Hotwire Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Hotwire

Pros – The company has a great work life balance. The company has a good strategic plan and doesn't deviate from it to chase the idea of the month. Most of the people are fun to work with and are smart and motivated. The perks are pretty good. You get pretty good discounts on travel. There are company events and morale boosters pretty frequently. The office is new and nice. The company is pretty small so you get to know almost everyone. But it is part of Expedia so there is the backing of a larger company. The company is performing very well.

Cons – Because the company is small, the opportunities for advancement are limited. There could be better communication and collaboration between some of the groups. Other than that there is not a lot of negative things that I could say about working at Hotwire. On a more macro level, one downside is that the business is going to follow the trends of the economy. As fewer people are able or willing to travel, that will have a negative impact on how Hotwire performs. This is true for many businesses, but leisure travel is probably a sector that could be harder hit by the economic slowdown.

Advice to Senior Management – Figure out better ways to allow people to be promoted through the organization.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Hotwire

Pros – Hotwire as a company has very good ethical values. Employees are treated with respect. Senior management does care about employees and always does it best to maintain the balance between employee's work and personal life. Hotwire has by far the best benefits package. Senior management is quite accessible to all the employees. Hotwire also gathers periodic feedback from the employees, understands the concerns and tries to address them as best as it can. Hotwire is also a good technology company. It always tries to use the latest and greatest technologies. Hotwire also tries to be innovative

Cons – Hotwire being part of a big public company doesn't get much attention even when it performs very well. Hotwire's performance doesn't seem to affect the overall performance of the company. The career growth for employees is not promising enough in Hotwire. People are kinda stuck at certain levels.

Advice to Senior Management – I think Senior Management can put more effort on career development prospects for the employees.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Hotwire

Pros – The work-life balance is great at Hotwire. Performance is judged much more on what you do than on how long it takes to do it. Risk taking is encouraged, and good ideas are usually adopted in Hotwire's open atmosphere.

Cons – Not everyone is vested in the company. Some people care a lot about the success, while others are there collecting a paycheck. Almost all people do what is expected of them, but you really need to take some chances to make serious career progress. Even then, the company's size limits how many options are open at higher levels.

Advice to Senior Management – Sever the ties to Expedia. Expedia and Hotwire function in such different ways that the matrix structure rarely makes sense.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Hotwire

Pros – This is the bext company to work because of the process, benefits.

Cons – No new technologies are implemented. No direction towards moving to new technologies.

Advice to Senior Management – I would like to make new techologies available in the technology stack to attract the new guys.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Hotwire

Pros – Hotwire is great place to work for people seeking the balance and stability of an established company combined with the space for creativity and individual performance. Hotwire still has lots of entrepreneurship available, although within a corporate context. Expedia, Inc. chose to keep Hotwire located in the Bay Area, which is a huge upside versus having to go to Seattle.

Cons – Hotwire is often viewed as the step child of Expedia.com. If you aren't in Bellevue, you won't get much press or recognition at the most senior levels. Since Hotwire is now more mature, employees need to expect to wait through normal review cycles. Promotions will not come quickly.

Advice to Senior Management – Stay the course, Hotwire is an excellent place for most employees and is producing some great results. Always stick to your entrepreneurial roots and you will do well.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Hotwire

Pros – Great People, Great Motivation, Great Location.. its always a great feeling to come to work everyday and complete required tasks that make process easy

Cons – Longer commute is one of them

Advice to Senior Management – just make simple ideas monetary. Let employees work from home. Believe when employee say they can work from home and still make a difference

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Hotwire

Pros – Good benefits especially paid time off. Fun people. Good pay.

Cons – Cliquish management. Current management is more tactical than strategic and lacks foresight.

Advice to Senior Management – Get back to thinking strategically like was done two years ago. Quit being Polly Annish about the relationship between Hotwire and Expedia.

Former Employee – worked at Hotwire

Pros – The provide nice benefits through Expedia including some travel incentives. Work can be interesting and you can get a variety. If you want to move jobs you can do so throughout all of Expedia. On the whole people are smart and motivated. they have a good office location. Work-life balance is emphasized. Teams can move fast and execute well.

Cons – The well-developed and proven project processes can get a little heavy-handed. Being owned by a larger corporation makes it feel like management's hands are tied at times.

Advice to Senior Management – let the employees shine, don't hold them back. They are excellent at executing.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Hotwire

Pros – 1. Company hires good, smart, motivated people
2. Company is a leader across the travel industry in a number (perhaps most) funcational areas
3. The business is growing and the company has the resources to spend on innovation
4. There isn't a culture of over-work and face-time; get your work done and go home (or go out)
5. A lot of laughter. Folks don't take themselves too seriously

Cons – 1. Flexible work policy isn't that flexible
2. Salaries and benefits are OK but not stellar
3. It's a medium-sized business (100-200 people); career progression is limited unless you're willing to transfer to another Expedia Inc. business, which would likely mean moving

Advice to Senior Management – The people make all the difference. Keep investing in them.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Hotwire

Pros – Good compensation, vacation days, travel discount, latest technologies.

Cons – Gets monotonous after a while. You keep doing the same work.

Advice to Senior Management – Please don't be partial. Need to recognize employees contribution.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend