Airlines’ Web Site Checks In to Hotels

An Internet site offering discounted domestic air fares, launched last fall by six airlines and other investors, last week expanded into hotel offerings. Next month it plans to offer car rentals and international plane tickets, said spokeswoman Nicole Zent.

The expansion places the site, https://www.hotwire.com, in head-to-head competition against online auctioneer https://www.priceline.com and travel search engines such as https://www.travelocity.com. In the case of hotels, Hotwire lets customers specify their dates of travel and city, then offers choices and prices in general categories such as “luxury deluxe” or “upscale.” Customers get 30 minutes to accept or reject the offers without knowing the specific hotel or address, which are disclosed after the online purchase. All sales are final.