Hotwire for Hotels - quickest way to a great price on a room

For those who don't want to take the time to bid and re-bid on Priceline, but still want to save money vs. the generally available prices on hotels, try Hotwire. It will frequently give you a pretty good price relative to Expedia and Travelocity, and with very little hassle. You just have to be ready to take the brand they give you. Normally I find that I save about 20-40% on Hotwire (vs. up to 60% on Priceline).

Caveats:

• Look carefully at the maps of the neighborhoods...even if the neighborhood says "DFW", it may be nowhere near the airport and may not have an airport shuttle.
  
• Check out the amenities if you want to know if there is a free shuttle, internet service available, etc. (This is a key advantage vs. Priceline.)
• If you really want to know which hotel you're going to get, you might try searching Hotwire's package product for the same city. If you find a hotel in the same neighborhood at the same star level with the exact same list of amenities, it is likely the same hotel. And the package product shows hotel names.
• Go to the page where it shows the final price including taxes and fees before comparing to the alternatives. Sometimes the hidden fees in Hotwire make it more expensive than you thought it would be.