Fact sheet

Hotwire is a leading discount travel site that offers ridiculously low prices from some of the most highly respected travel brands. How? Hotwire has special relationships with major travel providers to help them fill airline seats, hotel rooms, and rental cars that would otherwise go unsold. Price conscious travelers everywhere rely on Hotwire for amazing deals you won't see on other travel sites -- last-minute, local, and weekend in destinations across the U.S, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe, and more.

Unlike other online discount travel sites, our posted price model means our customers find deep discounts without the hassles of bidding and guesswork.

What we offer

Airfares: Hotwire offers airline seats to travelers with no booking fees. Hotwire makes finding a great airfare deal less of a strain on consumers. The Hotwire Airfare Savings Hub takes the leg work out of the hunt for low prices by proactively offering alternatives for those travelers willing to be flexible with their plans to save even more money. During an air search, the tool looks at alternate dates and airports and recommendations will appear along with the lowest available price for that flight search.

Hotels: When hotels have unsold rooms, they use Hotwire to fill them. 4-star hotels at 2-star prices throughout North America and Europe, often at savings of up to 60%. That means Hotwire customers get the lowest prices, guaranteed. If you find a lower price for an identical booking, Hotwire will pay the difference between the rates.

Car rentals: Hotwire partners with top-quality brands such as Budget, Hertz and National to offer regular retail and deeply discounted car rentals with rates from $13.95 a day. When car rental companies have unrented cars on the lot, they use Hotwire to fill them, so consumers get great deals at ridiculously low prices. All cars have unlimited miles, and everything is prepaid, including all taxes with no hidden fees.

Vacation packages: Adventure-seekers can tailor the perfect travel packages to more than 150 destinations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Europe.

Cruises: Hotwire enables travelers to find cruise deals worldwide on more than 17 different cruise lines. View and choose all details of your dream cruise, including port and destination cities, ship reviews, and 360-degree virtual tours.

Before you go

TripStarter™: The TripStarter tool uses historical airfare and hotel pricing data so consumers can find the best time of year to visit their favorite destinations. The tool also offers weather, local event and attraction information for domestic and international destinations.

Trip Watcher: Hotwire keeps would-be travelers informed about the price status of trips users have flagged by "watching" them. Hotwire Trip Watcher users can now enjoy better control, value and flexibility when planning trips by keeping tabs on specific itineraries through email alerts and their personal Hotwire "My Account" page.

Travel Value Index: The Hotwire Travel Value Index was created in 2006 as part of our commitment to save consumers money. Using extensive Hotwire and third-party data, Hotwire ranked destinations across the United States to find the top value vacation destinations where consumers can best stretch their vacation dollars.

Go Local Search: Get away without going too far away. There's fun to be had all over the U.S. -- and yes, some of it's in your own backyard. Input your home location and let Hotwire suggest great travel ideas within 250 miles of your home.

Hotwire Hotel Rate Report: This monthly report features the top 10 cities with the largest reductions in hotel price. And these price drops, when combined with Hotwire's already discounted prices, will help guide customers to the destinations that will maximize their travel dollars.

Awards

Market Metrix:
In June, 2008, Market Metrix Hospitality Index (MMHI) awarded Hotwire the top ranking among hotel travel Web sites for the sixth time in the last two years.**

Financial Information

Based in San Francisco, Hotwire is an operating company of Expedia, Inc. CST: 2053390-40. NST: 20003-0209.

** The MMHI, which gathers feedback from 35,000 U.S.-based customers, is the largest and most in-depth measurement of hotel, airline and car rental performance available today.

Media Contact

Andrew Reynolds
Atomic Public Relations
andrew@atomicpr.com
(323) 648-5425