Just a quick head’s up for fellow travelers — Hotwire doesn’t always reflect real-time car rental inventory, so you might wind up with a reservation and no cars available.

When I reached my destination this morning my original transportation options from the airport didn’t work out so I hopped on Hotwire, picked their special rate for $10 less, and had a last minute rental car booked in under 5 minutes.

Then I moseyed up to the Alamo counter, presented my ID, and mentioned I had just made the booking.

Turns out that location was sold out and couldn’t honor reservations made less than 24 hours in advance.

“But I already paid Hotwire.”

“Ah, it’s a Hotwire booking? They have no idea what inventory we actually have.”

The agent was awesome though and figured out a solution that had me in a car just a few minutes later. One of the fastest pick ups I’ve actually ever had at that location.

On this trip it didn’t really matter if I had had to wait or find a different option (provided they gave me a refund), but I’ve been in other situations where it would have made a big difference. So now I know if its important and I need a car last minute, Hotwire might not be my best bet.

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