Hotwire...Has anyone ever used it?

[JDY]

What do you think about it? Good or bad reviews...thanks

 

[Grog]

Never used it, but I'm bumping because I would also like to hear from anyone who has.

 

[smilingmouse]

I've used them several times to purchase plane tickets for myself as well as my parents between DC and MN. You don't get yoiur flight times or airline info until you purchase the tickets, which can be a prob for some people. I've never had any problems, and will use them again soon.

SmilingMouse

 

[SoonerKate]

I've used Hotwire quite a few times for ski trips and spring break, and I've always been really happy with their service. I've almost always ended up on Delta or Northwest when I buy flights through them. One year for spring break my boyfriend and I got round trip tickets to Orlando for $175 each!

 

[luvdzny]

We used it for a trip to Texas in June and I was very happy with everything. We were able to fly directly into a TINY airport in the city my dad lives in. It was cheaper to do that then it would have been to fly to DFW which is 2 1/2 hours away. We had to take 3 different planes both ways, but we saved over 100.00 per ticket, so for us it was worth it. We flew American. I would suggest that if you can, add 1 day onto either side of your trip for travel time. We arrived on the first day at 5:00 p.m. and had to be at the airport on the last day by 7:00 a.m. I had planned 2 extra days for travel so it worked fine for us. If you are just taking a short trip it might not be the best idea because you can not chose your flight times.

 

[JDY]

Thanks for the responses.

I decided to try it and this is what I got.

A morning non-stop flight from Knoxville, TN to New York's LaGuardia
An evening non-stop return flight

And, hotel accommodations at the Crown Plaza Times Square.

The flight times are perfect
The hotel great

The price -- I saved almost $400.00 dollars using Hotwire.

Thanks Again!

 

[my3kids]

Be careful.....I've found Hotwire often to be more expensive than searching websites for the vendor's own best price. Priceline, it seems, often will offer some real bargains. If you can figure out which hotel Hotwire is offering, look at that hotel's website. Figure in the service fees to see if it is really a great deal.

I know some people have gotten great deals with HW, but you can almost always beat the price by bidding with PL, and sometimes by booking directly. Last thing I checked on HW was cars....they were a lot higher than the car vendors themselves, and that wasn't even taking into account the service fees.

 

[sap1227]

We just got back from Atlanta and used Hotwire for our hotel. I think we got a great deal. We stayed at the Wyndham in Downtown Atlanta for $48 a night. I reseached online (Hotels.com, the hotels website) and the cheapest I could find for the same hotel was $129 a night.

I have also used Priceline and was very happy, you just have to be flexible.

Christy

 

[KatelynnsAuntie]

I've used Hotwire 3 times to rent a car...and was always pleased. I ended up paying only about $20 a day each time! I've never tried them for plane tickets or hotels yet though.