After arriving on the iPhone late last year, Hotwire, the popular travel discount site for flights and hotels, has arrived on the iPad via an intuitive App Store app. The iPad version launches today as a free, universal update to the existing iPhone app.

The iPad app is very simple to use. From the start screen of the app, a user can input either their current location or another location where they want to travel, check-in/check-out dates, a number of rooms and guests, and tap a single button to immediately search for matching hotels.

From here, a large, easy-t0-follow map will appear on the right side of the display. The map of the town that you want to travel to is split up into sections by price points, and on the left side, you can select from a more detailed list of hotels. You can also select a general area and price-range and a hotel will be selected for you.

On the each individual hotel page, details such as pricing, specific location, and amenities are presented. Importantly, reviews with a star-rating system are present so you know that you are making the right decision for your hotel.

The iPad app is optimized for being able to quickly, efficiently, and affordably locate a hotel for your trip. To access Hotwire’s Air and Car travel functions, the iPad app will point the user to the Hotwire official website.

The iPad app includes a simple check-out process with slots to input guest and payment information. However, Hotwire users can simply log-in to their existing accounts in order to speed up the checkout procedures.

The app is exclusive to users in the United States and Canada.

Screenshots of the iPad application in action (in addition to a press release) are available below:

SAN FRANCISCO, June 27, 2013 –Hotwire.com®, a leading discount travel site, today announced the launch of its first iPad app, to better serve the rapidly increasing customer base using tablets to purchase last-minute deals. The introduction of a free iPad app expands Hotwire’s suite of mobile products, which includes an award-winning mobile website and an iPhone and iPod touch app, and delivers hotel savings in over 3,145 cities across 61 countries. The app’s unique interface cuts booking time in half when compared to the desktop experience, so travelers can make their next hotel reservation wherever, whenever, and with just a few taps.   

As a leader in offering discounts to the last-minute traveler, Hotwire saw its customer base respond quickly and positively to the launch of its iPhone app last year. In fact, nearly 25 percent of all Hotwire hotel transactions on average now come from a mobile device with 75 percent of hotels being booked same day. Those numbers are only expected to grow as many rarely return back to the desktop version of the site once they have a mobile booking experience*. Overall, mobile bookings are up considerably, and tablet bookings account for nearly half of all mobile purchases. And with tablets expected to overtake smartphones to become the primary source of mobile purchases within the next three years**, Hotwire felt it was the perfect time to launch a dependable iPad app.

“Last year’s iPhone app launch was a nice success, but now we are seeing a huge surge in bookings via tablet devices. What’s even more interesting is that the majority of these mobile users never return to their desktop to book, solely relying on their tablet or smartphone,” said Pierre-Etienne Chartier, vice president of the Hotwire Group. “The trend to book on-the-go, last-minute and via a mobile device is only going to grow as travelers continue to realize that the best savings on discount travel sites can often be found on the day of arrival. In fact, I believe in the near future mobile overtakes desktop when it comes to travelers’ primary purchase source, so now was the perfect time to launch a fast and easy-to-use iPad app.” 

The new iPad app – much like the iPhone app – puts a keen importance on ease of use, speed and savings. Here’s how the app works:

  • Sorting and refining hotel search is instantaneous on the app’s interactive map, cutting out much of the clutter seen on other apps.
  • Users select their preferred deal and the app displays hotel amenities, sample hotel brands within the selected star rating category and the total price.
  • To book, the user simply hits “continue” and either enters their booking information or uses stored information for an even quicker experience. They then receive a confirmation notice with the name and address of their booked hotel.
  • Users may also store and access past and future trips on the My Trips section of the app.

The Hotwire app is available for free today from the U.S. and Canada App Store on iPad or at www.iTunes.com/AppStore.