Los Angeles Travel Forum

Hi!
Has anyone of you used the hotwire web page to reserve a hotel? is it safe to use it for both airfares and hotels? how has your experience been ? or
does anyone knows a web page where i colud reserve a hotel with good deals in San Francisco?

I don't know about that web page specifically, but if you make flight reservations using a web travel site and anything goes wrong (cancelled flight, problem with the reservation, etc,) you're on your own. If you make reservations directly with the airline they are far more likely to be able to help you. The same thing can happen with hotels, but it usually isn't as disastrous. I alway try to go directly to the web site of the organization I'm dealing with, just in case. It has paid off more than once.

I usually find a price I like on the travel sites, then I go directly to the company's page to reserve. It rarely costs much, and I have peace of mind.

I have used hotwire to book both hotels and flights and have never had a problem. However, like the other reply mentioned, if you need to change your reservations in any way (after purchasing) it might prove difficult.

Good luck!

Hotwire, like Priceline is completely prepaid. Once you book and pay, you're in for it and it's virtually impossible to get a refund. You can change airfares through the individual airlines, but not without the usual fees associated with that (change fees + the difference in ticket costs). In my experience, for just airfares, Hotwire doesn't present a much better deal than going through the airlines directly.
I've used Hotwire quite a bit for hotels, but stopped about a year ago because of a very bad experience. To hold the hotel, they use their own credit cards, most of which have fairly low spending limits, to prevent theft. In that case, their card had maxed out and the hotel could not check me in. I ended up having to use my own card (so I was charged again) and had to spend 90 minutes on the phone with Hotwire to get them to refund the money (at first, they wanted me to send them paper copies of receipts). I also learned how little hotels actually receive from Hotwire when you book through them and became discouraged by it.
But Hotwire provides some of the best deals you'll find online. Often when I used them I got put in Extended Stay Hotels, almost all of which are pretty nice, for, at most, an 75% discount, but often closer to 50%.
The downside to Hotwire is that they do not tell you which hotel you're getting exactly until you finish paying. I've only had a couple of experiences with getting a bad hotel, and it generally returned nice places. You can cheat to an extent by using the services listed for the hotel, the area specified and the star rating, then using a site like betterbidding.com or just your own research through maps and online hotel listings. It's a bit of work, but it's worth it when you save that much money.

I've used Hotwire dozens of times and have never been disappointed. In fact, I got a great 4-star hotel near LAX for at least 50% off of the regular price.

But when you book, be very attentive to the map where your prospective hotels are.

Hotels sell blocks of rooms off to Priceline and Hotwire during periods of time when they think they will be low on customers. I know one Hilton hotel brand that sold blocks of rooms for as little as $40 for a full service suite with full hot breakfast and cocktails in the PM.

If you call the hotel direct and offer to pay them what they are getting from one of the discounters you might be able to book directly with the hotel. That way you get points and it makes it easier to cancel without a fee if you have to. Also, if they overbook it is more likely you will have a room there than the discounter buyer.

I always shop the internet and call the hotel direct, if I have time, to see what the best price they can offer.

I think if you're dealing with one of the major players, it is indeed safe.

You might check ratestogo.com or agoda.com for comparison shopping - also, use VT's own pricing service!