Who owns Hotwire?
Hotwire is owned by Expedia Group (the United States, NASDAQ: EXPE), which has owned the brand since 5 November 2003.[1]
Evidence: Expedia Group, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-02-13, SEC EDGAR, 13 February 2026. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Expedia Group, Inc. verified
- Owned since
- Owner HQ
- 🇺🇸 United States, Seattle, Washington
- Origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- Founded
- 2000
- Category
- Internet & digital › Online travel › Online travel agencies
- Parent ticker
- NASDAQ: EXPE
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About Hotwire
Hotwire sells unsold hotel rooms and flights at a discount by hiding the supplier until after purchase, which lets brands cut prices without publicly devaluing themselves. Expedia acquired it in 2003, and the opaque model it pioneered is still used across the travel industry.
How often Expedia Group names Hotwire in its annual report
A plain count of the times the name appears in the text of each annual report, not counting the start of a sentence. A brand that an owner writes about more is usually one it treats as central. The brand is named less often than it was three years earlier.
Ownership timeline of Hotwire
- 2003 – present Expedia Group [1] verified
Where Hotwire sits in Expedia Group
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Expedia Group ownership tree →
See the full Expedia Group brand portfolio (9) →
Other brands owned by Expedia Group
Expedia Group controls 9 brands on Brandtree, 9 of them in internet & digital.
Also in internet & digital
- CheapTickets (1986)
- ebookers (1996)
- Expedia (1996)
- Hotels.com (1991)
- Orbitz (2001)
- Travelocity (1996)
- trivago (2005)
- Vrbo (1995)
Other brands in online travel agencies, and who owns them
Expedia Group has more brands in online travel agencies on Brandtree than any other owner: 7 of 50.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate Traveller | Flight Centre Travel Group | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| Bravofly | lastminute.com Group | 🇳🇱 Netherlands |
| Agoda | Booking Holdings | 🇺🇸 United States |
| AbhiBus | ixigo | 🇮🇳 India |
| eDreams | eDreams ODIGEO | 🇪🇸 Spain |
| Goibibo | MakeMyTrip | 🇮🇳 India |
| Globe All India Services | Yatra | 🇮🇳 India |
| Kurz Mal Weg | HomeToGo | 🇱🇺 Luxembourg |
About the owner: Expedia Group
Expedia Group is a publicly listed company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States, founded in 1996. Brandtree records 9 brands under its control, and it is listed as NASDAQ: EXPE.
Expedia began in 1996 as a division of Microsoft, was spun out in 1999, and passed through Barry Diller's IAC before becoming independent again in 2005. It owns most of the American online travel brands that appear to compete with each other, which is why comparing Expedia against Hotels.com and Orbitz compares three products from one company.
Expedia Group: full profile, brands and acquisition history →
🇺🇸 Hotwire and other American brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 2,570 brands that began in the United States. 492 of them (19%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; Hotwire is not one of them.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Hotwire?
The parent company of Hotwire is Expedia Group, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United States.
Is Hotwire American?
Yes. Hotwire originated in the United States in 2000 and its owner, Expedia Group, is also headquartered in the United States.
Since when has Expedia Group owned Hotwire?
Expedia Group has owned Hotwire since 5 November 2003.
Is Hotwire still owned by Expedia Group?
Yes. As of 29 October 2026, Hotwire is still owned by Expedia Group. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Expedia Group, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-02-13 — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 10-K, published 13 February 2026; retrieved 16 September 2026.
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