My first Hotwire hotel transaction a success!

[JamesMom]

After a week of deliberating, I finally jumped in and got a reservation for a trip to Sea World San Antonio for next month. This will be a two-night layover on our way to my Aunt's house in Corpus and we are watching our budget fairly tightly.
I was eyeing a few hotels but didn't want to pay the $300+ rates so I checked out Hotwire to see what the buzz was all about. I was timid because I didn't want to get stuck with a cheapo hotel at an okay price. But I did my research and by examining maps, travels sites and comparing amentities, stars and reviews, I pulled the trigger and got the hotel I was hoping for! Woot!
So instead of paying almost $350 I paid $198! The savings will pay for our Sea World tickets.
Now to talk myself into driving our 8 year old car down instead of renting a van (like last year) to save wear and tear on a car we need to last several more years...

 

[Catira]

After a week of deliberating, I finally jumped in and got a reservation for a trip to Sea World San Antonio for next month. This will be a two-night layover on our way to my Aunt's house in Corpus and we are watching our budget fairly tightly.
I was eyeing a few hotels but didn't want to pay the $300+ rates so I checked out Hotwire to see what the buzz was all about. I was timid because I didn't want to get stuck with a cheapo hotel at an okay price. But I did my research and by examining maps, travels sites and comparing amentities, stars and reviews, I pulled the trigger and got the hotel I was hoping for! Woot!
So instead of paying almost $350 I paid $198! The savings will pay for our Sea World tickets.
Now to talk myself into driving our 8 year old car down instead of renting a van (like last year) to save wear and tear on a car we need to last several more years...

What hotel did you get? We are planning to do sea world in July.. that's the only week my friend could get for vacation. We are hoping to stay near the riverwalk for easy access to going out at night

 

[Huff]

I use Hotwire quite often. I have about an 80% success rate at determining what hotel I will get before buying. The other 20% of the time I've gotten hotels that were perfectly acceptable. I only look at 3 or 4 star hotels.

Using BetterBidding or BiddingForTravel websites you can usually narrow down what hotel you'll be getting. You can also compare using Hotwires vacation packages which shows the hotels and amenities.

When traveling just with 2 people I use Priceline instead as you can easily save quite a bit more than Hotwire. Priceline only guarantees a room for 2 people so its possible a king bed instead of 2 queens.

 

[SeattleRedBear]

When traveling just with 2 people I use Priceline instead as you can easily save quite a bit more than Hotwire. Priceline only guarantees a room for 2 people so its possible a king bed instead of 2 queens.

Agreed. My strategy is to see what Hotwire has to offer and then start bidding on Priceline about 30% lower. The ratings don't match up exactly (a Hotwire 5-star is a Priceline 4-star) but usually close enough.

One time we managed to get a room at the Anaheim Extended Stay American for $25/night (and because we know ESA's typically have smaller beds, we brought an Aerobed with us). We paid more for our car rental out of Long Beach then we did for our hotel room 3 blocks from Disneyland! I can't say enough good stuff about Priceline & Hotwire...as long as you understand and are willing to accept the rules, you can get some excellent deals on hotel rooms.

 

[ORDisneyfans]

I love Hotwire and Priceline! I use them both quite regularly! I would also recommend them for your car rental! they only use the top 3 companies (avis, herz, enterprise). I always save at least 30% off of the best internet rate. Always check out betterbidding .com for hotel lists and recent wins. Good luck and have a great vacation!

 

[rvchat]

I love Hotwire and Priceline! I use them both quite regularly! I would also recommend them for your car rental! they only use the top 3 companies (avis, herz, enterprise). I always save at least 30% off of the best internet rate. Always check out betterbidding .com for hotel lists and recent wins. Good luck and have a great vacation!

You can bid on Priceline and ask for a SPECIFIC hotel ? I thought they gave you a 3 star or 4 star hotel only. ??

How does it work?

 

[GinnyEmma]

We love hotwire. Glad your transaction went well!

 

[Huff]

You can bid on Priceline and ask for a SPECIFIC hotel ? I thought they gave you a 3 star or 4 star hotel only. ??

How does it work?

You are correct that Priceline shows the star level. However, if you look at Betterbidding or BiddingforTravel websites they show a list of hotels that people have gotten in recent bids for a given area and the amount they paid. They also show amenities of hotels to compare with whats listed on Hotwire. You can get a pretty good idea of what hotel you'll end up with.

 

[JamesMom]

I love Hotwire and Priceline! I use them both quite regularly! I would also recommend them for your car rental! they only use the top 3 companies (avis, herz, enterprise). I always save at least 30% off of the best internet rate. Always check out betterbidding .com for hotel lists and recent wins. Good luck and have a great vacation!

Unfortunately the car rental rates on both hotwire & priceline were exactly the same as I reserved on the enterprise website directly.

 

[SeattleRedBear]

Unfortunately the car rental rates on both hotwire & priceline were exactly the same as I reserved on the enterprise website directly.

I still get good rates from time to time, but over the last year or so, Priceline isn't consistently the bargain that it used to be.

 

[bigfish2215]

We use Hotwire all the time. Last year my boss gave my Chicago Bears tickets. So we made a weekend out it. We stayed at the Hilton right on Madison within walking distance to the game. We paid $72.00 for the night. The Hotel was amazing! The room we stayed in was facing the lake and had 2 bathrooms, the going rate for our room was close to $350!!!
And the best thing was the WHOLE Chicago Team was there!! We met a lot of the team!!
LOVE HOTWIRE!

 

[caledonia]

I have used Hotwire in the past and used it when I had not enough points left for the full stay at Boardwalk.Booked Marriott World Center and paid $85 plus tax. a bargain.
Once you have had a good deal you keep going back.

Ian