rental car-hotwire

[pgjam]

I'm back w/another question. I got some very good rate quotes from a web site called hotwire. Unfortunately it's like priceline in that you don't know the rental car company until you commit to an agreement. I'm afraid I'll end up with an obscure car rental company off airport site. Has anyone ever used Hotwire?
Peggy in PA

[Lewisc]

You may get an offsite company (Alamo, Hertz) but it won't be obscure. Hotwire lists the rental companies they use on their website. If you have a preference for onsite (like I do) then just look for your best discount and book with the agency of your choice.

[TravelSheryl]

Hotwire does not list their rental car partners on their website, but they currently only use Hertz and Budget. I would recommend that you get a price quote from Hotwire and then bid a few dollars less on Priceline. That works sometimes and not other times, but you certainly have nothing to lose and a lot to gain. Priceline uses Hertz, Alamo, Budget, Avis and National.

[lawgs]

at one time hotwire did list their rental car partners...they had about 5 of them and National was included..

i just tried to find who their partners are ...and they do no seem to offer that info any more...the most they do now is tell you the eleven categories that they rent in...

they must have changed their web page as far as "telling who their partners" are....

of course, i speak of early hotwire website and maybe then they wanted to put people's minds at ease that they were not using "fly by the seat" car rental companies

[TravelSheryl]

Hotwire has never been affiliated with National.

See http://www.computerworld.com/cwi/story/0,1199,NAV47_STO57698,00.html

It is Priceline that lists the five largest rental car companies.

[lawgs]

so it is a "pig in a poke" when u rent with hotwire...


or two...=))

[Lewisc]

lawgs--I also remember Hotwire listing the rental companies (more than just 2). It may have been during the beta version of the site. I don't remember if they stated they were using all the agencies there listed or said the agencies would come from the list shown.

[Luv2Roam]

I booked next week's car rental (last February) with Hotwire.
We ended up with an SUV from Budget. (Ontario, CA airport)
The price we got for the SUV was significantly lower than any other rental car company. The cost is almost the same as what we were going to pay for a mid size car, w/a AAA discount.
The only downside is you pay up front and even if you don't use the rental.

[TrudyZ]

We booked with Hotwire in Feb. for a trip in May. We got a full size car signifigantly cheaper than anywhere else with any codes or coupons (remember, many of the sites just quote you the base rate without taxes--which add quite a lot to the bottom line).

We flew into Tampa, got the car from Hertz, which was right in the terminal. Very easy, convienent and cheap. I would use them again.

Trudy