Interesting....Hotwire

[StressCadet Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close StressCadet]

Wow!

Maybe this has been discussed before...maybe not. It was news to me.

I have used Hotwire in the past for car rental. I especially liked my 9.95 per day rate in Hawaii. I spent WAY less than I ever had for 2 weeks in Hawaii. Have always been happy.

Fast forward to today. I'm watching rates for an 8 day rental in Atlanta. Best it's been is 15.95 for my car selection (Mid size) I look often. I know that with taxes and fees it will run 201.00 and some change for the 8 days. about 80.00 in fees.

Today, I looked and I could see it getting ready to come up at 8.95. Jackpot! I run off to get my CC. I'm not paying close attention..too excited to see the 50.00 decrease. I push to complete and it comes up at the 201.00 total.

What?

Taxes and fees are now 125.00. Hmmmmm? Did Georgia increase it's sales tax?? Nope. Am I picking up somewhere else? No-airport is already the most expensive option.

So the 50.00 savings at 8.95 vs 15.95 has now been moved to "fees" I have to assume this is a Hotwire fee and NOT the taxes (those can't change....well as a percentage they should have gone down)

Little bit disillusioned with Hotwire presently. Am I late to this party-or is this a normal occurrence with Hotwire?

[grest Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close grest]

That doesn't sound right...is it possible that it was a glitch?

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

I think you should contact Hotwire, and ask them to explain your total cost, along with the fees......$50 seems like a very high fee for a total price of $201 total.

[jlwquilter Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jlwquilter]

Slightly off topic - airline ticket prices seem to do this all the time. If the fare is low, the 'fees' suddenly jump and the total is about the same as it was when the base price was much highter. I HATE that.

[riverdees05 Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close riverdees05]

Thanks, I have used Hotwire a lot in the past and will need to keep an eye open for this feature. May have to get up to speed and use Priceline.

[StressCadet Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close StressCadet]

That doesn't sound right...is it possible that it was a glitch?

I was hoping it was...so I checked today. Guess what??

Same 8.95 x 8 days taxes and fees TODAY are 131.93. Last night they were 125.05.

[grest Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close grest]

I was hoping it was...so I checked today. Guess what??

Same 8.95 x 8 days taxes and fees TODAY are 131.93. Last night they were 125.05.

that's nuts!

[rdcigc Member Find all posts View Profile Close rdcigc]

Whats going on.Thanks for the warning..

[swilshire Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close swilshire]

Taxes and fees can be a fortune, especially if renting at the airport. I have a five day rental reserved next week directly through Hertz. $115 for a week, but approximately $225 after fees.

Sheila

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I recently had been searching Hotwire and bidding on Priceline for two separate one-week car rentals in FL this summer.

For the first one Hotwire had been $18.95 a day, and I got it on Priceline for $19 a day with $3 a day bonus cash, for a total of $160.67. If you add $21, the total would be $181.67.

Hotwire is now $14.95 a day, for a total of $197.37.

($4 a day less costs $15+ a week more total!)

So the jist of this thread, that there is more to it than the amount you bid per day, is accurate.

[Dancingfish Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dancingfish]

Look at this!!!
Weekly rate
1 week(s) @ $ 115.00 $ 115.00
4 extra day(s) @ $ 15.99 $ 63.96

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subtotal $ 178.96
Taxes and Fees $ 321.30
Drop Charge $ 500.00

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total due at rental counter: $ 1,000.26


Yes when you are searching it is telling you your rental will be $180.00 then WHOOOOA taxes and are more than the rental and then the great drop charge... Amazing! and then you know they will hit you up for insurance at the counter!

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

and then you know they will hit you up for insurance at the counter!

Since you know, you know to decline it.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Drop Charge $ 500.00

As one who owned a driveaway service, I appreciate the drop charge, and the fact that some one-ways need to be relocated afterwards and some do not.

[Dancingfish Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dancingfish]

I understand the drop charge.. but $250 would be a reasonable charge.. but how can taxes be more than the rental itself.. I think this is deceptive advertising.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

Slightly off topic - airline ticket prices seem to do this all the time. If the fare is low, the 'fees' suddenly jump and the total is about the same as it was when the base price was much highter. I HATE that.

Airlines on your side of the pond are not really so far about those extra fees, with the exception of Delta, and they only play that stinky game for tickets originating outside the US.

For most European airlines, the stinker is YQ or fuel surcharge. Fuel is not an optional extra but a basic part of operating the service you are paying for. Putting it on the tax line is also dishonest as it goes directly to the airline and is really part of the fare, not something paid to a government or other third party.

Most European legacy airlines play this dishonest shell game. SAS and LOT, have to their credit stopped doing it, as have most LCC's.

The YQ hoses consumers in two ways. If you are buying a ticket, they often quote the fare without the YQ and what looks like the best fare may in fact turn out to be the worst after YQ is added back. So dishonest advertising is one problem. The other is with ff tickets, since they charge you the YQ as a tax so you are really paying part of the fare which is supposed to be free.

Then there is the fact that YQ often has nothing to do with the actual cost of fuel and is often a lot more. Most LCC's now quote the full price and then let you break out the cost of fuel. Doing so makes you wonder how it is that their planes cost so much less fuel to fly than the same aircraft types operating by legacy airlines!!!! Of course, what is really happening is that the legacies are padding what they charge you for fuel, and often padding it a lot.

Then there are the cases reported on FlyerTalk of the same airline on the same flight charging substantially different YQ's for different fare classes of coach seats. Huh? It costs more fuel to fly the plane for exactly the same type of seat dependeing on the fare class you buy?

YQ is a blatant airline fraud and needs to be stamped out by legislation. There is actually another code, which I do not recall, where airlines can charge for fuel seperately but as part of the fare, not part of the taxes. That is the fair and honest way to do it.

The YQ racket is such a fraud that I go out of my way to fly LCC's intra-Europe, even though I have never set foot on an LCC domestically or on TATL flights.

Sorry to hear that the same thing is happening with rental cars. But if they are doing the same thing and passing part of this money back to the rental car company as some sort of phony fee, I smell a class action lawsuit coming on. This would clearly be an unfair and deceptive business practice.