Heavens

I have chosen my area and it doesn't tell me which hotel. At what point do I get to know which hotel I am saying I want for the price that they give? Thanks.

Judy24

You don't find out until AFTER you've paid. That's the whole point of Hotwire. It's similar to Priceline in that respect. The main difference is that with Priceline you are entering the price you wish to pay (bidding) and with Hotwire, they set the price for you. Therefore, neither one is a good option if the choice of hotel is very important to you. Hope I explained that right.

Betsy

Go to betterbidding.com for comprehensive information about Hotwire and Priceline. Go to biddingfortravel.com for a tutorial about bidding on Priceline. Don't even think about using either Hotwire or PL until you thoroughly understand how they work. Once you do your homework, you're on your way.

Heavens

I think I won't bother. Could get a dump and pay $65. I can pick my own dump for $65. So, will hold out for a better deal. Or pay a little more money...LOL.

Judy24

Here's a tip if you ever want to seriously consider using Hotwire. In addition to doing your homework on betterbidding.com as was correctly suggested, you can go to the section where you book air & hotel together. When you pull up choices, it doesn't tell you your airline or flight time, but it does give you the name of the hotel, together with the star category & amenities. You can then use that information to get a better idea of what the hotel might be when just booking the hotel alone.

But to play it safe, I'd go to the the various individual hotel websites, since you can sometimes get a similar, or even better deal and then there are no unpleasant surprises as to where you'll be staying.

sylvia3

AND, you can cancel hotel res. made directly, which you cannot with bidding.

rkkwan

At popular destinations with lots of reports on betterbidding.com, you can often figure out which hotel by matching the amenities. I've used that method in NYC and Dallas, and both times the hotel is the one I expected.

But with less popular cities, it's often a guessing game.

Hotels that are labelled as "Customer Favorite" on Hotwire are usually more than okay.

antlori

I use Hotwire when I want to "know" what hotel I'm getting and Priceline when I don't care which hotel I get as long as it's cheap. I only take 4-star hotels to make sure I don't get a dump, and so far this has worked very well. I've always been able to predict which hotel I'll get with Hotwire--never had a surprise. In NYC I've gotten the Millenium Broadway for $100 several times, in Phoenix I got the Westin Kierland for $80 and the Hilton Phoenix Airport for $30, and in San Francisco the Westin St. Francis for $65 and the downtown Hilton for $70. The Westin Kierland was on Hotwire but the rest were Priceline deals. These are all popular cities and you can get a good idea of properties and pricing by checking the Betterbidding.com website to see what others are getting in your timeframe. It takes a little research but I've never been disappointed yet.

jlm_mi

Heavens - If, for example, hotwire is offering a 4* hotel for $65 and you feel you can get a 4* hotel on your own for $65, then hotwire is not a good option. It is not always the best price - I've seen it be more for a certain hotel (when I was quite sure what the hotel was) than I could have gotten elsewhere. But if you are otherwise paying $65 for a 2* and could use hotwire to upgrade to a 4* for the same price, that's when it can become useful. Me, I'm a priceline fan though. I've never seen hotwire offer prices lower than what I've gotten on priceline.

wantsomesun

You also might try www.hotels.com for comparison shopping to see what hotels have in the way of amenities, rates and of course location and proximity to what you want to do and see.

Hope this helps.

JJ5

Hotwire has worked for me on about 5 occasions in all different parts of the USA.

But I use it as a secondary or third site after Priceline as one of the primary ones. Priceline has always gotten me a better price when it worked. But if you wait too long or are too narrow- it might not fit your schedule or requirements.

One time I got into the exact hotel I desired on a Hotwire "go" after I had already called that exact hotel directly and they had stated that they were totally booked. It wasn't at a terrific deal $$$, but these kinds of things do happen, and it was for LESS than the normal rack rate.