Hotwire
reviews and complaints

On 6/16/2021 I booked a car with Hotwire, Hotwire Itinerary # [protected] for $677.15. My credit card was charged $552.48 that day. The remaining $124.67 was due at pick up.
On 6/22/2021 I had to wait 3 hours at Tampa International Airport to pick up a car from Thrifty Car Rental. I was not charged $124.67 at car pick up as indicated on the Reservation Details.
I did not request any extra features for the rental.
I returned the car on 7/4/2021 and was told that I will get a statement from Thrifty via email later.
I received a statement from Thrifty showing a total charge of $188.80 and my credit card was charged that amount. No explanation was given for the extra charges of $64.13! I contacted Hotwire customer service and was told to contact Thrifty to resolve the problem. I called Thrifty many times and was put on hold three times more than 30 minutes without talking to someone!
I booked the car with Hotwire and Hotwire should be responsible for the bad actions of the rental car companies that they use!

I made a reservation, actually two reservations to stay at a hotel (Woodbridge Suites - Building #2) in Columbus Georgia. When I arrived at the hotel with my family, I noticed suspicious activity on the side of the hotel. Once I parked in the parking lot I noticed 1ea police officer sitting in his car behind me and another police officer pulling into the parking lot. Trying to give the hotel the benefit of the doubt I walk in to check in (June 22 2021). Upon arriving at the front desk lobby I noticed the door that leads to the hotel rooms was smashed and the fix was to put and "X" on the door with tape. At that point I made the decision to not stay at the hotel as it was not safe for my family. I immediately called Hotwire to cancel my reservation based my observation and they stated the will review my refund and call me back with a decision. I then made new reservations to Microtel, so I could see my Son's graduation from the Army Infantry. To no ones surprise I never received a phone call back. I called them a week and a half later and was meet with no resolution but a manager that basically was saying I never had reservations on the 22nd and I was lying about what I seen. I've dealt with many companies in my line of work, but have not dealt with a more inconsiderate company. Your company is more worried about the bottom line"MONEY" than the safety of your customers and there family. They would rather let a customer loose $500+ because of his/her fear for their family safety. When a customer arrives at a hotel and there is a police officer at the hotel and drug activity going on the side of the hotel it's not the ideal or safe place for a family to stay. Your company obviously disagrees with that and would pick the almighty dollar over the safety of their customers and families. I hope I get a response from your senior management team to allow them to express there reason for allowing there company to risk the safety of there customers.

My card was charged 71.85 and 9.50 for a hotel I didnot book or reserve. my card and my phone was stolen by a so called buddy of mine or should I say a couple of them not only did they take my phone and card but they stole everything I owned leaving me with the short on my back and pants on my a** and I have several of different purchases that me myself did not make between my cash app and my go2bank card. I already do t have anything Please contact me on [protected]@gmail.com I dont have a replacement phone at the moment so email will be the only way to reach me please return my money thanks in advance

I reschedule a flight with a representative after a 2 hours wait, She asked me for the itinerary number when she rebooked she did not type my husband last name correct. I being trying many times and I hadn't had a good luck no one answer. After waiting few hours I hang up why it is so easy to buy but when you help it's a hassle. I need this issue fix. Please. Thank you

My granddaughter booked a rental car with Hotwire (Thrifty) and put in the wrong date for pickup and dropoff. It was one day on each side...from July 5th for pickup to July 6th and from July 10th for dropoff to July 11. It was a Hotrate car rental, which says they cannot make changes. when I spoke with the agent at Hotwire, I was told if I had called within 24 hours, they could have made the little change as a courtesy. My question to her was, "How was I supposed to know that 24 rule...it is not disclosed anywhere in my confirmation email?" They told me, is there anything else I can help you with!

Misleading and bad business preactice!

I booked a hotel through hotwire, hotel reservation. I was suppose to save 17% percent. Instead I was charged more than the actual website charged. I called 2 separate times and was told it isn't a promised savings and it is like apple to apples. I believe this to be false advertising and consumer fraud. I will be writing a formal complaint with the BBB later today.

On the Hotwire website, when entering in adults, it actually made me enter in my 14 year old as an adult increasing the rates of the room. When you book through choice hotels, they do not add extra for minors. I pointed this out to customer service and they said that this was not true. I expect what is promised on the website or at least be able to cancel my room. Not one of the three people i spoke to would help me, but rather said it is final.

I booked a hotwire deal where they gave a special rate and you get one of two hotels. One was a Hampton inn and the other was a motel called OYO Hotel Burlington South in Burlington NC. We checked in and it was horrible. The place smelled of cigarette smoke it had no toilet paper, no wastebaskets, no smoke detector though you could see the spot where it should have been. The TV turned on but had so little volume that it was unusable. So the guy on duty said we could get a refund, That refund was only on the security deposit that was charged on my card when we checked in. Checking my credit card and not seeing a refund I looked on Hotwire.com and see that it has a statement all bookings final. So they decide to give you their choice of motels and one is horrible though it certainly had potential it was not somewhere we wanted to stay. When you trust them to give you a decent motel and it is subpar and you cannot get a refund is just really bad business practice. If they can't give me a refund I will certainly never use hotwire. com again.

Hotwire Travel itinerary # [protected]
Date of reservation: March 22, 2021

I made the flight reservations from Washington DC to LA, California, for May 30 - April 5th with Hotwire. Flights were reserved with United and American Airlines. When I called United about the Covid test, they explained to me that there were restrictions in the state of California, which would prevent my family to return back in 7 days, as per our reservation. This is due to the mandatory 10 day quarantine upon arrival. Basically, we would not be able to fly back using the tickets sold by Hotwire because we would be required to stay in California for ten (10) full days before flying back home.
I wish Hotwire had notified me of this mandatory regulation before we reserved the tickets. Having the appropriate warning(s) on their website page would prevent customers to purchase tickets that they would not be able to use as they intended. As a result, our trip had to be cancelled as we need to return to work and school by April 5th. I called Hotwire several times to discuss the reimbursement of the flight tickets. The representative could only provide vouchers that are valid for one year for each respective airline. Therefore, I wanted to speak to the supervisor. Every time I called Hotwire, the representatives were not able to connect me to the supervisor. There were three attempts to connect me to the supervisor, however, all three times the phone calls were dropped. During one of these attempts, I was told that a supervisor will call me back in the evening. There was a call in the evening that was also dropped before I picked it up. I am very disappointed in the customer service provided by Hotwire. In addition, I cannot afford loosing money that I spent to buy these tickets. I wish to be fully reimbursed for the airline tickets in the same form of payment, not in vouchers.
I've exhausted all possible resources and invested a significant amount of time in trying to resolve this issue.

I just booked with hot wire and selected I have a child. This is the 2nd time I have ever used this site and my complaint is they purposely give us 1 bed in our room. They advise selecting insurance and then advise they won't refund in the event there is a problem. That appears to me fraudulent. I called their Customer Service 3x today; once was told to hold pls then transferred disconnected. The 2nd time, "Misty" mysteriously couldn't hear me. The 3rd time, just dead space. I think this company is fraudulent and should be investigated.

My flight changed and my original pick up time was 7:30 pm but is now 12:30 pm. They say no change or cancellation. I just need a car earlier and spoke to thrifty and they said they have to speak to somebody at hotwire and nobody at hotwire will call them because they say - no change or cancellation! I can't be stuck waiting for car for 6 hours. Cannot even rent an extra day because would have to have it back to exchange at 7:30 for other car?

I book a car rental last august, had to cancel because of covid. They would not refund my money. I have rented a car and because its not a hot rate I can't use my 499.17. It going to expire and they keep my money.

Tried to rent car 1/24 fill out format no cars available for those dates says WON'T CHARGE CARD CHARGES TWICE can't use card until company reverses charges now I'm stuck need to reverse charges now also NEED TO CHANGE FORMAT

Hotwire itinerary # [protected]

Attempted several times to add a day to this reservation - so as to not to have to make an unnecessary extra trip to the airport. I had no issue with Priceline
for the same request. Hotwire was completely inflexible - wouldn't even try.
Think about it - I am trying to give them more money and they just will not co-operate. Very disappointing and unsound when you consider all the competition with a customer service model.

Three times in this past week, all night, every night, they seem to have a system-wide blackout, I'm guessing, as no one, and I mean no one from technical support ever answers. As I lay in bed for hours all I see on my screen is 'Fision TV, please wait while your set box starts up', a green blinking light, and that's it, for six hours or so. Do something about this already.

I reserved a car. I know it said that I could cancel anytime on the screen. Now that I want to move the reservation out a week they say that is not possible. The Car rental company says I have to deal with Hot wire.

I cannot reschedule or cancel. They said the cancellation only applies if you have not paid. Sorry makes no sense to me.

Desired resolution reschedule my reservation. Cancel my reservation . Lastly change the site. Remove free cancellation verbiage

Sorry closed the window with Hot Wire do not have the words

I do not want to hear what the fine print says. I want the screen not to say Free Cancellation when it is not true

My wife and I were looking for a motel in the Redlands, California are so we could attend a funeral. We used the app and put the dates in. A listing of several very NICE motels came up including a Marriot, Holiday Inn, Comfort Suites, etc; so we booked it.

To our utter disappointment, they booked us a motel 6! No mention of that listed at all. No way to cancel it! We tried to contact customer service to complain, but no one ever answers!

They did a classic "bait and switch" on us. The previous two times i've used hotwire, we were booked in excellent motels. Not this time, they booked us in a dump! Sheets are disgusting, the room smells, no hairdryer, no hand towels, no place to put a suitcase or even a closet, just a broken hook on the wall.

The motel is next to major highway in redlands and the windows provide no sound insulation at all, with cars racing up the street all night long.

We are extremely unsatisfied and will not use hotwire again. This is less than a one star with drug dealers on the premises!

On March 17, 2020; we advised Hotwire with the following note. Hotwire arranged the car rental through Sixt (confirmation [protected]).

It is with deep regrets that I have to inform you that the trip scheduled for March 21, 2020 through March 28, 2020 to Fort Meyers, for me and three family members (Kathy A. Marconi, Brendan J. Kane & Adam M. Kane) needs to be cancelled. We are unable to travel due to the poor health & medical conditions of my wife, Kathy Marconi along with the heightened risk of Kathy contracting COVID 19. In fact, Kathy was tested for the COVID 19 virus at Northwestern Hospital on the evening of March 16, 2020. We are awaiting the results of this test and are currently quarantined at home.
She is under Oncologist care with a prescribed medicine regimen of Iberance & Faslodex. Kathy is experiencing side effects including low white blood cell count. The risk of her immune system being compromised is elevated with these medicines. The attention on COVID-19 has increased and the U.S. Government has seen an uptick in confirmed cases across the country over the past week. Dr. Lisa Flaum is advising Kathy Marconi not to travel at this time. She will require ongoing care from my family members and me.
Attached please find a medical note from Kathy's Oncologist, Dr. Lisa Flaum of Northwestern Medical Hospital located in Chicago Illinois.
I am seeking a refund for the rental car arrangements made with Hotwire. Hotwire had arranged the car rental through Sixt (confirmation [protected]).

Hotwire representative called me on Wednesday (4/15/2020) to convey that a full credit refund will be provided. Representative called me from Hotwire customer service at [protected].

Hotwire changed their decision in late May 2020 and decided to issue HotDollars in the amount of$444.31 with an expiration Date: 05/01/21. Bianca from Hotwire called me on July 14, 2020 to try and persuade my family that HotDollars is the best offer to be extended even though my family is unable to travel due to my wife's health condition. This company is showing no compassion or flexibility relating to the Kane family medical matter during a pandemic.
John Kane

John J.

Booking number [protected]
Peer Guest House, Tel Aviv

This place is my worst hotel booking experience ever. I am a very seasoned traveller having been in many countries.

This place had no staff, zero, was filthy, a fire trap and insecure to anyone trying to get in.

A hostel gave out the key which I found out by accident from another unsatisfied traveller.

I had booked a week and after seeing the room, finally, I did not stay.

I complained to Hotwire and received no reply fo four months until I renewed communication even after bein assured they would respond on two occasions.

Hotwire offered me $35 dollars compensation on a $1000 purchase. Not reasonable for a service that I did not use at all.