Need help getting the Hotwire refund you’re owed? You may have legal options
While everyone likes to think that the second they click on the button to book their trip, flight, or vacation, everything will work out… sometimes that does not happen. The weather, sicknesses, last-minute work events, or family changes can sometimes cause a scheduled trip to become cancelled. When the trip gets canceled, often the one thing that can make it better is getting a refund for it.
If you booked your trip from Hotwire, then you know that Hotwire gives you a lot of benefits when looking for a car, a trip, or a flight. However, when it comes to refunds it can be a little finicky, and you need to know that the refunds you can get can be very situational. There are a few steps included with getting a Hotwire refund, and it is important to understand those steps to make sure that you can get the most out of your refund.
Hotwire offers two different types of rates. The standard rate is a standard rate that is like normal rates, while a Hot Rate is more of a gamble. A Hot Rate is a specially negotiated rate that the website only shares with its suppliers. These rates are extremely cheap but secretive. You simply enter where you want your trip to be, book a Hot Rate, and then the hotel name and address is shown to you once you pay the booking.
This is a big selling point for Hotwire and allows for their customers to take a gamble and find five-star hotels, cars, or flights at the lowest prices. However, that cheapness comes with a severe lack of wiggle room whenever you need to cancel. This is because Hot Wire gives an offer of anonymity to the hotel rooms, flights, and cars that are being sold for cheap. After all, if everyone knew about the deal then everyone would try to buy it.
Since the cheap prices are so unique, they are not subject to be changed, and that’s the risk you take. For all types of bookings made with Hot Rates, once the booking is made it is final. No changes, refunds, transfers, or anything else can be done with it. So if you get a Hot Rate, then you won’t be able to make any changes or get any refunds if you cancel.
If you have a standard rate, however, then that is a different story.
A quick note here, HotWire offers Trip Protection through its partnership with Allianz Global Assistance, and it can be very beneficial to you. The low-cost travel insurance helps to cover your flight against emergencies, natural disasters, COVID-19, and bad weather that can cancel or interrupt your trip.
It is a separate charge that will be charged to your method of payment, and if you want to protect yourself and your money against emergencies, then you can purchase Trip Protection until the date of your trip.
For refunding a standard rate at Hotwire, then you can request a refund through the Hotwire website. You can click on the ‘My Account’ page and you will be able to see all of your activity. You just need to scroll down to what you want to cancel, and then cancel it. You will be able to see the cancellation policy of the hotel, car company, or airline.
If you don’t have access to the ‘cancel reservation’ button on your account page, then the booking you are trying to cancel is either not eligible, or you will need to fill out a cancellation form.
The company might have cancellation fees that will be dependent on how far away you are from the date you have scheduled. You will need to deal with the cancelation policies if you need to cancel your booking, but you will be able to see them before you book.
So make sure to keep those policies in mind before scheduling a hotel trip, because while everyone likes to think their trips will never get canceled, that attitude can very quickly backfire if you need to pay a large cancelation fee.
Also, for rental cars that you have rented with a standard rental plan, you won’t be able to get a refund if you end up returning the car early. If you find yourself not needing the car, or you’ve overestimated the time you were going to use it for, then you can keep using the car for the listed reservation time. Or you can cancel the booking with no charge and then create a new reservation with a new duration that matches your needs.
Once your refund is approved, then it will go towards your original method of payment. Depending on how many cancellation requests are going through the queue at the moment, you might have to wait up to 30 days to get your refund processed and sent back to your payment method.
But other than having to deal with the cancellation fees, then the refund process is pretty easy if you bought a standard booking. Again, if you bought a Hot Rate booking then you have almost no wiggle room to receive a refund if it is canceled, and your payment method will be charged regardless of whether the item is used or not.
Unlike other websites, getting a refund from Hotwire is very situational and dependent on how to booked the item you needed. They do make up for this by making sure that everything is transparent and that you see all of the cancellation fees and requirements for each hotel before you make the purchase. Additionally, Hotwire doesn’t charge any hidden fees of their own, so you only need to worry about the hotel’s fees.
While getting a refund might be harder than normal, it certainly isn’t impossible, and hopefully these steps will help you get yours.
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