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Hotwire Tips
iBidlow includes two tools that help users learn more about their potential
hotels on Hotwire: Hotwire Hotel Discovery and Is My Hotel On Hotwire. The
information in these tools is based on user reviews and data gathered
across the web. To learn how to use the iBidlow tools
click here.
How To Use Hotwire?
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1.
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Search for a city/area using your planned travel dates.
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2.
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Compare the available hotels with the ones offered on iBidlow
database. The shared items would be 'star rating' (usually 2-5 star), 'hotel zone'
for instance: Soho, New York and the list of amenities. These icons
help identify the hotel name when comparing the iBidlow database with the Hotwire one.
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3.
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Once discovering the hotel name, research about it on other sources. iBidlow
provides links to the hotel website and to a hotel comparison source, but you
may want to enquire with
Tripadvisor
or another source before making a decision.
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4.
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Complete booking your order as in any other retail site, but keep in mind
that orders are non refundable and non changeable.
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Top Ten Tips
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1.
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Best price guarantee. If within 48 hours of the booking, you find a lower
price for the same stay (equivalent room type, same hotel and travel dates),
hotwire would double the difference on the room rate. What is important
to note is that the lower rate must be compared to the Hotwire pre-tax rate.
Complete details on
Hotwire
.
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2.
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All bookings are non-refundable and non-changeable. If there is one thing
you should avoid when booking on Hotwire it is making a booking for uncertain travel dates.
One of the reasons Hotwire are able to offer low rates is that the reservation is
a fully guaranteed revenue for the supplier, meaning that as a customer: there
is no way out. Hence, better postpone the booking until a range of few weeks
and even couple of days before the booking, to reduce uncertainty and allow
flexibility in the trip planning.
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3.
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You may book a room until 6.00 PM on your arrival date. If you are flexible
you may benefit from hotel deals up until your actual arrival date. However, later
booking would not be possible.
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4.
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You can book up to 4 occupants per room. The price of your offer may change with the
number of occupants chosen, though in some cases a stay of 1 or 4 occupants would
yield the same price per room. Naturally, not all hotels offer rooms for more
than 2 occupants so when requesting 3-4 occupants the number of available hotels may decline.
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5.
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You may upgrade your room. Hotwire rooms are usually the most basic available on the chosen hotel,
but upon arrival to the hotel you could upgrade to a better room paying an
upgrade fee that equals the difference between the regular rate of the basic
room and the upgraded room. For instance: say you paid $50 for your room,
while the regular rate is $90 and the upgraded room costs $100. You should be able,
at the hotel counter, to add $10 and receive the upgraded room.
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6.
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Using your rewards program is partly possible. A Hotwire
booking would normally not be qualified to receive reward points,
but you would still be able to:
| A. | Have other expenses in the hotel
(such as upgrade) qualified as rewarded expense.
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| B. | Contact the hotel
general manager prior to your arrival and ask for a free qualified upgrade or status treats.
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7.
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You may challenge a hotel rating. Hotwire assigns hotel ratings based on a
combination of the average rating a hotel receives on
Expedia
,
Travelocity
and
Orbitz
and the customer reviews for the hotel on Hotwire. However, if you feel that
a hotel you received is overrated and can find supporting proof in the form of lower
rating on other travel sites and negative customer reviews, you should take your claim to
Hotwire rep. and may get either credit for future booking or even a full cancelation and
refund. Hotwire customer care is reached at:
1-866-468-9473
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8.
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You may book up to 6 rooms per reservation. Though, keep in mind that booking
more than one room is likely to reduce the number of available hotels. Moreover, Hotwire
would not guarantee that all the rooms would be located next to each other, so it is
important to contact the hotel directly after the booking is completed and make such request.
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9.
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Look for the all-inclusive resorts. Some resorts may include an amenity called
'all-inclusive' which includes meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner), soft drinks,
and typically, beer, wine, and liquor.
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10.
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Asking for specific type of bed may be possible, for an extra charge.
Some Hotwire hotels offer bed type selection during the reservation for an extra fee.
Another way is to contact the hotel after the booking is completed and ask for a specific bed
type, but there is no guarantee the hotel would accept your request.
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Other Hotwire Categories
Hotwire also offers products in four other categories, and we will try to shortly
recap their offer in each of the categories.
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1.
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Packages- Hotwire packages are now powered by
Expedia.com
which is also a sister
company to Hotwire (both are owned by
Expedia
Inc). The packages offering are synonymous
to the offering on
Expedia.com
and include a huge variety of worldwide destinations with
combinations of hotel, flight and rental car bookings. There is no difference in the
pricing of the packages between Hotwire and
Expedia
.
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2.
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Cars - The model is similar to the one used for hotel as the price and
the car type are revealed, but the actual rental company name and the
car model are not revealed until the booking is complete. Hotwire is
able to offer competitive deals on the car section, though the savings
are not as considerable as they are on the hotels segment.
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3.
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Flights - The flight booking is a non opaque offer and adds no booking fees, which promises
an attractive airfare.
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4.
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Cruises - A non opaque offer, similar to other travel agencies cruise offers.
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