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HELP - Hotwire.com

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DCBadger7	HELP - Hotwire.com		Lead	[-]
Posts: 10476 August 29, 2012 1:18 PM Blissfully Disinterested	Remove this ad Have any of you rented a car through Hotwire? Going to be in Chicago the last weekend in September for a wedding and just need 4 wheels to get me around. No kids or massive amounts of luggage to worry about. Hotwire is showing up the cheapest - BY FAR - and I'm on a budget. I've never used them before and have some trepidation using a 3rd party service. I'm sure the actual rental car company that provides the vehicle will hassle me to upgrade to get some of my $$$, but will it stop there? Or will I have to worry about some "sorry sir, we just don't have any vehicles available right now" bullshit, too? Thanks, I'll hang up and listen.
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KegStand81		#1	[url]	[-]
Posts: 5523 August 29, 2012 1:24 PM	Used Hotwire for a car in Chicago back in June. The actual company ended up being National @ Midway airport. Aside from having to pay during booking and not at the time you are actually renting the car/hotel room, I've never been treated any differently as a Priceline/Hotwire customer than I would be as a normal customer.
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MT24		#2	[url]	[-]
Posts: 6049 August 29, 2012 1:25 PM	All the time, renting thru them this weekend (Hertz) for my trip to WI. Very legit and always the best deal out there
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DCBadger7		#3	[url]	[-]
Posts: 10476 August 29, 2012 1:29 PM Blissfully Disinterested	KegStand81 wrote: Used Hotwire for a car in Chicago back in June. The actual company ended up being National @ Midway airport. Aside from having to pay during booking and not at the time you are actually renting the car/hotel room, I've never been treated any differently as a Priceline/Hotwire customer than I would be as a normal customer. Thanks to both Keg and MT for the responses. Quick clarification question for Keg re: bolded text above: Did you intend to pick up at Midway? Just want to be sure I'm not gonna get hosed if I fly into ORD.
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PrepKick1		#4	[url]	[-]
Posts: 4062 August 29, 2012 1:35 PM Pretending to be an important person again.	They're all legit. But, I'd first try Priceline Name Your Own Price. Put in a ridiculously low bid on the kind of car you want, then tweak it to try differnt types of cars. I've often been able to get cars for $10/day or so, especially on weekends. Worth a shot, for sure. The pretending to be important again, naked but still miserable, formerly Whimsical, Most Rev. Dr. PrepKick1, Esq., Attorney at Law, Certified Private Accountant, "clearly the e-manliest of the e-manly on this board," the Crystal Bacon Award's Susan Lucci, and The Board's Etiquette Guru. Not a resident of Cecil, Shawano, Platteville, or Bonduel.
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cutiguna		#5	[url]	[-]
Posts: 924 August 29, 2012 2:06 PM	I have used both hotwire and priceline for renting cars and hotels. Once you get to the car rental counter, you don't feel any different then a regular customer. If you decide to try name your price on priceline, I suggest going to biddingfortravel.com or betterbidding.com to get an idea of what cars are being rented for. To give you an idea of my most recent experience in Denver a few weeks ago, for the few months leading up to the wedding, prices for a rental car were $40/day or more. I tried priceline the day of and got a car for $18/day. If you are willing to wait, you can get some great deals (just rent a cancellable car from a rental company as a back-up).
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Strange Brew eh		#6	[url]	[-]
Posts: 5946 August 29, 2012 2:16 PM	Generally the super cheap hotwire deals are for guys off-airport. You should be able to filter on Airport specific and on/off airport. I love hotwire for cars.
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KegStand81		#7	[url]	[-]
Posts: 5523 August 29, 2012 3:10 PM	DCBadger7 wrote: Quick clarification question for Keg re: bolded text above: Did you intend to pick up at Midway? Just want to be sure I'm not gonna get hosed if I fly into ORD. Yes, I was flying into Chicago on Southwest Air. You can pick either airport during booking.
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AKA TAW		#8	[url]	[-]
Posts: 13269 August 29, 2012 4:13 PM Den Mother	Related question: Has anyone booked more than one room on Priceline? Will they allow you to book multiple rooms at a time (so you all get in the same hotel)? I base most of my fashion taste on what doesn't itch. Gilda Radner
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UW Spiker		#9	[url]	[-]
Posts: 171 August 29, 2012 4:32 PM	Have used it half a dozen times. Worked great everytime and always way cheaper than directly from the companies. Always reputable company, not Fox or any of the other ones that have the lowest rates usually.
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PrepKick1		#10	[url]	[-]
Posts: 4062 August 29, 2012 4:47 PM Pretending to be an important person again.	Remove this ad AKA TAW wrote: Related question: Has anyone booked more than one room on Priceline? Will they allow you to book multiple rooms at a time (so you all get in the same hotel)? Yes. Yes. The pretending to be important again, naked but still miserable, formerly Whimsical, Most Rev. Dr. PrepKick1, Esq., Attorney at Law, Certified Private Accountant, "clearly the e-manliest of the e-manly on this board," the Crystal Bacon Award's Susan Lucci, and The Board's Etiquette Guru. Not a resident of Cecil, Shawano, Platteville, or Bonduel.
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DCBadger7		#11	[url]	[-]
Posts: 10476 December 10, 2012 11:53 AM Blissfully Disinterested	cutiguna wrote: I have used both hotwire and priceline for renting cars and hotels. Once you get to the car rental counter, you don't feel any different then a regular customer. If you decide to try name your price on priceline, I suggest going to biddingfortravel.com or betterbidding.com to get an idea of what cars are being rented for. To give you an idea of my most recent experience in Denver a few weeks ago, for the few months leading up to the wedding, prices for a rental car were $40/day or more. I tried priceline the day of and got a car for $18/day. If you are willing to wait, you can get some great deals (just rent a cancellable car from a rental company as a back-up). BUMP. Making travel arrangements for the Rose Bowl and have some Q's for folks who have used the 'name your price' option on Priceline. Is there a way to tell if your bid is likely/certain to be accepted BEFORE you formally submit it?? I tried a bid at $X and got a screen with a message saying my bid had a LOW chance of being accepting. So I upped the bid by $1 and it put me through to a screen that lists a total cost for the rental at my bid price and asks for my name, DL#, etc., etc. I'm wondering if that means I basically get the car at the offered price?
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cutiguna		#12	[url]	[-]
Posts: 924 December 10, 2012 3:34 PM	Besides using biddingfortravel.com and betterbidding.com, I've never really found a way to know whether your price is going to be accepted. You won't know whether you have the bid until it shows you all the details of the rental (car company, car category, etc.).
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wettle		#13	[url]	[-]
Posts: 2175 January 15, 2013 10:13 AM	I've never went through a Hotwire, Priceline etc. when renting a car. Is it better to wait until a day or two before you leave to get the best price. I'm heading to Ft. Myers on the 1st. "NEVER TRUST ANYONE WITH MORE EARS THAN TEETH!"
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bruco		#14	[url]	[-]
Posts: 705 January 15, 2013 11:00 AM	wettle wrote: I've never went through a Hotwire, Priceline etc. when renting a car. Is it better to wait until a day or two before you leave to get the best price. I'm heading to Ft. Myers on the 1st. I wouldn't wait that long. I have found that prices at RSW can sometimes be shockingly expensive during high season. Much higher than I've paid in Miami or anywhere else for that matter. If it seems like prices are decent, take it.
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DCBadger7		#15	[url]	[-]
Posts: 10476 January 15, 2013 11:12 AM Blissfully Disinterested	FYI, for my RB trip, I tried to use the 'name your price' option on Priceline to no avail. Got a cheaper price by going with Hotwire. Booked a couple weeks out. I even checked Priceline a couple times after I made my Hotwire reservation to see if I could get the same or better price - I couldn't. As for timing, on Hotwire, you should be checking the website NOW and doing so a few times a day for multiple days to get a feel for the price points that are out there. Once you see one that's where you want to pay, jump on it. That's how I did it the two times I used Hotwire. I was very satisfied both times with the price and the overall rental experience.
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UncleEd2007		#16	[url]	[-]
Posts: 7565 January 15, 2013 11:26 AM	DCBadger7 wrote: Have any of you rented a car through Hotwire? Going to be in Chicago the last weekend in September for a wedding and just need 4 wheels to get me around. No kids or massive amounts of luggage to worry about. Hotwire is showing up the cheapest - BY FAR - and I'm on a budget. I've never used them before and have some trepidation using a 3rd party service. I'm sure the actual rental car company that provides the vehicle will hassle me to upgrade to get some of my $$$, but will it stop there? Or will I have to worry about some "sorry sir, we just don't have any vehicles available right now" bullshit, too? Thanks, I'll hang up and listen. Oh my, is this anything like the Rose Bowl, take pictures so you remember it.
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noshbygosh		#17	[url]	[-]
Posts: 2370 January 15, 2013 12:58 PM	MT24 wrote: All the time, renting thru them this weekend (Hertz) for my trip to WI. Very legit and always the best deal out there +1. ****************** "Goldie: The only mascot who's been spayed." Monsignor, November 15, 2007
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cutiguna		#18	[url]	[-]
Posts: 924 January 15, 2013 1:50 PM	I've never went through a Hotwire, Priceline etc. when renting a car. Is it better to wait until a day or two before you leave to get the best price. I'm heading to Ft. Myers on the 1st. It really depends on the location. When I rented in Denver this summer, I saved about 50% of the price by waiting until the last day and using priceline name our price (prices were incredibly expensive this summer, so instead of paying $50/day I paid $18). As I mentioned earlier in the thread, sites like betterbidding.com and biddingfortravel.com can give you a good idea of what a good price is for your location. In my experiences, it's best to buy early or buy late. It's also a good idea to find the best possible deal you can from a rental car website (use retailmenot.com or another site that lists coupons and discount codes) and reserve a car at the best price that you can. That way, if the hotwire/priceline prices do go up you have a back-up. However, you can always cancel it when you find a better price. This allows you to wait for a better price if you think you can probably get one a day or two ahead of time.
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AKA TAW		#19	[url]	[-]
Posts: 13269 January 15, 2013 4:54 PM Den Mother	Remove this ad If you're flying, I've had really good luck taking the flight + air option, usually significantly less than the Hotwire car alone price. I base most of my fashion taste on what doesn't itch. Gilda Radner
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