I tried Hotwire's hotel booking the other day. I was curious how it is different from Priceline's name your own price. I think they offer the same discounts like up to 40% off air flights and up to 50% off hotel.

So far, I like it better. Their program does not require me to bid all day. Instead, they tell me right off the bat how much the price is so all I have to do is accept it. Unlike priceline, after all the time and effort I spent on bidding I still didn't get any successful bid. By the way, I did try their name your own price for hotel too, but it's the same. No luck. So i went to Hotwire instead, they do offer lower rates versus the standard rate that appears in kayak.com so it's a no brainer for me. At first, I didn't really know how it works. It was a bit confusing, cause all you see is the price for an area not an actual hotel listings. It took me a while to conceptualize the idea they are going for. It's is kind of similar to priceline when you are bidding for hotel. In priceline, you first pick the area in the map they provide, then you select the hotel star rating you would like to stay, after that they will give you the average pricing for all the hotels with the same star rating in that area. Then you base your bid on the average price they gave you and hope that they will accept it.

In Hotwire, I was already given the price for that area along with the star rating and all I have to do is accept it. Although they tell you the price, they don't tell you the actual hotel you are staying. Only after you booked it that they will reveal it to you.

Let me tell you after several days of finding reservations it can get really tiring, I am actually at a point right now that I just want to get it over with.. I mean I am only getting started and it's not like that is all I have to do. I still need to find deals for car rentals, rental properties, excursions.. oh well baby steps!

My motto is to "JUST DO IT!" As long as I am getting something done then I am only moving forward right! lol =D

Okay back to hotwire, I did book one night on an area near the Honolulu airport. Our flight arrives at night around 10:00 pm so I thought maybe just book a cheaper hotel so we can just crash in for the night. In my experience it was a breeze booking in hotwire, it only took me one minute to book the room and I got the hotel I thought I was going to get (Pacific Marina Inn). I got it for $100.00 and the on going rate for that hotel is $119.00. It's not much of a savings but compared to the resort that we are staying for seven days which is $149.00, I think it's worth it. What can I say Hawaii is expensive so I'll take any savings I can get. They will all add up and I know all the research I am doing right now will pay off..

So after I got the confirmation, all I had to do was call up the hotel and ask for a non smoking room and inquire about their complimentary 24 hour airport shuttle and done! Moving on to car rental.. =)

Below is Hotwire's hotel booking rules and policies and remember to book at your own risk:

• Once booked you can't cancel, refund, transfer or change, so be sure you are 100% before you click the "book now" button
• hotel's name and location will be revealed after you paid for it
• room's are guaranteed to sleep for the number of people you put in your search criteria
• needs credit card when checking in
• owner of the credit card should be the primary hotel guest
• there might be additional fees that the hotel charges you for like parking or resort fees so contact the hotel you are staying after booking

Hope that helps and again this is just a disclaimer in case you would like to try it. This post or any of the post written or published under this site - vatuwirifiji.com is not responsible for any damage, misconception of any information that caused you by trying hotwire program, name your own price program and following all the information written on this site. This post is just here only for the purpose of sharing my experience with you.

Thanks and please book at your own risk.