How does hotwire

A word of advice, if you are going to use Hotwire, always include higher star levels than you normally would consider. Sometimes, for example, you can get a four-star hotel for a three-star price. You can choose your star levels in one of the pull-down menus at the top. Again, you can make these choices in one of the pull-down menus at the top of the screen. All of this sorting and filtering narrowed down my choices, which is fine in a big city like Prague.

However, I could also filter it even more. Clicking on one or more zones on the map turns them darker green. In the screenshot below, you can see how I narrowed my search to one zone: Old Town. The left side of the screen now shows only hotels with 4 or 5 stars, with free WiFi, with availability on my chosen dates, and located in Old Town Prague.

This is a great deal for the center of Prague. I could find something even cheaper if I a tried other parts of the city or b went for fewer stars.

If they all seem fine, I go ahead and book by clicking on that hotel. It will give me a choice of bed and room types, but it will not tell me what hotel it is until I pay.

It also includes the TripAdvisor rating and how many reviews it is based on. If a hotel has a rating of 5. The rest of the process works like any hotel booking engine. Make your choice and work through the series of screens asking your information and processing your payment. These reservations are non-refundable and only changeable to the extent that you can add days, but not change the dates.

For more travel tips, try one of these articles:. Here are some examples:. I used Airbnb for the most part on my solo travels several years ago in Japan and then Korea, but started having physical symptoms that brought me back to Seoul to see doctors. I decided to book a room via Hotwire. Since Hotwire reservations are non-refundable and non-changeable, each time I learned I had to stay longer, I went back to Hotwire to book a new room.

I chose the section of Seoul that was closest to the hospital I had to visit. I also got a glimpse of some areas that tourists would normally not see. For example, one of the hotels was in a neighborhood filled with lighting and hardware stores. That also meant, though, that the local restaurants were more authentic because they catered to Korean businessmen rather than tourists. And the hotel pictured above loomed over a fascinating traditional hanok neighborhood.

One time I led a workshop on Crete, and my flight home was the day after the conference ended. Again, I chose a four-star. This made it more of a gamble, and in this case, I lost.

The hotel pictured at the top of this post was far out on the west side of the city. I knew, though, that Stockholm also has a comprehensive and efficient metro system, so it was okay if the hotel was further away. This hotel, the Elite Hotel Stockholm Plaza , was particularly impressive. Except that the room was quite small, I would have rated it as a five-star: it was clean and quiet and thoughtfully appointed.

The materials and decor in the room and public spaces were top quality, as was the included breakfast. At about a kilometer from the venue, I only needed to take the metro when I had my luggage with me. On the way home from a family trip to Spain with our son and two foster kids, we decided we would stop for a night in Luxembourg City.

Looking on Hotwire just the day before meant that we had few choices. My search only listed three hotels: a three-star, a four-star and a five-star. It was a Sofitel , and the rooms were very comfortable and spacious. Have you ever used Hotwire to book a hotel? And please let me know how it works out for you! Pin the following image to share! Never miss the latest travel news, tips, reviews and amazing finds.

Sign up for free and be the first to know when I publish something new! I also occasionally write about life as an expatriate. I hope you enjoy what I post here; feel free to leave comments! Read more From the picture above, you can see a number of icons next to the flight details. If you click them, a dialog box will show you which amenities are included. We checked the same flight on Delta. Hotwire had the better price by far. But in this particular case, the savings would have been huge.

Another way to save on Hotwire is to use promo codes. Here are some of our favorite sites for Hotwire promo codes:. Hotwire is part of an umbrella of travel aggregators — Expedia , Orbitz , Hotels. Here are some of those sites and others that you may want to check to comparison shop with Hotwire:. Hotwire is great for finding amazing travel deals, but remember that they are primarily an aggregator.

That means if your travel plans require any modification, Hotwire will seldom be able to help you. Hotwire generally only deals with quoted rates for the prearranged length of the original travel plans. Finally, if you book Hotwire for anything, always either print out your confirmation from them or have it available on your phone in case there are any questions with your airline, hotel or rental car company. Home Travel.