I saved 70% off a hotel in Chicago! Use this site!
Written: Aug 24 '01 (Updated Aug 25 '01)
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The Bottom Line
If you enjoy traveling, but need to stick to a budget, you need to use Hotwire.com. Your travel dollar will go further!
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I know, my title sounds like a testimonial you would read in some lame advertisement (and you probably wouldn't believe!), but it's true. Read on......
I previously wrote about hotwire.com in the web services section (before they had a category for it). That review has been archived, and now there's a section, so I thought I'd revisit the subject.
I learned about hotwire.com from a co-worker. Hotwire.com started out as the airline industry's answer to priceline.com. There are certain airlines, hotel chains, and rental companies that subscribe, but not all.
Hotwire.com offers reservations for flights, hotels, and rental cars. I've booked both flights, and now a hotel room using this site, and it will save you money!
Hotwire works similarly to priceline, in that you tell them where you want to go and they will book without giving you the details. However, I have been much more successful with Hotwire than I ever was with priceline.
For flights you input the dates and your departure and arrival destinations. You can choose number of connections and whether or not you will consider a "red-eye" flight. The site comes back and gives you a price. You can't learn your itinerary, but they will tell you how much (unlike priceline). I recently looked for a flight from Iowa to New York and got a price of $167 round trip! I didn't buy, but wouldn't that have been a fun trip!
So, recently I booked a hotel for one night, outside of Chicago. We were planning to drive across country and wanted to stop in this area for a night of rest. I went to Hotwire.com and entered my dates. It then asked me to choose what area of Chicago and I did. It returned prices as low as $32 a night.
It does tell you a rating for the hotel (1-5 stars), but that's all you learn until you buy. We chose a hotel for $53 which was listed as a 4-star hotel. We decided to buy and found out we were booked at the Hyatt. The base price for the Hyatt (at there web site and in the AAA Tourbook is $179 a night for a couple). That's a savings of 70% by using Hotwire.
After you look up a location, you have 1 hour to decide whether or not to buy. After that there is a 72 hour "lock-out" where you can't do the same search. Other than that minor detail, I can't complain. I have booked a few flights through them and now my first hotel. I know I'll be a repeat customer!
I think this is a wonderful website, and considering my previously bad luck with priceline, I will return to hotwire.com for my next tickets. If you would like to read about my priceline nightmare, I also wrote about them.
Thank you for reading. and good luck in your travels. Go check it out and save some money!
In case you are curious, the following are their travel partners:
Airlines: Aloha, American, America West, Continental, Hawaiian, Northwest, TWA, United, USAirways.
Hotels: Amerisuites, Aston Hawaii, Destination Hotels and Resorts, Doubletree, Fairmont, Hilton, Historic Hotels of America, Homestead, Joie de Vivre, Kimpton Group, La Quinta, Le Meridien, Loews, Millenium Hotels and Resorts, Omni Hotels, Outrigger, Prince Resorts, Red Lion, Summerfield, Wellesley, and Wyndham.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
scottcolson
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Member: Scott Colson, MD
Location: OH to NV, to IA, finally in MN!
Reviews written: 106
Trusted by: 91 members
About Me:
Family Physician practicing in the Twin Cities, MN
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