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Hotwire Booking Site Tops in Customer Satisfaction

In a new J.D. Power and Associates survey, "opaque" booking site Hotwire makes customers the happiest.

When you book on Hotwire.com, you don't know for sure which hotel you are getting. You know the general location, the price, and the star level. For a whole lot of travelers, that's good enough.

In a J.D. Power and Associates survey of "6,800 consumers who booked their travel reservation through an independent Web site, Hotwire scored the best ratings.

Not that the other booking sites fared too badly. Out of a possible 1,000 points, Hotwire received 824. But the lowest score--for Hotels.com--was only 788, which is not exactly a thumping. "Hotwire.com received the highest ratings for the two things that matter most to customers -- competitiveness of price and ease of booking."

On the price factor, it is very hard to fault Hotwire, especially at the 2.5 to 4-star level. Pull up the site today and there are 4-star rates of $79 for Chicago, $80 for Atlanta, $81 for L.A., and $99 for D.C.--before fees and taxes of course.

And here's a hint to remove some uncertainty from the process: go to BetterBidding.com and you can see which hotels other bidders got for the price--and where you are likely to end up.

[Photo: Daanell]