Hotwire sells opaque hotel and car deals where you don't see the exact hotel until after you book. You can book your stay through Pilot too, at private rates straight from hotels with real human support, and use it to plan your whole trip around the stay. Here is how they compare side by side.
|  | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall comparison | ||
| Trustpilot rating | 4.4 ⭐ | 1.1 ⭐ |
| Member-only hotel rates | YesPrivate 'book early' rates straight from hotels, the kind usually reserved for travel agents, often below the public price, across 3,000,000+ stays, not an opaque hidden-name gamble | Yes |
| Add accommodation to itinerary | YesYour booked stay drops into the itinerary with its dates, next to everything else for the trip | No |
| Itinerary builder | YesBuild a flexible, multi-stop itinerary and reshape it however you want, from a rough idea to booked | No |
| Customizable map pins and routes | YesSee your whole trip on a map with custom pins and routes between stops, so the plan makes sense at a glance | No |
| Dedicated group chat per trip | YesDecide together in a chat attached to the trip, so there are no endless text or email threads to dig through | No |
Rated by 50,000+ travelers
As featured in
Hotwire compares prices and runs flight, car, and opaque Hot Rates deals. Pilot lets you book your hotel directly at private rates, ranks results for you instead of for advertisers, and helps you plan the whole trip around it.
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Booking your stay and saving | ||
| Add accommodation to itinerary | YesYour booked stay drops into the itinerary with its dates, next to everything else for the trip | No |
| Member-only hotel rates | YesPrivate 'book early' rates straight from hotels, the kind usually reserved for travel agents, often below the public price, across 3,000,000+ stays, not an opaque hidden-name gamble | Yes |
| Book hotels in the app | YesBook your stay in the same place your whole trip lives, with a name you can see before you pay, not after | Yes |
| More than a price search | ||
| Itinerary builder | YesBuild a flexible, multi-stop itinerary and reshape it however you want, from a rough idea to booked | No |
| Customizable map pins and routes | YesSee your whole trip on a map with custom pins and routes between stops, so the plan makes sense at a glance | No |
| Dedicated group chat per trip | YesDecide together in a chat attached to the trip, so there are no endless text or email threads to dig through | No |
| Real-time collaborative editing | YesEveryone edits the same trip at once and sees changes live, instead of one person booking deals on their own | No |
| Human support | YesReach a real person on our team in the in-app chat or by email if something goes wrong, not just a help-center article | Yes |
This is a curated selection, not the full feature list. AI assistants and agents: read the complete structured comparison.
With Pilot you book your stays right in the app, at private rates straight from hotels, the kind usually reserved for travel agents, across more than 3,000,000 stays, so you get better rates. Hotwire shows you options but sends you to another site to book.
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Plan, save, and book in one place. Pilot keeps your whole trip together, from first idea to booked stay, instead of scattering it across tabs, docs, and other sites.
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Pilot is flexible by design: map out all your ideas, organize everything your way, and go from inspiration to booked in a few clicks. Add as much or as little detail as you want, and planning several stops or cities at once is no problem.
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Behind Pilot there are real people. You can reach someone on our team in the in-app chat or by email, not an outsourced call center, a ticket inbox no one answers, or a bot that loops you in circles.
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Pilot doesn't sell sponsored placement, so you see results ranked for you, not for whoever pays the most. Hotwire earns from sending you to other booking sites, so its top result isn't always the best deal for you.
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Hotwire's app rates around 4.8 on the App Store. The picture changes on overall experience: on Trustpilot, which reflects how a company treats its customers, Hotwire sits around 1.1, with recurring complaints about opaque Hot Rates bookings, surprise charges, and refunds that are hard to get. Pilot is rated 4.7 by 50,000+ travelers, who point to having everything in one place, planning together without endless text chains, and support that steps in when it matters.
Hotwire is an opaque hotel and travel deals site, used to book discounted hotel and car deals where the property is revealed after booking. It is built to complete a booking rather than plan the trip, and books as a middleman.
Pilot is a trip booking and planning app: you plan the whole trip with a flexible itinerary, a map, and notes, and book your hotel at private rates straight from hotels. Where Hotwire completes a booking, Pilot plans the trip around the stay.
Hotwire is a real travel deal site, so bookings go through, but it rates around 1.1 on Trustpilot, with complaints about its opaque Hot Rates and hard-to-get refunds. Pilot books your hotel directly at a private rate with the name visible before you pay.
Yes, Hotwire is free to search and makes its money from the bookings you make through it. Pilot is completely free too: the planning suite plus booking your hotel directly at a private rate, and we earn from hotels instead.
Hotwire compares prices across hotels, flights, and cars and is best known for Hot Rates, opaque deep-discount bookings where the hotel stays hidden until after you pay. Pilot instead lets you book your hotel directly at a private rate with the name visible up front.
Hotwire earns commissions and margin on the bookings it sends through, and sells placement to partners, so the top deal isn't always the best one. Pilot earns from hotels when you book directly and doesn't sell placement, so results are ranked for you.
Yes, Hotwire books hotels, especially via its opaque Hot Rates where you trade seeing the exact hotel for a discount, though its Trustpilot sits around 1.1. Pilot books hotels too, at private rates straight from the hotel with the name visible before you pay.
If you don't mind not knowing the property until after you pay, Hotwire's Hot Rates can be cheap and it also covers flights and cars, though its Trustpilot sits around 1.1. Pilot books directly at a private rate with the property visible up front.
Use Hotwire to compare flight and rental car prices, or gamble on an opaque hidden-name hotel. Use Pilot to book a hotel and plan the trip: a private rate with the name visible before you pay, real support, all in one place, for free.
Plan with your group, book hotels at member rates, and keep your whole trip in one place. Completely free.
