Hotwire.com

{{Infobox company

| name = Hotwire

| logo = Hotwire Logo.svg

| foundation = {{Start date and age|2000}}

| founders = Karl Peterson
Eric Grosse
Gregg Brockway
Spencer Rascoff
American Airlines
Northwest Airlines
Continental Airlines
America West Airlines
United Airlines

| location_city = San Francisco, California

| location_country = United States

| products = Airline travel
Car rental services
Hotel reservation
Vacation packages

| industry =

| revenue = US$ 35 million (2018)

| num_employees = 300+

| parent = Expedia Group

| homepage = {{URL|www.hotwire.com}}

}}

Hotwire is a travel website that offers airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, and vacation packages. It operates by selling off unsold travel inventory at discounted prices. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Hotwire, Inc. is an operating company of the Expedia Group, which also operates the website ClassicVacations, Expedia, Hotels.com, Orbitz, Travelocity and Egencia.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/01/travel/booking-flights-and-hotels-online-agents-or-direct.html|title=Booking Flights and Hotels: Online Agents or Direct?|last=Rosenbloom|first=Stephanie|date=2015-02-25|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-02-21|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/the-frugal-travelers-essential-list-of-budget-travel-hacks/2018/08/01/7f43e210-9048-11e8-8322-b5482bf5e0f5_story.html?|title=Washington Post: The frugal traveler's essential list of budget travel hacks|newspaper=The Washington Post }}

History

Hotwire was launched in 2000, by Karl Peterson, Eric Grosse, Gregg Brockway, and Spencer Rascoff. Initial funding came by founding partner Texas Pacific Group (TPG), a leading private equity firm that Karl Peterson used to work for, that invested an initial $75 million into Hotwire.{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ZCK/is_36_10/ai_65148336|title=Hotwire Launch to Provide Yet Another Way to Offload Cheap Inventory|date=September 8, 2000|work=World Airline News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060313123109/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ZCK/is_36_10/ai_65148336|archive-date=2006-03-13}} Hotwire first offered tickets from six major airlines, that also invested into Hotwire's launch: American, Northwest (now Delta), Continental (now United), America West (now American), United, and US Airways (now American).{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/12/travel/travel-advisory-new-web-site-offers-discounts-on-6-airlines.html|title=TRAVEL ADVISORY; New Web Site Offers Discounts on 6 Airlines|last=Wade|first=Betsy|author-link=Betsy Wade |date=2000-11-12|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-02-19|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{cite web|url=https://skift.com/history-of-online-travel/|title=The Definitive oral history of online travel|last=Schaal|first=Dennis|date=2016|website=Skift|accessdate=15 June 2016}} Prior to its formal launch, Hotwire was codenamed Purple Demon.{{cite web|url=http://www.elliott.org/inside-interactive-travel/can-purple-demon-avoid-orbitz-errors/|title=Can purple demon avoid Orbitz errors?|date=July 5, 2000|website=Elliott.org|access-date=March 11, 2008|archive-date=June 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624232813/http://www.elliott.org/inside-interactive-travel/can-purple-demon-avoid-orbitz-errors/|url-status=dead}}

In September 2003, IAC/InterActiveCorp, which had acquired Expedia in 2001, announced its acquisition of Hotwire.com for $663 million.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB106418549972915000|title=InterActiveCorp to Buy Hotwire, As Online-Travel Push Continues|author1=Julia Angwin|author1-link=Julia Angwin|author2=Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal|website=WSJ|language=en-US|access-date=2019-02-19}} In 2004, an internet research firm estimated that through cross-advertising between Hotwire and Expedia, IAC was able to reach a total of an additional 1.5 million unique visitors to both websites monthly.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/05/business/e-commerce-report-interactivecorp-finding-ways-cross-promote-its-properties.html|title=E-Commerce Report; InterActiveCorp is finding ways to cross-promote its properties and increase its customer base.|last=Tedeschi|first=Bob|date=2004-07-05|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-02-19|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}

Hotwire first launched with opaque airline tickets. The company started selling opaque hotels and rental cars a few months later.{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}} Package offerings started in 2003. In 2004, Hotwire began to offer select retail travel products. In June 2007, Hotwire removed all airfare booking fees.{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}}

Company affairs

= Leadership =

File:Henrik Kjellberg, President, Hotwire & Chairman, eLong (14006320194).jpg

Karl Peterson, one of Hotwire's four founding members, served as Hotwire's first CEO. In 2006, Hotwire was overseen by Founder and CFO (2004-2006) Eric Grosse. In January 2009, Eric Grosse became President of Expedia Worldwide and Clem Bason took over as President of the Hotwire Group.{{cite web|url=http://press.hotwire.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=187|title=Clem Bason press release|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301161059/http://press.hotwire.com/index.php?s=press_releases|archivedate=2009-03-01|url-status=dead}}

{{cite web|url=http://www.hotwire.com/about-hotwire/our-company/managementTeam.jsp|title=Management team|website=Hotwire|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090705121029/http://www.hotwire.com/about-hotwire/our-company/managementTeam.jsp|archive-date=July 5, 2009}} In 2013 Clem left the company and Henrik Kjellberg became President of hotwire.com, after joining from Expedia Affiliate Network, also as President.

Hotwire operates with one General Manager and six Vice Presidents on its management team. Hotwire began with 4 employees, and then grew to 80 within months. Currently, Hotwire has over 300 employees.

= Customer and revenue structure =

As of 2019, the company reported more than 9.5 million unique visitors and 91 million pageviews per month, with a main audience (60%) aged 25-54 years old and 52% of visitors being male.{{Cite web|url=https://advertising.expedia.com/solutions/travelbrands/hotwire|title=Hotwire: Expedia Media Solutions|website=advertising.expedia.com|access-date=2019-02-19}} In 2019, Hotwire's expected revenue was US$ 35 million.{{Cite web|url=https://www.owler.com/company/hotwire|title=Hotwire Competitors, Revenue and Employees - Owler Company Profile|website=Owler|language=en|access-date=2019-08-30}} As a subsidiary brand of the Expedia Group, revenues for Hotwire have not been independently published.{{Cite web|url=https://ir.expediagroup.com/static-files/62b0026a-b78f-4f27-b1d2-168f664b80b6|title=Expedia Group Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2018 Results}}

= Products =

Hotwire's products are based on online traffic and feature the main categories airline travel, car rental services, hotel reservation and vacation packages.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hotwire.com/en/content/hotwire-travel-products-rules-and-restrictions|title=Hotwire Travel Products Rules and Restrictions|website=Hotwire.com|language=en|access-date=2019-08-30}}

Operations

When hotel rooms, airline seats, or rental cars go unsold, they are filled by travel companies through companies like Hotwire. Hotwire does not identify the participating companies until after the purchaser has paid so as not to directly compete with regular retail sales of the travel partners. This sales model is known as an "opaque". According to the Hotwire website, they deal with brand-name travel companies exclusively. This strategy allows Hotwire partners to clear out their supply and sell inventory that would otherwise go unsold. Hotwire reveals the prices and the travel dates of all their products upfront and does not sell via a "bidding" or "auction" model. Hotwire also offers a set of open travel APIs that can be used in travel applications.

Awards

In 2007, J.D. Power and Associates Independent Travel Web Site Satisfaction StudySM recognized Hotwire for ranking "Highest in Customer Satisfaction for Independent Travel Web Sites" for the second year in a row.{{cite web|url=http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.aspx?Feed=PR&Date=20080123&ID=8080261&Symbol=EXPE |title=J.D. Power and Associates Ranks Hotwire.cc Top Travel Site for Second Consecutive Year |work=MSN Money |accessdate=2008-01-23 }}{{dead link|date=May 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} In 2014, the company received Travel Weekly's Silver Magellan Award for their mobile app.{{Cite web|url=https://www.travelweeklyawards.com/winners/list/|title=Travel Weekly Magellan Awards|website=Travel Weekly Magellan Awards|language=en|access-date=2019-08-13}}