Hotwire
reviews and complaints

Hotwire, now I know the pain of third party booking and I got lifetime lesson, I will never book with you guys and I will tell as many as people I can. I am manager in hotel, the only reason I booked with hotwire was I couldn't find employee discount in ottawa east area so I had no option left. I booked hotel in ottawa in first week of sep 2016. I booked blind booking but I booked so called 3.5* hotel, I saw some example of hotels on their site which was holiday inn, residence inn, crowne plaza, radisson, I paid $ 115.00 per night. I arrived at the hotel and guess what.. Surprised! Here I have crappy travelodge ottawa east. I go wow! This is 3.5* hotel. I called hotwire and one customer service guy is explaining me that (Holiday inn, residence inn, crowne plaza, radisson) this all hotels which was listed on their website and travelodge all are 3.5* hotel. Omg. I asked to speak with manager, took forever and now again after waiting for so long manager is explaining me same crap, and asking me y do I think this is not 3.5* hotel. They definitely need some training about hotel knowledge, I was so frekin angry and tired I stayed in that creepy hotel. Carpet was so so wet that u couldn't walk with bare feet, room had really really odd smell. It was disaster. I rather advice ppl to pay $20.00 extra and stay in nicer hotel than booking with this hotwire or any third-party.
Manager and the guy I talked with, please not travelodges are not 3.5* hotels, and they do not consider in a same catagory as the hotels you listed on your site to misguide people.

Stop putting fake advertise

5* boston downtown hotel advertised on website for past 2 weeks. Everytime you try to book it gives you an error but holds your visa authorization for days...Even tried calling to which they state "deal is no longer available"...But why is it still advertised...
False advertising... If you don't have it remove from website.

I have been using hotwire for more than 10 years. Two months ago (February 2016) I was unable to make a reservation and given a # to call at their fraud department. I have called that # over 50 times in the last 4 months trying to get information as to why my account has been flagged for fraud. I spoke with my credit card company and we reviewed all purchases and none were fraudulent. I repeatedly called the hotwire number and spoke with countless agents who just tell me there is nothing they can do to help me resolve this. They give me the fraud # that I have been calling for four months with no response .. I am understandably concerned as to why my account has been frozen but the company refuses to respond to me in any way. I have no idea what is going on with the account and what the causative factors are or were.. It is a terrible position to be in and no one at hotwire is willing to help me resolve this. I know we are entitled to know the information that hotwire has that has caused them to be concerned about fraudulent activity in regards to our account.. Hotwire has shown total disregard for our understandable concern over matters that concern our credit and possible fraudulent activity. All we ask is a call back from the fraud department so we can resolve this issue.

In April 2016 I booked one night at a hotel in Dallas (for June 20016), this was a "Hot Deal". I didn't receive my itinerary so I contacted Hotwire, via email, right away. I asked that they forward my itinerary to me. I received a reply on how to look it up online. These directions did not work. I again emailed Hotwire letting them know the instructions for viewing my itinerary did not work, and requested they forward my itinerary to me. I received the same generic reply on how to view it online. I tried once again to view it online. I even asked 2 different co-workers to try it, it didn't work for them either. Again I contacted Hotwire. This time I asked for a refund so that I could re-book the room and receive a proper itinerary. Needless to say this did not happen. I called them as well as sent 9 separate email request to them to:
A) Provide a refund
B) Provide contact info to their legal dept
C) Provide the contact info to their Operations VP, Pierre-Etienne Chartier.
Not only has Hotwire not provided any information or refund, but they no longer reply to any emails. I have also told them via email that I will not contact them via phone because the reps lie, and I prefer to have a paper trail.
The cost of the room was only $75. But, as a matter of principle I did not stay at that hotel so I don't know for sure if the room was actually booked or not.
It is now August 2016 and the last reply I received from Hotwire was May 31, 2016.

Hotwire just scammed me out of some money by misrepresenting a "hot deal" claiming a hotel had amenities which they do not have on the property. After spending hours with them on the phone, it was hard to get a supervisor on the line and when I did, both denied the claim and were very unhelpful. With the plethora of booking sites available, do not reward shady and untruthful business practices with your money. I tried to contact the corporate offices directly to give them one more shot, and they would not take the complaint. They would not even take the call! If you are unlucky enough to have a reservation with them, think about canceling your reservation. Their customer support service is atrocious and would be unhelpful should you be unfortunate enough to need their assistance. Since Hotwire and Expedia are connected, this goes for Expedia users as well.

We have been hotwire customers for more than a year and we made the mistake of trusting the website. We booked several 2 star hotels under the HOT RATE HOTEL PRICES with basic amenities as we are both students and just need a decent place to stay as our main aim was to explore the area and go for sight-seeing and activities in the area. We had a satisfactory stay these few trips as we were provided the described standard of care. We now planned for a trip to Universal Studios Orlando and decided to book for a 3 star and 3.5 star hotel this time through hotwire.com. BIG MISTAKE! First thing we learnt that this "Hot Rate Hotel deal" is a big scam. If you read the fine print, they can stick you with any hotel that they find and is deemed 3 star even if it doesn't meet any required standards! They misrepresent the category by putting in names like Sheraton, Westin, etc. and I doubt barely any customer is actually provided with an actual booking in these places. Instead they have a large mix of any nearby hotels who they deem eligible and chances are you will be stuck with one of them. This is exactly our story and they cheated us this way not once but twice. Here is our story. We made a reservation through the Hot Rate deal at a 3 star hotel and were stuck with a substandard hotel deemed 3 star. Checked reviews on google, yelp, tripadvisor, and several other websites and sorted those with most recent ones. We were horrified to see pictures of filthy and dirty rooms and furniture, complaints about pest infestation and unsanitary conditions. So of course we decided to call customer care. After a long time of explaining the situation and being redirected we finally got an agent who stressed that this would be a one time exception given to us. We of course noted that they should not have kept such hotels in this category and they should update according to recent reviews! In this day and age, who relies 3-5 years old reviews. We finally made a agreement to pay more and get a decent place. The category we chose was a 3 Star Boutique Hotel! Of course again we specified we would require basic amenities and we asked to be filtered out of such places. The lady mentioned that she removed the hotel we complained about. AND AGAIN WE WERE CHEATED! They stuck us with a hotel even worse. The filtering was only for that one place. We got another horrible place with even bad customer ratings and pictures with shower heads hanging, broken chairs and awful conditions. Their claim about the hotel was false - it was not 'boutique'. The hotel was below standard. So we called them again! After speaking with several people and getting redirected about 5 times. All they claim is we were already given a one time exception and they can't do anything further. How is it a one time exception if our complaint was never addressed. Another excuse to stick us up by giving us any substandard place and charging us even more for it! They state that their reservation policy is non-refundable. Of course the policy is enforcable but the standard of the hotel mentioned is not? Their 'customer service' is anything but. The supervisor claims they were isolated incidents when we were ready to provide all the required proof and information from several recent past customers posted online on several travel websites! This is just another way to scam people and they are making great money in doing this. There is no proper management and it did not even seem they were redirecting or doing anything about our case. Just putting us on hold and saying we cannot do anything. We, obviously, now are out of our money and will never use them again. All we were looking for is a decent place to stay! We got scammed by their hot rate deal and misrepresentation of hotels! This is just another effort of on our part so other customers are warned of the shady business these people run! PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM THIS WEBSITE! YOU MAY HAVE HAD A GOOD EXPERIENCE ONCE BUT DO NOT TRUST THEM!

I booked Astor crown plaza hotel through Hotwire, when we check in at 7PM the room was not ready, we were asked to check back. Finally the room was ready close to midnight, the room without air conditioner. Manager were called, she promised that the rooms will be for free the first night but has to be refund back thru Hotwire. I won't be able to contact Hotwire customer service. The worst company in the world, they put you on hold for hours & purposely disconnected. Don't ever use this company for your travel need. ZERO STAR!

I booked a package (flight + hotel) with cancellation on hotwire. I spoke to a live agent and received a confirmation email with my itinerary number, flight and hotel details. Unfortunately, I have to cancel my trip due to health reason but hotwire said they cant find my itinerary number? Therefore I'm unable to cancel my trip. I've called the airline and the hotel directly and they've confirmed my reservations exists. I've made numerous phone call to Hotwire and spent hours on hold. Hotwire keeps transferring me to different reps but each time they can't seem to find my itinerary number?...I need to cancel my trip but no one at Hotwire can help me...any suggestions?

On 5/4/16 I booked hotel reservations through hotwire.com for a party of 3 (Myself, another adult, and a child). On hotwire.com directly on the home page an adult is listed as (18+ yrs) and a child is listed as (2-17 yrs). I selected my destination, dates, room. Please note: hotwire does not share the name of the hotel or hotel details until after booking is completed. After completing the online booking process and my credit card being charged $823.75 for the stay, only then was I informed that the hotel my party of 3 would be staying at was the holiday inn. There was no issue until we arrived at the hotel and tried to check in. To my surprise the hotel refused to check us in until I paid an additional $400 for my child. The hotel said the cut off age for children is 12 and because my son is 15, he is considered an adult and would have to pay $400 to stay. I argued that I did not select this hotel in fact I had no idea where I would be staying until after the booking is complete and my son should not be penalized for what is clearly a business disagreement/miscommunication between hotwire and the hotel. Needless to say I was forced to pay the additional $400 unless we wanted to sleep on the street and loose the nonrefundable $823.75 already paid to hotwire. Why on earth would hotwire book us at a hotel that has restrictions on children and age limits? Why on earth did hotwire not informed me that this would happen when we arrive? Hotwire is in partnership with these hotel chains. This is there line of business. I spent the 1st 2 hours of my vacation on the phone with hotwire customer service. I spoke to 3 different reps as I had to call back several because I was mysteriously disconnected each time. All reps said I should not have been charged anything additional and my booking was a final sale. The reps said they would call the hotel to resolve the issue. All 3 asked me to stay on hold and took my number in case we got disconnected. While waiting on hold, I was disconnected (Not-surprise) and not one of them called me back. This is just unacceptable. I then went back to the lobby and spoke with the hotel manager who decided to give me a $75 credit. I was still charged $325! If hotwire has hotel partners with age restrictions then their website should reflect that, but it does not it simply says a child is “2-17 yrs” so what is the consumer to do but to trust the company we’re doing business. Why am i, the consumer being penalized for hotwire’s error? Hotwire sent me an email confirmation stating that my hotel reservations for a party of 3 was booked, paid, and all set. The email even went on to say that there’s no need to reconfirm with the hotel. This is what I call false advertising and unfair business practices at its best. I have all documentation and receipts from both hotwire and the holiday inn. I'm requesting a refund for the additional charge of $325.

Booked a one-night stay at Treasure Island Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas for May 28, 2016 (Itinerary #: [protected]). I was traveling with aged parents and when we reached Las Vegas at 10pm and tried to check in, we were told by the hotel that there was no booking under our name. For some reason, the reservation was never communicated to the hotel by Hotwire even though Hotwire charged my credit card and I also received a confirmation email that said there was no need for me to call to reconfirm and that the hotel has been booked. The hotel was also completely sold out so they couldn't accommodate us with a new booking. When I called Hotwire, I kept being passed around between "customer service" and "rebooking" departments multiple times for the next 2 hours or so without any light at the end of the tunnel, after which I finally gave up and rebooked a room in another hotel by myself. I do have to say the Hotwire representative that helped me finally was very friendly, knew what he was doing and issued me a proper refund. But the fact remains that I was left stranded in Vegas without a room and with old parents at 10pm for 2-3 hours all because I trusted Hotwire. This was by far the worst online experience I have had, and I will likely not ever use Hotwire again for my travel needs.

I booked car for 24 march to 27th march 2016 by phone. Girl on phone booked me a wrong car (5 seater instead of 7). She apologized and refunded me money. But, I didn't get full refund. Its difference of $22.5 due difference currencies. Usd-cad. Now this is 2 months from then. I have called 5 times for refund. I have got nothing yet. Keep telling me wait and keep watching credit card statements. I am tired now. Last time they hang up my call. It was a limit. I don't recommend this a all. Its not about $22 dollars but, fairness to customers.
They are cheating with customers.

I have booked a plane ticket via Hotwire and when I received a payment confirmation email I noticed there was a mistake, so I called Hotwire and told them about that. They said that they can make changes for some extra cash. I refused because it was not my mistake. After wasting some time on phone I finally agreed to pay and they changed the date. Later I received a notification that I have to pay extra $400! Called and asked what was going on. They said that some extra taxes were added to my ticket! Asked them to cancel my flight and they asked for more money! Terrible company! Avoid them!

I booked four flights (for a family of four) from Ft. Lauderdale to Montreal round trip for what I thought it was a good price. Unfortunately I did not pay close attention to the confirmation e-mail and only two weeks later I noticed that the itinerary was reversed (Montreal to Ft. Lauderdale round trip). I called customer service and two hours later they determined that it was my fault and in order to change my tickets I will have to pay $200 + difference in cost per traveler. The new price per ticket that she gave me was $340 (which included all taxes) less $287 the initial ticket, for a total of $1012 (4 x ($200 + $53), which I agreed to.
Hotwire sent the new itinerary and receipt by e-mail. This time I reviewed it carefully only to find out the total charge was $1361. I called customer service again and was told that the additional charge was for taxes; however, their prices already include all taxes and fees, according to their website.

I am traveling with family members and used Hotwire to book two rooms for two persons per room. Hotwire booked us into a Candlewood Suites hotel which has only one bed per room. After an hour on the phone with them, it was clear that the assumption is: two persons per Queen bed. Even though I explained that I (a 47 yo man) cannot share a bed with my mother (age 77). When I asked for a formal grievance or complaint process, it was explained to me that Hotwire does not have such a process. Eventually I was given an email address ([protected]@hotwire.com), but was told that nothing would be done. It is despicable that Hotwire assumes that two people can share one bed. BEWARE!

I called on 03/09/2016 to request a record of my past bookings since they didn't show up on my account. I had called before, last year actually to complain that their website wasn't showing past bookings properly; in any case, I called then got transferred to "the right department"; once explaining my problem, I got transferred again to "the right department". Once I got there, the lady sent me a re-confirmation, saying that to make sure I log in next time since it was booked under a guest account, which doesn't make sense because I always log in, print my confirmation emails and itineraries. In any case, I tried to further explain my problem then the service rep cuts me off by saying "thank you for calling Hotwire, have a great day" and hanged up. Now I'm not sure if the sound / voice was too low to hear but that was just rude.
Also, I never received the re-confirmation email of my package booked through them. Also, their website is full of bugs, reloading, logging in without any reason, logging out.

Worst experience ever.

Hotwire booked a room at the aloha hotel in arroyo grande, ca. A confirmation email was sent. I personally called hotwire to double confirm the reservation. When I arrived the hotel owner said that hotwire over booked me and there was no room available. I called customer service several times. I was placed on hold 6 times for over an hour each time until the phone just disconnected. Each time I talked to a representative the answer was the same. We can offer you a refund that will take 1 to 2 business days to reflect. We were 5 hours from home and had been sitting in a car now for 11 hours. When I told the representative the immediate danger we were in because we were in a bad part of town, their response was I am sorry for your inconvenience, but did nothing to help get us out of the situation. 50' to the right a girl on some kind of drug, to the left a drug deal happening. Two police cars with lights on searching a homeless man’s belongings. Several suspicious persons turning away anxiously as soon as they saw us in a car. We missed our nonrefundable event due to being on hold with customer service. We were told that we can book our own 2 star hotel and send them the bill. But they already had all the money I had on my card for lodging and would not return it for 1 or 2 business days. So after driving 5 hours then sitting 6 hours we decided for our physical safety we just needed to cancel the trip. So now completely emotionally and physically drained hotwire tells me they are sorry but maybe that is best that we cancel the trip and drive exhausted in the middle of the night another 5 hours home.

I changed the time of my flight ticket 2 hours later.
The origination city was the same, the destination city was the same, the date was the same, only the time was changed for 2 hours later.
The change was made 3 months ahead of the flight date.
I was assured that I would pay a flight cost difference, if any, plus a fee of $75.

Hotwire charged me $700+ the full price for the new ticket plus the fee but have never refunded my original booking.

I have called their Customer Service department (what a joke) 15 times over 3 months and they put me on hold until I hangup or if I do not they drop the call. I have written to their Corporate Tier 3 department and NEVER got a reply.

NEVER NEVER USE HOTWIRE.

I called into hotwire customer service regarding flight prices. The customer service agent convinced me that I would get the best rate by booking on the phone. He took about 45 mins to book it and once he sent me the confirmation email with my itinerary number, the problems started.

The itinerary number he sent me wasn't coming up as accurate. Every time I tried to look up my itinerary number on hotwires site, it came back as an error saying that it is deleted and that itinerary does not exists. Of course, my account was charged $4, 015 immediately. I pointed this out to the agent right away and he told me not to worry about it and he transferred me to another agent because I was concerned.

The second agent transferred me to a third person and that third person said that the initial booking agent had made a mistake and didn't input some needed information. He put my on hold for about an hour and a half. Finally told me that he cant find my complete package in the system and that my best option is to cancel.

finally got put through to a supervisor and he was able to cancel the trip and told me I would have to wait 5 days for my refund. Wasn't very apologetic. I spent a total of 3 hours on the phone because one of their sales agents made a mistake and didn't even get an apology.

I am a singe mom and was very excited to book this trip to take my sister and my kids to mexico. Now, I will loose more money because I have to wait for the refud and try to find anothere good deal to rebook.

My wife and I are shocked that following the Zika outbreak and unlike our flight and car hire provider! Who refunded us in full, Hotwire are refusing to let us cance or even rebook to an alternative destination, instead gave false information about the state of the Zika Virus in Puerto Rico, stating it was safe after our Doctor gave us a clear advisory following the CDC and WHO and NHS (UK) warning that pregnant or possible expecting mothers should avoid and not travel to Zika infected areas.

I booked a room in a hotel through Hotwire. They confirmed my reservation, but then they cancelled it for no reason. They never told me anything, never even sent me a cancellation email! When I arrived at the hotel, I was told that Hotwire canceled my reservation. I immediately contacted their customer service and asked what was going on. And they told that the cancellation was done per my request. Seriously? Here I was, all alone in another country, with no place to stay. Thanks a lot! These people are liars! I hate Hotwire and will never use it again!