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Hotwire non refundable car rental

T

Tacoma

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
1,278
Reaction score
600
Location
Calgary,Ab, Canada
Do you think I have any hope of getting any money back? I booked and paid for a car rental in Alaska for June and the cruise has been cancelled. I called Alamo and they said I had to deal with hotwire. Hotwire lets you cancel online but says nothing about if you will be able to receive any money back. They say they will contact in 3 days. We will see. So far around $7000 Canadian paid out. The cruise almost $5000 is giving us a full refund, worldmark reservation full refund, 2 different airlines I think I will get a travel voucher from both, one night hotel booked on airmiles have not tried for refund yet, train journey from Seaward to Anchorage 100% refund, airbnb rental cancellable before the end of May less airbnb fees so I'm waiting to see if airbnb will waive their fees. So most likely my biggest loss will be the car rental of just under $300 US or $400 Canadian.
 
I would hope they would do the right thing and refund your money. I was able to get a refund on a nonrefundable reservation with Hilton Hotels, but only after I pushed a bit.
 
Not sure if you bought travel insurance or not, but if you only come out with a loss of $400 in the end on a $7000 trip, I would consider that not too bad. Travel insurance probably would have cost at least that much.
 
I agree dioxide but since this is a June reservation if cruises that start in the US can still go to Alaska they have plenty of time and opportunity to rent the car. Just trying to help make the point you are far better off dealing with the source (Alamo in my case) than having a reservation through another party. I will also have lots of airline vouchers to try and use and 3 weeks of cancelled timeshare vacations for my sister and sisters in law that have been replaced with weeks that will be very difficult to use. At least most of them were worldmark points so those should be salvageable.

Joan
 
I worked for an airline during 9/11. Hotwire and priceline non refundable were pretty much screwed. I think the most you can hope for is a hotwire credit to be used within 6-12 months and even that you may have to fight for. I would not expect them to give you a straight out refund.
 
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Tacoma said:
I agree dioxide but since this is a June reservation if cruises that start in the US can still go to Alaska they have plenty of time and opportunity to rent the car. Just trying to help make the point you are far better off dealing with the source (Alamo in my case) than having a reservation through another party. I will also have lots of airline vouchers to try and use and 3 weeks of cancelled timeshare vacations for my sister and sisters in law that have been replaced with weeks that will be very difficult to use. At least most of them were worldmark points so those should be salvageable.

Joan
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This is why we never book a non refundable car rental. I don't think we have ever booked through an agency like Priceline, Hotwire, etc. They do offer refundable rates but it is always so much easier to book directly through the car rental agencies. I have never seen a significant enough savings to book a prepaid rate. If an agency offers a prepaid rate, we can usually find another agency that has fully cancellable rates for the same price.
 
When had to cancel a trip because of a sick pet, and I had made the mistake of using Hotwire for a non-refundable rental car reservation. I wan't able to get anything back. With good discounts available for reservations from places that don't even take your credit card info, I'll never use a pre-paid reservation again, for hotel or rental car.
 
dioxide45 said:
This is why we never book a non refundable car rental. I don't think we have ever booked through an agency like Priceline, Hotwire, etc. They do offer refundable rates but it is always so much easier to book directly through the car rental agencies. I have never seen a significant enough savings to book a prepaid rate. If an agency offers a prepaid rate, we can usually find another agency that has fully cancellable rates for the same price.
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We currently have a car rental reservation through AutoSlash for October. I've gotten several emails offering a lower rate, all of them prepaid. Nope.
 
Lesson learned. I would not have cancelled this in normal circumstances but this is anything but normal. And I agree it is a small price to pay on such a big trip.
 
It's not directly relevant, but we once got a refund from Hotwire. We had one night in a hotel in Toronto and we got there and they told us that the power would be off for a few hours starting at two in the morning. My husband uses a cpap so that was not okay for us.

The clerk said he would cancel the reservation and send documentation to Hotwire so we would get a refund. He didn't, but I chased after them and Hotwire and we did get a refund without too much of a struggle.
 
If you paid for the car rental with a credit card, I would recommend you dispute the charge with your credit card company. Generally the credit card company will suspend the amount you paid for the rental while they do an investigation. You are still responsible for making payments on your card during the investigation.
 
emeryjre said:
If you paid for the car rental with a credit card, I would recommend you dispute the charge with your credit card company. Generally the credit card company will suspend the amount you paid for the rental while they do an investigation. You are still responsible for making payments on your card during the investigation.
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Are you sure? When I have put items in dispute that amount is credited (by the credit card company) and I am not responsible for making payments for that item. But yes, you would be responsible for making your regular payment, if due. Maybe I misunderstood what you were saying.
 
I think what he meant to say was...
You still need to pay for other items on your card, just not ones in dispute.
The ones in dispute should be removed from your balance.
 
Yes, I second that for non-refundable booking. Did it one time with priceline a regret it ever since.

We are flying to Alaska, God Willing, end of June and I just re-booked our car reservation. It went down from $493 to $191.

Hopefully we do not have to cancel this trip too. Will be 5th trip to cancel for COVID-19 and I really feel I need to get out of the house.
 
I doubt anyone is alone in wishing to take a trip or get out of the house. I haven't made any plans, thinking it's too soon from what they are saying.

If people decide to make reservations that are nonrefundable knowing we are all being told to stay home.... well good luck
 
Hotwire got back to me saying they got my information and will get back to me within 30 days. I booked this in Jan which is past the 60 days to dispute a credit card charge but might try that later. The worst they can say is no. I will update when I hear from hotwire.
 
Tacoma said:
Hotwire got back to me saying they got my information and will get back to me within 30 days. I booked this in Jan which is past the 60 days to dispute a credit card charge but might try that later. The worst they can say is no. I will update when I hear from hotwire.
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Chase will allow up to 120 days. I would call my CC bank.
 
So today I got the email I'd been waiting for. Hotwire has worked with Alamo and they have agreed to refund my non refundable car rental. When tey sent the email saying they would keep checking I figured it was just a nice way of saying you'll never get it. I was wrong. So impressed.
 
Tacoma said:
So today I got the email I'd been waiting for. Hotwire has worked with Alamo and they have agreed to refund my non refundable car rental. When tey sent the email saying they would keep checking I figured it was just a nice way of saying you'll never get it. I was wrong. So impressed.
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I think a lot of companies are being flexible. They want to have customers when things are back to "normal".
 
Tacoma said:
So today I got the email I'd been waiting for. Hotwire has worked with Alamo and they have agreed to refund my non refundable car rental.
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Congrats.
IME, travel providers are being extra flexible with their cancellation policies.
Starting with a hotel convention in April, all we had to say was "Coronavirus."
I got refunds from nearly everyone, but only credits from Delta + a tour group.
.
 
Thanks this one took by far the longest. I asked way back in March. The cruise took 2 months for a refund and this one took 2 months to agree they're going to give me a refund. It will be up to another 30 days before I see the money. I think they might have been doing trips leaving earlier first. Mine was for a June trip to Alaska.
 
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