting Hertz. She continued to argue with me but I needed the car so I ended the exchange. When I returned the car the lady at the returns told me my extra charges and I told her I did not agree. She told me it was happening to every customer bringing back a car and she felt so bad. She then told me Hotwire should just "take Hertz off the list". If Hertz does not want Hotwire customers I suggest Hotwire do that as well. I feel that Hertz is illegally over charging and making a lot doing so! I would have found a cheaper price once you add in the "extra charge" had I known. I want a refund of $21.28 and I will not feel safe renting from Hotwire again since you do not see the company in advance.

I booked a hotel room for San Diego CA for July 4th 2015. Hotwire got me a room at the Quality Inn in El Cajon. The reviews for this hotel are horrible. Would not even rate as a one star. Homeless people sleeping by the ice machines, the smell of marijuana, dirty nasty place. Not to mention the desk clerk was shot in December in a holdup and they has to put the nearby school on lock down. This is the place Hotwire booked me in and would not refund my money. Now they can deal with complaints to the BBB and the state attorney general. If you have been treated the same way please comment. Perhaps Hotwire needs a class action lawsuit to straighten up their business practices.

I searched hotwire.com for a hotel room in st Louis. they advertised a 5-star downtown pet-friendly hotel for $105. I booked it. It came to $133 with fees. They revealed the hotel to be the Hyatt Regency St Louis at The Arch. I called the hotel directly to confirm the reservation. They stated that it would be a fee of $100 for my small dog. I feel that I have been mislead. I then call hotwire customer service and am told "sorry - nothing we can do". Really ? Is this any way to treat customers in this day and age.? So, here I am...warning other potential hotwire.com customers to BEWARE. They give misleading info and then refuse to make things right.

I booked a car through Hotwaire. I asked for an SUV. The next day when I saw the confirmation email it read minivan. I immediately contacted Hotwire and told them I did not want a minivan. I wanted an SUV, as there were only going to be my wife and I. We neither wanted nor needed a minivan. The person was very nice and said he would fix the problem. He booked us with a different dealer for an SUV (which is not the car we ended up getting from the new dealer). After our trip I looked and Hotwire is charging me for both vehicles for the same date at the same time, from two different dealers, which obviously makes no sense. I have called, written, and even yelled at this company and they refuse a refund. They try to insist I originally asked for a minivan. But that is not true and their agen who supposedly fixed things obviously did not cancel the first car and they have charged me for both. I am exasperated and don't know what else to do, so here I am.

I booked a stay with Hotwire for 2 adults 2 kids. They claim that they guarantee that the room will sleep the number in your party. I arrive to the hotel, one king bed. I'm sorry but how do 2 adults, a teen and a toddler sleep in one bed? Answer...they don't. I called Hotwire. They were less than helpful, they were rude and unaccommodating. The said they'd reimburse the cost of a roll away bed. Even then we were still unable to sleep all in our party comfortably. They don't care! They have yet to reimburse me also, they want all sorts of paperwork and have no clue about what they said on previous communication. I think I'd rather pay a little extra with another provider and get better service.

Over the Columbus Day weekend in 2014 yes 2014 my neighbors were putting up a fence. They cut through my TV/Internet cable. I had to wait the entire weekend (including Monday as it was a holiday) for someone (from Hotwire) to come out and repair the cable. They repaired it but, they did not bury the cable claiming that was a different department. At least 7 phone calls, the same amount of transfers (not my department), and 6 months later this cable is still NOT BURIED! They came out 3 weeks ago to my house to put in the upgrade (cable through my HOA or I would have FIRED them a long time ago) and stated they noticed the wire (cable) and that it cannot be left that way. They said they sent an email to the department that buries the wires/cables. They said they usually respond within 24 hours. This was of a Friday. It has been three weeks and still the cable lies exposed. I just got off the phone with customer service and of course another transfer to solve this issue not even caused by me! I guess my next stop is the local news. If I could fire Hotwire they would all be looking for other jobs!

Hotwire.com’s hotel star ratings are misleading. In purchasing a hotel hot rate deal the comparable hotels listed for 2 star hotels included Best Western, Days Inn, Comfort Suites and Quality Inn. After making the hot rate purchase I learned I had purchased a stay at an older motel, which Knights Inn had bought. I had previously stayed at this motel and knew from experience that the rooms, the motel facility and amenities do not compare to any of the comparable 2 star hotels that Hotwire had listed. In speaking with a Hotwire manager on the phone he dismissed my concerns, stood by the star ratings and would not consider even a resubmission of a hot rate deal. When I told him that a certain level of expectation is built when the comparable 2 star hotel listings are displayed the manager just rehashed the disclaimer of no guaranty of what hotel will be purchased with the hot rate deal. The manager said that my only option is to stay at the hotel the first night and then I can make a request to Hotwire if expectations are unmet. The manager also did not seem concerned that Hotwire lost me as a customer and that sharing my experiences with others would reflect negatively on Hotwire.

Hotwire itinerary number [protected] reservation with Days Inn and Suites Smyrna on February 13, 2015 in Smyrna, Georgia.We did a hotel reservation from Hotwire and we had to spent our whole night on the road because of bad management of hotwire. We got the new hotel at 6AM at the double price. We are just asking the difference of that booking price.Due to your mismanagement, our whole holiday weekend was ruined. We searched the another hotel whole night. And we got another one very far from the city and very costly. Due to this our whole trip was devastated. We had some advance reservations for some activities that we had to cancel which was non-refundable.No investigation had been done for our case. We called the Days In hotel before traveling. Hotel representative told us there is no problem, you can come at any time and when we reached their they said they can't give us the room. How can they start the construction work in just evening.Its really a ridiculous and frustrating too.You people ruined our whole weekend. I will not sit quite for your bad services. Tell me where I was at fault.We made the reservation and called the hotel representative, she told us to come and check in and when we reached there they said they can't give us the room.

Be aware, I knew that hotels booked through hotwire.com hotline were final, but mistakenly believed that buying trip cancellation insurance meant I could cancel my trip. Wrong! Essentially unless I can prove medical emergency, or if I can show my house was severely damaged, or that the hotel shut down I can't receive any refund. If I had only booked with the hotel directly, cancellation would have been no issue and peace of mind is definitely worth the few extra bucks it would have cost, rather than the 1, 065 I lost because I had to change my plans.

I booked a hotel through Hotwire, thinking I was getting a hotel valued around $130.00, for $55.00. The page also showed suggested hotels of Holiday Inn Express, Embassy Suites and Candlewood Suites...after paying I got Hotel Lawrence in Dallas. The reviews are awful, and even their staff confirmed that. When calling hotwire to cancel, I was told I couldn't, and that is was getting a very nice hotel. I then called the travel protection to cancel, they referred me back to hotwire or the hotel itself. I called hotel to cancel, and the lady informed me that they had a pipe burst and 2-3 of their floors were flooded. I called hotwire back with this information, they wanted to confirm themselves and told me they were unable to reach hotel. I feel very mislead by them, and even more irritated that they will not cancel reservations when hotel is not even up to code. I will NEVER use hotwire again, and will make sure to deter anyone from their scam. The people at Hotwire are rude and unprofessional at every turn. They interrupted me several times to read from a script.

Hotwire has recently changed their policy in regards to who is considered preferred customers, but did not notify any of their customers of this change. There are perks and bonuses to being a preferred customer which people count on when making a booking such as the ability to cancel a reservation if need be. Customers were not given any indication or notice of status change from the company which meant that they were making bookings under the assumption that nothing in their agreement had been changed. Hotwire will not honor old agreements, nor will they handle customer complaints over the phone, nor will they transfer customers to supervisors to help resolve complaints in regards to this particular matter. To the best of my knowledge it is illegal to change policy without notifying policy holders (customers) of said changes. Douglas vs. Talkamerica. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2007/07/court-says-no-to-changing-terms-of-service-without-notification/

Beware. Hotel room booked through this site was nothing like the rooms indicated on the site. No door on the bathroom of one of the rooms and instead of the two queen beds depicted on the site, only one queen bed was present in each room. Customer service at hotwire took more than 50 minutes of waiting on hold, only to be informed that rooms may not be what is depicted, and it was understandable that we were upset that there was no door on the bathroom. The service representative wanted to know if there was a reason for there being just a shower curtain hanging in lieu of the door... As if that would be acceptable under any circumstance. This is not a 3 star hotel. I will never use hotwire again and you should know that you are gambling if you choose to do so.

I was quoted a charge of $61.00 plus taxes for a four night stay in a motel. Hotwire overcharged my credit card by $13.76 (above and beyond the cost of the room + state and local taxes). When I requested a refund, they told me the extra charge was for a "service fee" which was NOT DISCLOSED to me at the time of my booking.

I have filed complaints with the San Francisco bay area BBB and the CA attorney General.422

I booked a "secret hot rate hotel" through the HOTWIRE website. This was supposedly a $109 room rate I was getting for $70. This deal requires you do not know the hotel itself until after booking. It appeared that it was a good deal as the hotel I was interested in that area was indeed $109 a night and I ASSUMED it would be that hotel. HOWEVER once I paid for the room I was notified it was the Quality Inn. I looked at the rates on the Quality Inn website to see what the rate would have been. TO MY SURPRISE it was almost $15 cheaper to book directly through the hotel. I called hotwire in hopes they would resolve the issue HOWEVER they said they will under NO circumstance refund my money, they will investigate and refund the difference if they deem that there was a cheaper rate. When I walked this supervisor through the Quality Inn website and he saw that the rate was indeed $15 cheaper he stated that I will not get a price difference because you have to have a Choice Hotel Membership! I asked why this was when the Choice Hotel Membership takes mins to apply for and is FREE! He said it doesn't matter I will not get a refund. When I brought up the fact it was complete false advertisement and if I knew that I would be paying MORE for the hotel going through hotwire then I should at least be able to choose my hotel, he said I'm sorry you feel that way. I asked if I could talk to his supervisor and he told me that he was the supervisor and there was nobody over him that would talk to me. HOW CAN THEY BE ALLOWED TO COMPLETELY DECEIVE THEIR CUSTOMERS LIKE THIS?

I wanted to rent a hotel room at the beach for my cousin's birthday celebration. I went to hotwire and put jacksonville beach, florida in the search box and pressed enter. Up popped hotwire's secret hot rates hotels. I looked at the options presented and booked a secret hot rate hotel. When the hotel I booked was revealed it was in another city than I requested. I called hotwire immediately and advised the lady that answered the phone that I didn't get what I paid for. I paid for a hotel room in jacksonville beach, fl not mayport, fl. When I arrived at the hotel, I was given a room with a king bed when I intentionally requested a room with double beds. The hotel clerk advised that hotwire had sent the booking over for one person when I selected 2 and advised the hotel to give me whatever was available yet I booked a double room. The hotel was able to accommodate me and gave me a room with a double bed. I'm very disappointed with hotwire. I've used this service for many years but I can guarantee that I will never type hotwire into my web browser again. I'm thankful this was a mini-trip close to home because god knows what would have happened if I were across the country. Hotwire doesn't seem to care because the csr I spoke with was condescending and no one has yet to acknowledge my email or respond. No response needed hotwire. I'll book my travel needs directly with the hotel, airline, rental company going forward. Signed... Once a loyal customer that's no longer a customer!

I recently booked a hotel thru hotwire, when I arrived to this hotel there were no rooms available for me. The rep told me to call hotwires customer service department and they could re-book me a room even if the company had to cover the remaining cost. I called and the rep was extremely rude and said there was nothing they could do to help me because there was no rooms available. I was in a different state with my 2 children with no where to go and no one to help us. We had to end our weekend plans because we had no where to stay. We drove back to new york in the middle of the night. I called this morning and explained the situation and the rep was laughing as if this was a funny situation. I asked to speak to someone else. I then spoke to a rep in the post booking department he said "what would you like me to do we already refunded you your money" as if that made it ok. I feel that I should be compensaded something for such a huge inconvienice this caused. The rep offered $20 in hotwire bucks as if that would do anything.

rented a car 08/01/2013 to 08/06/2013, i put that date in but it defaulted back to date of 07/18/2013 to 07/22/2013, this one was canceled. did reservation again an it still defaulted back to the 07/18/2013 at low rate of $67.93, i called an this time they stated would have to be retail rate of $179.93, i tried to cancel that one an no-way in the meantime i got another for $136.93, today i called an after several calls got the $136.93 canceled, still stuck with the higher rate, have contested the charge thur american exporess an now don't know if i will get car or not, i am thinking about a lawsuit against them for bait a switch, sure wish someone would help me out on this one email is [protected]@yahoo.com name robert allen phone number is [protected]

Hotwire insurance through Allianz Global Assistance is a complete scam. I purchased the insurance as protection against bad weather that was coming. The event was in fact cancelled, but when I went to activate the insurance I purchased, the back pedaling began almost immediately. They cited armed insurrection, government overthrow, acts of God, you name it - to wiggle out of the insurance. Upon asking for proof in writing that weather was not covered [which seemed silly as that is a major reason for event cancellation], they found a clause on the 11th page of the small-type legal rider. Bottom line, unless the airline or a hotel were to cancel an event, you are not covered...EVER. Looking on the web, it seems as though there are thousands that have realized this too late, but HOTWIRE keeps touting they have 'trip insurance.' My question would simply be - insurance against what? If I had an unforeseen medical condition - I might be covered. If 'life happens' and bad weather, vehicle malfunction, event cancellation occurs - you're left holding the bag. RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN AWAY from Hotwire insurance. It's a huge scam.

Booked a hotel today through hotwire, who claims to offer huge savings... After entering my credit card info, they revealed the hotel, which was the La Quinta Inn. I went to their website to check out the hotel, only to find there were cheaper rates on the hotel site directly, and even cheaper if I had just used my AAA card. I called to complain immediately. They claimed that we could only be reimbursed the difference if the "pre-tax" rate was lower, and the hotel's pre-tax rate was higher. Crazy. I said it wasn't even a deal if it's not cheaper than the hotel site directly, not to mention we'd know which hotel it was before paying. They didn't care that I was unhappy, nor that I'd never use them again. They have zero customer service.