What is the difference between a Car booking and a Hot Rate® Car booking?
Car booking: You see the name of the car rental company and the price before you book the car. These bookings can be for downtown (city) and Airport locations.
In these cases, Hotwire makes a reservation for you with the rental car company and estimates the charges based on published rates, taxes, and fees. Your account will not be charged when the reservation is made. Charges will be billed by the rental car company when you return the car. These reservations may be cancelled at any time without penalty. Unless otherwise indicated, all rental cars include unlimited mileage. Any fees associated with special requests (e.g., GPS, child seats, racks) will not be included in our estimate. See also: How do I take care of any special service requests (e.g., ski racks, hand controls)
Hot Rate® Car booking: You see the price but you won’t see the name of the car rental company until immediately after you complete the booking and your account has been charged. These bookings are for Airport locations only.
This is a prepaid booking, and usually reflects our lowest rates. The price you see is the total price you pay, including taxes and fees. Hot Rate Car bookings are final and cannot be cancelled, refunded, changed, exchanged, or transferred, even for a fee. Here’s how Hot Rate bookings work. We offer amazing rates on Hot Rate Cars. But we only get those rates because we promise our car partners not to reveal the name of the rental company until after the car is booked. They don’t want people to know that some of their cars are being booked for absurdly low prices. Everyone would want the same discount! Here’s the other thing. We’ve paid for the car you booked. The rental company won’t reimburse us for changed or cancelled bookings. Once you agree to Hotwire's Terms of Use and confirm a booking on our site or with a travel specialist, your credit card will be charged for the total price shown.
Happy travels,
Hotwire
In these cases, Hotwire makes a reservation for you with the rental car company and estimates the charges based on published rates, taxes, and fees. Your account will not be charged when the reservation is made. Charges will be billed by the rental car company when you return the car. These reservations may be cancelled at any time without penalty. Unless otherwise indicated, all rental cars include unlimited mileage. Any fees associated with special requests (e.g., GPS, child seats, racks) will not be included in our estimate. See also: How do I take care of any special service requests (e.g., ski racks, hand controls)
Hot Rate® Car booking: You see the price but you won’t see the name of the car rental company until immediately after you complete the booking and your account has been charged. These bookings are for Airport locations only.
This is a prepaid booking, and usually reflects our lowest rates. The price you see is the total price you pay, including taxes and fees. Hot Rate Car bookings are final and cannot be cancelled, refunded, changed, exchanged, or transferred, even for a fee. Here’s how Hot Rate bookings work. We offer amazing rates on Hot Rate Cars. But we only get those rates because we promise our car partners not to reveal the name of the rental company until after the car is booked. They don’t want people to know that some of their cars are being booked for absurdly low prices. Everyone would want the same discount! Here’s the other thing. We’ve paid for the car you booked. The rental company won’t reimburse us for changed or cancelled bookings. Once you agree to Hotwire's Terms of Use and confirm a booking on our site or with a travel specialist, your credit card will be charged for the total price shown.
Happy travels,
Hotwire
Was this article useful?
Any additional feedback about our Help Center?
We use your comments to improve our Help Center
For 24/7 help, email us or call toll-free1-866-468-9473