Hotwire Reviews

Former Employee – worked at Hotwire for more than 7 years

Pros – The best thing about working here has to be the subject matter -- travel. As an employee you get great travel perks and are encouraged to use them. As for day-to-day enjoyment, it all depends on your team here, and which manager is either making your life amazing or miserable. I loved my immediate team members -- great repor in and out of work, collaborative, supportive. Clear reporting structure where I felt comfortable addressing any issues or concerns with management.

Cons – Career/compensation growth can be slow. My biggest issues came from specific individuals that were hired over the years that I had difficulty working with, which can of course happen anywhere. Also, I felt a lot more warmth/fun/connection in the Hotwire culture than by the time I left. It felt like the culture was shifting to a less happy place.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Hotwire full-time

Pros – First of all, kudos to the management for making a wise decision to transition from Waterfall to Agile, very late though and probably the last company to adopt a methodology proven in the market 4 years back. It really gives a great feeling as if sitting on a hot seat everyday.. Work is very interesting and challenging and I see a lot more potential for growth and improvement coming on the way sooner..

Cons – Having said growth potential exists, definitely not in terms of pay / position. Don't expect any promotions.. Expect just few biscuits as increment or bonus.. No recognition for the achievers and your manager will not pat on your back for the job well done. Management aims to be a leader in business and wants to use state of the art technology and tools, but pays literally low compared to the industry standards.. Come on, give something to the real workers.. After all, management should not take all the pride & money at the end of the day.

Advice to Senior Management – Fantastic show in the last 1 year and good luck for the future..

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Hotwire full-time

Pros – - Good work/life balance. I could easily maintain a 40-hour work week and still do well.
- Good benefits. Nice commuter benefits and generous vacation.
- A variety or products and projects to stay busy.

Cons – - Older technology stack. The site is old, and attempting to use newer technologies is difficult.
- Underpays employees. My salary has increased by ~24% since joining 5 years ago.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Hotwire full-time for less than a year

Pros – Great technology, talented employees, and lots of perks. My manager is constantly asking me what he can do to make me feel fulfilled and happy with my job.

Cons – Nothing major comes to mind.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Hotwire full-time for more than a year

Pros – Spent 2012 transitioning to agile product development with dedicated product teams and is going to capitalize on the year of learning how to make great products. Social culture is great, very fun environment to work with lots of fun company activities. Many travel perks available. Pressure is relatively low and you can have a good work/life balance. Some good-to-great engineers here.

Cons – Moves very slowly for a company of this small size. There are senior management positions that are of questionable value and at times become roadblocks to progress. Members of leadership who have been here longer than a two years are risk averse and choose slow improvement options. Poor performers aren't properly addressed and stick around to lower productivity and morale. Career advancement is very slow, matching the generally laid back pace.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Hotwire full-time

Pros – Great people, strong individualized culture, definitely promotes work/life balance. It's a very friendly company with some smart people. Great SF city location.

Cons – Probably not as innovative as it thinks it is, which results in a lot of turnover in Engineering. Not as much accountability as you'd expect either with regards to product launches. Also groups are pretty siloed with not as much cross-depatrment communication

Advice to Senior Management – Listen to the ranks even more. Pay better.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Hotwire

Pros – Friendly environment and adequate management.

Cons – Slow career growth and not very interesting project.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Hotwire full-time for more than a year

Pros – Small company
Great location in the downtown San Francisco
Fairly laid back work environment
Very start-up like feel in that everyone sat in a cube including VPs

Cons – Poor salary
Job role not well-defined, not well-respected
No career advancement opportunities beyond Senior Producer
Reporting structure was conflict of interest and made it impossible to do job effectively

Advice to Senior Management – Pay people market value and define roles more clearly.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Hotwire full-time

Pros – Bright colleagues
Demanding but manageable work environment
Reasonable hours (50hrs/wk)
Regular Travel (if you want it)

Cons – Vertical mobility a little tough on the partner services side

Advice to Senior Management – Keep it up

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Hotwire full-time for more than a year

Pros – friendly group of people, not cutting edge technically, looking to get a bit better each day.

Cons – slightly cliquish, nice people all around though. At good companies you'll find synergy between groups, here there is some politics between departments.

Advice to Senior Management – none, they have handle on things.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend