Maybe I should have known better from renting cars at Hotwire. I always got the worst cars. But I just used them for the first time to get hotels on my upcoming New York trip. They don't tell you this up front, but from what I can see, it is a huge bait and switch operation.

If you are traveling by yourself, it may be just fine. But two guys together? Where in today's hotel scene do you find full sized beds? But that's what Hotwire gets you. Then if you want to be comfortable, you have to pay big charges to upgrade. One hotel wants $75 a night more for a king-sized bed. The other hotel wants $50 a night extra for two beds. I have never had this problem with Priceline hotels. The other issue is that the hotels are places I have never heard of despite lots of experience with New York. Hotwire claims they will be putting you in hotels like the Hilton or similar, but the fine print leaves them an out, and they were sure rapid in taking that out with me.

I have used Hotwire in the past with satisfaction. The prices aren't quite as good and the choice is a bit more of a crap shoot than with Priceline. But because it is more of a crapshoot and because NYC is full of so many small hotel rooms with small beds I never had the gumption to roll the Hotwire dice in NYC. Hotline for Boston, DC, Florida not so squeamish about but care still used.

They claim the room will comfortably sleep two travelers, which makes it a one size fits all claim. No adjustment is made for size or whether the people in question even want to sleep in the same bed. Most hotels today offer large beds, usually two, or a king size bed. To have to pay extra just to be comfortable in the room defeats the purpose. Hotwire should be upfront about what they are selling, but then they might not sell many rooms.

The one hotel that asked me to pay an extra $75 a night for a king size bed has reduced their price to $50 a night. So I need to cough up an extra $300 over what I paid Hotwire.

My experience with Hotwire has always been excellent. I only use it in cities I don't know. I do usually travel alone and I have never used it for New York where I have a hotel I really like. As far as cars are concerned I always check out the various dealers first and then start bidding on priceline.

There's the rub. A full-size bed is fine for a man traveling alone, so Hotwire would work for you.

I've used both Priceline and Hotwire, and I definitely prefer Priceline. The small bed issue is a known concern in cities like New York and San Francisco. I always notice warnings about this on Priceline. Have not used Hotwire in a very long time.

My email to Hotwire was answered by a form letter. I responded to that, but they chose to ignore me. Life is full of live and learn lessons, and this is one. Don't use Hotwire again! I think it will be quite easy for me to keep that one. Once they have your nonrefundable payment, they don't care what you think.

Signed, PT Barnum's prodigy.

I googled Hotwire Complaints and found tons of pages of stories of unhappy people.

Priceline may have its faults, but they have never screwed me like Hotwire did this week.

But, I am off on vacation so hopefully some of the lurkers will fill in for me while I am gone!

I have been using Hotwire for 10 years now with much satisfaction. Even in San Francisco and New York. Generally, if you know their star system and the area that you want to stay in, its easy to pick a good hotel on their site.

I have had only one bad experience in ten years for which they gave me a credit in the amount of what I paid for the stay at Hotel Bad.

Also, be advised that, if you have a bad experience, call them and they will make it so that hotel in which you had your bad experience doesn't show up in your search results in the future.

Also, be advised that, if you have a bad experience, call them and they will make it so that hotel in which you had your bad experience doesn't show up in your search results in the future.

Good to know. I really appreciate companies that are responsive to customer needs and complaints.