# Hotwire vs Priceline



## MOXJO7282 (Apr 7, 2011)

We have a special trip coming up to Maui in Feb so we're looking for car rentals at this point.  We're looking for luxury level and I've priced AAA, AA, Priceline and Hertz with Marriott 25% discount cert so far. They were in the $950 range for the 12 days.

With Hotwire I found it at $780.

Because I think pricing and availability will only get worse I'm looking to secure now.

My question is does anyone think based on experience with Priceline that the auction process would produce a cheaper price point than Hotwire?


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Apr 7, 2011)

MOXJO7282 said:


> We have a special trip coming up to Maui in Feb so we're looking for car rentals at this point.  We're looking for luxury level and I've priced AAA, AA, Priceline and Hertz with Marriott 25% discount cert so far. They were in the $950 range for the 12 days.
> 
> With Hotwire I found it at $780.
> 
> ...



Maybe and maybe not. I've seen it happen both ways on many occasions. But you have nothing to lose by trying.

First go to HW and get their quote and leave it open in your browser. Open a new browser window and go to Priceline and enter your PL bid, which presumably will be lower than the HW bid whatever amount you decide. If the PL bid wins, fine.  If not take the HW bid.

******

Note that HW may not offer you the same price when you visit again, as the site is dynamic.  There have been occasions where I have been able to get back my original HW offer by clearing cookies then returning to the HW site via my browser history instead of by navigating to the site through the address bar.


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## ttt (Apr 7, 2011)

You have time on your side, so start very low on priceline and raise your bid $1.00 each day till you hit their bottom price.


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## dougp26364 (Apr 7, 2011)

MOXJO7282 said:


> We have a special trip coming up to Maui in Feb so we're looking for car rentals at this point.  We're looking for luxury level and I've priced AAA, AA, Priceline and Hertz with Marriott 25% discount cert so far. They were in the $950 range for the 12 days.
> 
> With Hotwire I found it at $780.
> 
> ...



It has for me. First I check Hotwire's price, then I bid under that price on Priceline. If I get the Priceline quote, which happens more often than not, I go no further with Hotwire. If Priceline doesn't come through, I go ahead and book with Hotwire.


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## AwayWeGo (Apr 7, 2011)

*I Resemble That Remark.*




dougp26364 said:


> First I check Hotwire's price, then I bid under that price on Priceline. If I get the Priceline quote, which happens more often than not, I go no further with Hotwire. If Priceline doesn't come through, I go ahead and book with Hotwire.


Same here. 

Except that in our experience the star levels are not equivalent between HotWire & PriceLine, with HotWire ratings just a bit higher than PriceLine ratings for equivalent accommodations.   

We have found that, generally speaking, 3 HotWire stars are roughly equivalent to 2½ PriceLine stars, & we bid accordingly. 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## dougp26364 (Apr 7, 2011)

AwayWeGo said:


> Same here.
> 
> Except that in our experience the star levels are not equivalent between HotWire & PriceLine, with HotWire ratings just a bit higher than PriceLine ratings for equivalent accommodations.
> 
> ...



Yea, but we're talking about cars here. A midsize is pretty much a midsize whichever company you use. 

With hotels I almost always use Hotwire. There are enough sites that help you distinguish, within reason, what hotel you're seeing offered. At the very least you can narrow it down. Betterbidding.com and Biddingfortravel.com use to be pretty good resources for deciphering hotels. Since we rarely use either Hotwire or Priceline for hotel reservations (heck, we very rarely use hotels anyway) I'm not certain that either site is still up and running.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Apr 7, 2011)

dougp26364 said:


> Yea, but we're talking about cars here. A midsize is pretty much a midsize whichever company you use.



Agreed - with PL and HW the car sizes match up.


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## MOXJO7282 (Apr 11, 2011)

*Anyone do the Hotwire special?*

I noticed in Hotwire a category called "special". Anyone ever do this? It says I'm guaranteed a mid-size or larger but its priced like a compact. I guess this gives the rental company some flexibility when assigneing cars.

I really wanted to go premium or better but the "gamble" to pay low and get high is enticing.

Any thoughts on this?


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## dougp26364 (Apr 11, 2011)

MOXJO7282 said:


> I noticed in Hotwire a category called "special". Anyone ever do this? It says I'm guaranteed a mid-size or larger but its priced like a compact. I guess this gives the rental company some flexibility when assigneing cars.
> 
> I really wanted to go premium or better but the "gamble" to pay low and get high is enticing.
> 
> Any thoughts on this?



We've used a similar option with Thrifty in the past. We usually end up with something less than desirable. Nothing close to luxury but, big and harder on the MPG. Think mini-van or PT Cruiser.


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## cp73 (Apr 12, 2011)

MOXJO7282 said:


> Because I think pricing and availability will only get worse I'm looking to secure now.



IMO this is a bad assumption. I dont think you need to jump on this now. I always get my car rentals from priceline (bidding). The closer you wait til the actual day the better the deal you can get. I know some people like to get this all planned in advance, however, I haven't heard, or been a issue of getting a rental car in Maui. 

If you still insist on doing now try Priceline. I have saved as much as 40% off the best price I could get otherwise. Personally I would wait until your within about 6o days. I just was reading an article on booking hotels and flights and they recommended doing it about 90 days out for the best prices unless your going in the summer or other busy time holiday time. The article said at about 90 days the operator knows how much extra inventory will be available and reduces their price at that time. 

Maybe others can chime in on this.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Apr 12, 2011)

cp73 said:


> IMO this is a bad assumption. I dont think you need to jump on this now. I always get my car rentals from priceline (bidding). The closer you wait til the actual day the better the deal you can get. I know some people like to get this all planned in advance, however, I haven't heard, or been a issue of getting a rental car in Maui.
> 
> If you still insist on doing now try Priceline. I have saved as much as 40% off the best price I could get otherwise. Personally I would wait until your within about 6o days. I just was reading an article on booking hotels and flights and they recommended doing it about 90 days out for the best prices unless your going in the summer or other busy time holiday time. The article said at about 90 days the operator knows how much extra inventory will be available and reduces their price at that time.
> 
> Maybe others can chime in on this.



I've been using PL and HW regularly for about as long as those sites have been around.  Sometimes up to 20 times per year, for both cars and hotels.

As I posted upthread, I haven't detected any rhyme or reason to identify a "magic" time when you will get the best deals.  I declined on deals at six months out, only to come back at three months and see pricing via PL and HW at rates higher than what the vendor are offering at their own sites.  I've seen dirt cheap last minute inventory, such as Doubletree Hotels for $30/night, but I've been the very same hotel at the last minute going for $75 a couple of months later (and not sold out that night, either).

As far as I can tell it's all dynamic.  The only overall trend I've noted is that the amount of savings available through PL and HW is significantly less than it was ten years ago, and that is particularly true for car rentals.  I believe that the vendors have gotten much better at managing inventory.


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## rickandcindy23 (Apr 12, 2011)

Right now the best deals for Maui are from this weekend through mid-June.  I am watching for late August, so that is a clue to me that my best deal will come along in about two months from now, or maybe a little later.  

Nonetheless, I do already have something reserved through Hawaii-Drive-O for $446 for two weeks, all in.  Mine is not a luxury car.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Apr 12, 2011)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Right now the best deals for Maui are from this weekend through mid-June.  I am watching for late August, so that is a clue to me that my best deal will come along in about two months from now, or maybe a little later.
> 
> Nonetheless, I do already have something reserved through Hawaii-Drive-O for $446 for two weeks, all in.  Mine is not a luxury car.



Cindy - the reason why the good deals end in mid-June is because that is when school gets out on the west Coast.  It's extremely unlikely that those prices after mid-June are going to go down, because you're staring right into peak season.  If you wait to see if there's surplus inventory available, you could easily find yourself making a reservation in the middle of a shortage, with rates skyrocketing.  Summery in Hawai'i is one of the riskiest settings around to be trying to play the waiting game.

****

Summer in Hawai'i is precisely one of those times when I have been burned  waiting forprices to go down.  Two years ago in about March I decided to wait after getting a car rental quote from HW for about $650 for two weeks on Kauai.  When I checked back later, in May, HW offer was over $1000 for the same vehicle.  I ended up renting directly from a vendor for $850.


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## rickandcindy23 (Apr 12, 2011)

I think the prices will go down by 8/27, when we arrive on Maui, because I keep watching the airfares for Alaska Airlines for our dates, and the prices are still on the cheap side for even the First Class from Denver.  

But I will accept the $446 we have for our compact car through Hawaii-Drive-O, if they don't go down.  I am watching daily.  I am a bargain hunter extraordinaire.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Apr 12, 2011)

deleted - second thoughts


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## brianfox (May 3, 2011)

rickandcindy23 said:


> I think the prices will go down by 8/27, when we arrive on Maui, because I keep watching the airfares for Alaska Airlines for our dates, and the prices are still on the cheap side for even the First Class from Denver.
> 
> But I will accept the $446 we have for our compact car through Hawaii-Drive-O, if they don't go down.  I am watching daily.  I am a bargain hunter extraordinaire.


Check Costco also. I thought I had the lowest price for Oahu and Maui in July, but was was surprised to see Costco beat each by $100.  I went to Costco Travel and clicked the Alamo coupon for 25% off a week, plus $30 off rental.  You never end up getting the full 25%, but I did get the entire $30 off.  That coupon got me a full size on each island for about $210 per week after taxes.

I checked them again just the other day and the prices were the same.  July is every bit as high demand as August, and by 8/27 school should be back in session - that sounds like a low season to me.  $446 is way too high.

EDIT: I just checked Costco using the coupon I mentioned above and for 8/27, the week was $383 (after taxes) for a compact.  I don't see why it's so expensive.


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## MOXJO7282 (May 3, 2011)

brianfox said:


> Check Costco also. I thought I had the lowest price for Oahu and Maui in July, but was was surprised to see Costco beat each by $100.  I went to Costco Travel and clicked the Alamo coupon for 25% off a week, plus $30 off rental.  You never end up getting the full 25%, but I did get the entire $30 off.  That coupon got me a full size on each island for about $210 per week after taxes.
> 
> I checked them again just the other day and the prices were the same.  July is every bit as high demand as August, and by 8/27 school should be back in session - that sounds like a low season to me.  $446 is way too high.
> 
> EDIT: I just checked Costco using the coupon I mentioned above and for 8/27, the week was $383 (after taxes) for a compact.  I don't see why it's so expensive.


I love Costco and will check but as of now their pricing only goes out until 12/31. I booked a full size Dodge charger or similar for $435 for 15 days. As soon as I can I compare Costco I will.


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## glypnirsgirl (May 3, 2011)

Ian and I did priceline, name your own price and got what I considered a great deal, a full size car for $585 all in for 9 days. I was really happy.

My sister, the really thrifty one of us, lands in Maui without car reservations and calls me to ask if I can find her a good deal. While I am looking for her, someone comes up to my brother in law and takes him to the phones where they call Aloha. And they get a Chrysler Sebring convertible for 2 weeks for less than $300. 

After making the call, Aloha came to the airport, picked them up (it is about a 15 minute drive to the airport instead of 5) and they did their paperwork quickly and gave them a cooler for the car. Which was wonderful.

The car was two years old and indistinguishable from brand new. I do not know if they have the type of car that you are looking for, but I will certainly be renting from them next time.

elaine


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## Kay H (May 4, 2011)

Can you specify an airport hotel when bidding on PL or hotwire?


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## KauaiLover (May 9, 2011)

*Kauai PRICELINE bid accepted*

I just bid $10 per day on Priceline for a full size car in Kauai for June 3 thru June 24 and Priceline accepted my bid.
Total cost for 3 weeks is $433. 
I love Priceline and it saved me 40% off published rates.


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## KauaiLover (May 9, 2011)

*Kauai PRICELINE bid accepted*

 I just bid $10 per day on Priceline for a full size car in Kauai for June 3 thru June 24 and Priceline accepted my bid.
Total cost for 3 weeks is $433. 
I love Priceline and it saved me 40% off published rates.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (May 9, 2011)

Kay H said:


> Can you specify an airport hotel when bidding on PL or hotwire?


With either site, there will be various zone, one of which typically will be include the area around any major airport.  Generally, if its clear that the particular zone is the airport there will be shuttle service, but that is not guaranteed. I've never had a problem, but I've always been aware there's a possibility that I might need to find some alternate means of getting to the hotel.

With Hotwire the listed amenities for the specific offering might also indicate if airport shuttle service is available.


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## MuranoJo (May 9, 2011)

KauaiLover said:


> I just bid $10 per day on Priceline for a full size car in Kauai for June 3 thru June 24 and Priceline accepted my bid.
> Total cost for 3 weeks is $433.
> I love Priceline and it saved me 40% off published rates.



For 3 weeks, that's incredible (heck, for two weeks it's pretty good from what I've read)!  Congrats!  Hope we can do the same this Fall.


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## LMD (May 9, 2011)

*Priceline,Costco*

I have been using priceline for cars and hotels for years and usually feel I get great deals. We are leaving for Maui tomorrow with stops in Oahu and LA- all places we need rental cars- Maui for 7 days, Oahu for 2 and LA for 4. I used Priceline for Ohau to get the best price. Costco beat priceline (using the Alamo coupon for 25% plus $20 off) The premium car on Maui comes to $164 WITH taxes and fees and includes the second driver for free! In LA we are getting a full size for $79 with taxes and fees including the second driver!


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