Hotwire.com (and others like it), when you needed to book airline tickets, hotel rooms, and/or rent cars, you were stuck with the task of separately doing each one and that was a giant pain. Right? On top of that, it took tons of time, provided lots of aggravation and stress. And, worst of all, you never had any idea if you were getting anywhere near the best prices available.
But fast forward to today where things are a lot better thanks to the wide range of reliable resources for booking everything from airline tickets to hotel rooms, and even rental cars while also getting the very best prices. Now, all you need to do is pull up an all-inclusive travel website, like Hotwire.com, and get literally everything you need for your trip with just a couple of mouse clicks. Gone are the days of waiting on hold endlessly just to make a reservation. And, gone is the tedious hopping from one website to another to look for good deals when Hotwire.com travel site does it all for you.
So, let’s go back to 2000 when Hotwire was first launched by Gregg Brockway, Eric Grosse, Karl Peterson, and Spencer Rascoff. Their initial funding was provided by their founding partner, Texas Pacific Group (TPG). It’s a leading private equity firm that Peterson once worked for and TPG initially invested $75 million in Hotwire. One interesting note is that before the company’s formal launch, Hotwire bore the codename “Purple Demon”.
At first, Hotwire.com sold airline tickets from six of the major airlines (that also invested in the Hotwire launch). They were:
(1.) American Airlines,
(2.) America West (which is now American),
(3.) Continental (which is now United),
(4.) Northwest (which is now Delta),
(5.) United Airlines,
(6.) US Airways (which is now American).
Airfare, hotel, and rental packages started being offered in 2003 and, in June 2007, Hotwire.com removed all its airfare booking fees. By 2003, Hotwire.com had been bought out by IAC/InterActiveCorp for $663 million. And, in 2004, an estimate by a major Internet research firm showed IAC having the ability to reach 1.5 million more unique visitors to both the Hotwire and Expedia websites monthly via cross-advertising between the major two travel giants.
Hotwire.com is currently being managed by Neha Parikh, (president) and one General Manager plus six VPs. Although Hotwire started with only four employees, it rapidly grew to 80 employees in just months and currently has more than 300 employees after 21-years in business. And, as of 2018, Hotwire had US$ 35 million in revenue. By 2019, the website had 9.5 million+ unique visitors and 91 million page views monthly. Hotwire.com main audience (60 percent of them anyway) is between the ages of 25 and 54-years old, and 52 percent of the online visitors are men.
What is Hotwire.com?
It’s a travel website offering everything from airline tickets to rental cars, hotel rooms, and even complete vacation packages at great prices. The company’s headquarters are in San Francisco, CA, and it’s an integral part of the Expedia Group, which you’ve undoubtedly heard of since it also operates several other travel websites like Egencia, Expedia, ClassicVacations, Travelocity, Hotels, and Orbitz. And, as a major travel website, Hotwire has received several major industry awards in its field.
The Hotwire.com Price Guarantee is applied to the booking of both hotels and hotels/flights booked together when they’re made using the Hotwire.com website (or the mobile app) or via phone call to the Hotwire call center (and are fully pre-paid at the time of booking).
How does Hotwire.com work?
When airline seats, hotel rooms, and rental cars are unsold, they’re filled via companies like Hotwire. Hotwire doesn’t identify any participating companies until after a purchaser has paid in full, thereby not directly competing with any of its travel partners’ regular retail sales. This sales model is called “opaque”, and it allows those Hotwire partners to effectively “clear out” and sell their inventory. That inventory could otherwise end up being unsold. Hotwire will reveal upfront the pricing and travel dates of all its products, never selling via auction or bidding. And, according to Hotwire.com, the company deals exclusively with brand-name travel companies to be able to offer phenomenal rates on airline tickets, hotels, rental cars, and vacation packages. In fact, if within 24 hours of your booking at Hotwire.com, if you end up finding a lower rate on the identical booking, Hotwire.com pays you the difference between the two.
Do they have an APP?
Yes, they do, and it’s available in the App Store and on Google Play, making it super-fast and easy to access your travel itinerary even while you’re on the go. And you can even check out fast by using Apple Pay, Google Smart Lock, or Touch ID on the mobile app plus you can get some exclusive mobile-only rates on rental cars and hotel rooms.
Prices & Sign-Up
Hotwire.com is free and signing up will only take a few minutes. Here are the two ways for creating your own Hotwire.com account:
- Click “sign-in” at the top of any one of the pages on the site and complete the short registration form.
- You’ll be given the “create an account” option during checkout and can also save your travel info for your future bookings. All you need to do is enter and confirm your password.
Pros & Cons
Like all the major travel sites that we’ve reviewed, Hotwire.com has several pros and cons:
Pros:
1. Many online hotel sites (like Hotwire.com) are continually adjusting their individual pricing models to keep up with fluctuations in room demand. Unfortunately, this is much like trying to hit a moving target but does result in lower prices.
2. We found that booking hotels and flights together on Hotwire generally saves you money. (Simply scroll down to “Book a flight and hotel together” for all the pertinent details.)
Cons:
1. Hotwire prices can vary significantly (night-to-night for the same property).
2. Hotwire does offer some great values; however, you can’t see the name of the hotel until you pay. (Same as Priceline)
3. Hot Rates and other bookings cannot be changed, canceled, exchanged, transferred, or refunded even if you pay a fee.
4. Hotwire.com is not BBB Accredited.
Customer Service
If you have questions, you can contact Hotwire at 1 (866) 381-3981 by phone or by email at hotelhelp@hotwire.com. You can also visit the FAQ & Help center at https://helpcenter.hotwire.com/page?p=topQuestions or text “help” to 45190 for quick support. You can also try Messaging with a Live Agent on the website. (Only available for Hot Rate Hotels & Cars). For flights, hotels, or packages, just call 1-866-394-2015.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to travel packages, Hotwire.com people appear to be passionate about getting to share their insider knowledge of exotic destinations, locating excellent deals, and simply being able to discover new methods of saving money, time, and energy when they plan and book their next great getaway.
Hotwire.com was one of the very first online travel websites that offered deep discounts via Hot Rate deals that were specially negotiated. It’s also why they developed the top smartphone and tablet travel app as well as why they’re always hunting for and offering a wide range of exclusive deals designed just for savvy travelers like you. So, whether you’re searching for a rental car for that upcoming road trip, last-minute hotel reservations near your family or friends, or just the very best price on anything in-between, our verdict is that Hotwire has you covered.
