Welcome to MyBestReviews.com where we review online merchants such as Hotwire to help you make better buying decisions. Having been online since 1996 starting with an online book review, MyBestReviews has since reviewed thousands of websites. Not only do we review them in some cases we make purchases through them to better inform you about the quality of the merchant.
When looking at a merchant such as Hotwire we make sure customer service and satisfaction are foremost, how useable is the site and what kind of product selection they have. If Hotwire didn't meet these strict criteria you wouldn't find it recommended here.
You'll also find exclusive coupon offers through MyBestReviews.com.
Hotwire Reviews:
..."
Hotwire.com has been offering discounts on travel for its faithful members for many years. A fully- owned affiliate of Interactive Corp. (NASDAQ traded, under the ticker symbol IACI), Hotwire.com helps customers by purchasing large blocks of unused inventory (seats on flights, excess hotel rooms) in bulk and then selling them at rates that are lower than other travel web services.
I have used Hotwire.com on and off again since first signing up for this service a few years ago. From my experience, I have found that airline flights are the area where the best deals are most often found. Hotwire.com competes with many other travel web sites, but Priceline.com is the one it is most often compared to. In many areas, Hotwire.com is better; in other areas, Priceline.com is slightly better.
My experience was great. The web site was easy to navigate and all my questions were answered. It was very easy to select an area, view prices and pay. When we showed up at the hotel, everything went very smoothly. The only slightly negative surprise was that parking was $40 per day which was higher than the web site indicated but not entirely surprising given that we were staying in midtown New York City.
Hotwire is a new approach in the web's opaque travel market. This market was invented by priceline -- and in my opinion, priceline is still the best. But Hotwire does have some value for the consumer. Let's take a look at how they work and how you can use this site to get your best deal.
First, you need to figure out what the going retail rate is. You should try Travelocity, Expedia, and Orbitz for this. Take the best rate you can find and note the flight times you see here. Flight times may be important to you. If they are (meaning you value your time MORE than your money), you should book your flight on a retail site. This will help you to maximize your satisfaction, believe me. If you really don't care what time of day you'll be flying (meaning you're okay with trading some of your time for less money out of your pocket, go to the opaque sites).
This flight search is a little slower than other ones that I have used. Depending on your connection speed, you might have to exercise some patience while you wait for Hotwire.com to display the search results. For myself, it takes about 20 seconds to display, although it seems much longer than that. "
..." I really like the search engine on Hotwire because it not only lets you search for a particular airport, but there is also an option to search airports within 70 miles at the same time. This is a very handy feature if you live close to several airports or your destination has several airports in a cluster (south Florida, for example). Other sites make you do these searches individually which is time consuming and can get confusing.
Hotwire also lets you prefer non-stop flights. When I travel with my kids, I only consider non-stop flights. At this stage in my life, no matter the extra cost, nothing is worse than dragging small children and luggage across a terminal or missing a connection. "
MyBestReviews has access to numerous online coupons from recommnded merchants like Hotwire if you would like to have them emailed to you please click here and add your name to the list. Your email address is safe with us and will not be given out or sold to anyone else.
WHY Hotwire?
Hotwire's mission is to offer unbeatable low prices on airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals, vacation packages and cruises. Through our partnerships with leading travel companies, we can get you low prices that can't be found anywhere else.
How does it work? Our partners allow us access to their unsold inventory - empty seats on flights, empty hotel rooms, and unrented cars - at big savings. By showing the name of our travel partner after you book, Hotwire can get you travel deals that are significantly below published prices.
