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Really high Hotwire taxes and fees, a mistake?


WillTravel
By WillTravel,
in

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I just tried a search for Victoria April 30 - May 2.

I saw 3* with the amenity of Spa and a rate of $45.

I was considering buying this, so I looked at the total cost.

Much to my surprise, the taxes and fees is $66.95! (I checked on Priceline and taxes/fees for an equivalent bid would be $16.72)

Anyway, since I have never actually bought from Hotwire, I don't know if this is typical. Is it?

I guess the thing to do is look at total cost - which I would consider too much with this little to go on anyway.

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I think you meant $50 :).

I guess having such variable fees allows Hotwire a lot of room to move the prices around and keep things more opaque, but it does mean one has to be careful when comparing the prices to Priceline. This $45 room on Hotwire is equivalent to about a $70 bid on Priceline (for total cost).

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Hotwire CSR i think you may want to look into this one though!

I just ran a 3 nite search in the following cities:

Las Vegas: $45/nite yields Taxes and Fees of $28.05

Toronto: $44/nite yields Taxes and Fees of $25.95

Victoria: $53/nite yields Taxes and Fees of $114.95

Unless taxes in Victoria are quadruple what they are in the other cities, then there is some type of a mistake. Also, WT knows the area pretty well and i think would know if taxes in the area were unusually high.

...and if i choose the Victoria hotel at $194/nite the Taxes and Fees are less at only $103.95. So apparently there isn't a mistake with Victoria as a whole, but something in the algorithm is amiss.

How much business has Hotwire lost due to this error? Hard to say, but a good example of why they should form some sort of communication with BetterBidding! (and i have other ideas too!)

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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For example, if you enter Vancouver as the city (which has the same taxes as Victoria) and select the Richmond - Vancouver Intl Airport YVR zone for the same dates I had for Victoria (April 30 - May 2, so two nights), then I get a $44 3* option.

I looked at the taxes and fees for this purchase and they are $19.95, which is much more reasonable.

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Wow, that's food for thought-compare TOTAL price including tax and service fee of Hotwire to Priceline. I know PL's per room/night rates are cheaper but they might have higher fees. Thanks, you guys!

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HotwireCSR, i know that this is out of your hands, but it's a good example of why so many people get frustrated with Priceline and Hotwire customer service (but in Hotwire's defense, Hotwire is much better than priceline in this regard).

The fact that one hotel costing $195/nite can have lower taxes and fees as another hotel in the same exact zone costing $45/nite is evidence of a problem... but the 'powers that be' simply give a canned reply of 'taxes and fees vary from area to area'.

Sometimes the people in the corner offices need to get on the phone and deal with real customers to really understand what is going on.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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I just couldn't leave this alone. There are three people that could read the reserch requests before they go to the research department. So one turns me down and I just happend to say something to another person on that team about doing a search. He did and found the results just as strange as we all did. So he put the request right through so... I wil keep you posted as to the final results of this.

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So for bringing this to Hotwire's attention, how about some Hotwire Bonus money available only to BetterBidding members? :)

Thanks for the board suggestion, but this already exists in the second forum on the board:

QUESTIONS and SUGGESTIONS

(-general questions and board suggestions... )

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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