Am I wasting my time with Kayak?

[dougsmom98]

Hi. I learned about Kayak.com from these boards and really like how they search a bunch of sites for me. I have come across several flights in my price range over the last few weeks and every time I click to purchase, it says it is no longer available. I understand that can happen, but when I resubmit my flight preferances on Kayak, those same flights come up over and over again. I have gone directly to the airlines web sites and have not had any luck getting those flights for the same price. Is this something that happens on Kayak a lot?

 

[magicaldisney]

Just noticed Kayak on booking buddy and I haven't tried it before. Interesting, that when you try it, there is no availability. Does the site try to have you book more expensive flights then?

I am curious to see what other have to say.

 

[dougsmom98]

No, they don't try to book me at a higher price. I just wish I could get the flights at the prices they are showing. This site is awesome for searching but if it is all for nothing then I might as well spend my time searching elsewhere.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Kayak.com is a great way to know what airlines serve a given route with nonstop and connecting flights, what the best prices tend to be, and if there are alternate airports.

However, Kayak is not foolproof. In my experience, Kayak sometimes does not give a complete picture. Also, with most airlines these days, unless you book directly with the airline's website, you'll usually pay $5 more per ticket.

So my advice would be: Use Kayak for research, but book directly with the airline's own website.

 

[Lewisc]

I used on of the low fare services a few years ago. After a couple of attempts to book I found they were showing the lowest published fare for the route/flight but made no attempt to verify if there were any seats available at that fare until I actually tried to book.


I wonder if Kayak is doing the same thing.

 

[snowbunny]

Use Kayak for research, but book directly with the airline's own website.

In my experience you can't book directly with Kayak anyway? I used it to search fares and when I clicked on the JetBlue fare, it took me directly to the appropriate screen on JetBlue's website, where I booked. This was a couple of months ago.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Right. Kayak is a travel search engine, NOT a travel agency. Now, sometimes they report the lowest fare as being available from an online agency instead of the service provider, and I'd think the price on Kayak would include such a site's fees.

 

[Straitlover]

I have been pricing trips on Kayak for RDU-New Orleans and RDU-Gulfport. Every single time, it'll copme up w/ a price and every time I click on it it says something like this price is no longer available and offer one about $100 more. however, I've been having the same problem on some of the airline websites, too. It's really starting to irritate me!

 

[wee-haggis]

www.sidestep.com is the same.
Search engine only...then direct link to individual companies' website

 

[dougsmom98]

Well, after seeing the flight that I was interested in all day on Kayak and not able to book it once I clicked on the link, I called United directly. They couldn't even come close to the $244 from PWM-MCO over President's week that I saw on the Kayak search engine. They had me call technical support. I told the representative each of the flight numbers that were on Kayak and each of the departing cities (there were two stops). From what they could see, the middle flight number was not a United flight and that is why I couldn't book it. So, it looks like an error on Kayak's part because they clearly labeled all three legs as United flights. So, I guess I will still use Kayak, but I definately won't get too excited about anything I see until it is verified on the airline's website.

 

[FlyingBelle]

So my advice would be: Use Kayak for research, but book directly with the airline's own website.

AGREED!