Hotwire/Priceline catch?

[johndeere]

So what are the pitfalls and/or risks of renting a car on HOTWIRE of PRICELINE? I found a rental rate on HOTWIRE (after I clicked on the link at betterbidding) for Thrifty Car Rental (Denver Int'l Airport) and it was $20 cheaper per day than the exact same car size on the Thrifty website. I mean, if they're giving you the name of the rental car company, what's the catch? Seems to good/easy to be true. It's not like booking a hotel where you don't know the the exact name or location of the hotel - a standard size car is a standard size car regardless of the company, right?

[thereuare]

HOTWIRE shows both 'opaque' and 'retail' offers in their car rental search... usually the 'retail' rates are what you can get thru the rental website, but perhaps sometimes they're able to offer a better deal.

When you purchase a 'retail' listing like this it's very similar to booking a 'regular' rental on any other third party website, Expedia, Travelocity, etc.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[dahammer]

johndeere, I recently completed two rental reservations on HOTWIRE and received cars from Budget and Avis. Both rentals were about $40 less compared to making a reservation directly with the respective companies, and on each occasion it worked out fine. You will still be pressured into paying for an upgrade and taking out insurance, but tell the agent no thanks. PS, I have used HOTWIRE rates as a benchmark to start my PRICELINE bids, you can often undercut the HOTWIRE price by a few dollars. Good luck and please report back your success.

[johndeere]

Thanks to both of you for the info. I will definitely use the links here on betterbidding and I will report back with my results.