Problem w KAYAK

[silmarg]

I did a search today for airfare for my upcoming WDW trip. I found airfare at a bargain basement price... but when I try to book it via orbitz or cheaptickets (this is where Kayak is sending me)... they say "We're sorry, due to changes in availability, we're unable to confirm your selection with the airline. Please make another selection."

But when I go back to Kayak... the flights continue to show up.

Is there anyway I can get Kayak to honor the price?

 

[azdizzymom]

There is tiny print at the bottom of the page on flight information that states:
"We make every attempt to get accurate prices, but prices are not guaranteed."

Then when you click on the 'prices are not guaranteed' there is this link:

Does KAYAK Guarantee Prices?

No, we don't.

This might surprise you, but there is an excellent and logical reason for this. It's rooted in the fundamental nature of KAYAK, which is different than most other travel web sites. In short, KAYAK doesn't set prices, or sell any travel products. KAYAK is a search engine, and, in the same way that Google doesn't guarantee search results are true or accurate, we don't guarantee prices we find.

Now, it's not in our interest to show prices that are out-of-date or in error. If prices we find for you are unreliable, then we're not really saving you much time. You might as well play Ms. Pacman rather than use KAYAK, for all the good we're doing.

So, if you come across a price on KAYAK, and click through to an airline site, and the price is wrong, you're going to be annoyed; maybe even angry. Sometimes people think we are tricking them. But it's completely against our interests, your interests, and the interests of travel sites that KAYAK searches, to show you one price, then 5 seconds later show you the same flight for $134 more. Why would we do that on purpose? It would be silly.

At this point, you may be asking yourself, "Golly, why doesn't KAYAK just find the correct price and show that? How hard can it be?" Ah, there's the rub. It turns out it is a pretty tricky problem, in particular with regard to airfares. We've got this big room full of brainiacs, who think about this all day long, and they are making steady progress. It's slow going, a struggle that we take on airline by airline, route by route.

It's not all gloom and doom, though. You can still save scads of time searching with KAYAK before you decide what to buy and where to buy it, not to mention money. The alternative, searching hundreds of web sites yourself, isn't much fun.

What should you do? We're a little biased, but we think you should use KAYAK to search before you buy. If you run across a bad price, and are feeling charitable, report it to us so we can use the information to improve.

Ever faithfully, your travel minions,

KAYAK

 

[Alexander]

Kayak is nothing more than a search engine. They search multiple travel agency sites and airline sites at the same time saving you from having to to multiple searches. They are not a travel agency and they do not guarantee you any specific rate. Often a rate will appear even on a legacy carriers website and when you go to book it, the rate changes. Welcome to the industry of airfare!

 

[silmarg]

When I goto Kayak I see a $71 round trip airfare from Newark to Tampa (it would be worth it to fly to Tampa over MCO for this cheap).

I go to orbitz or cheap tickets and i see $71. When I click to purchase, it balks. But when I go back to Kayak, the $71 keeps showing up.

Oh well...

 

[kaytieeldr]

Honestly? That's an Orbitz and Cheaptickets problem much more than anything to do with Kayak. Want to test my claim? Skip Kayak. Go directly to Orbitz. Put in your dates and airports. Search. If you still get the same $71, try booking the flight. I think you can't. Why? Those sites haven't updated their information, and won't for a while. No, I don't know how long .

I used to try to book a former boss flights from Boston to St. Louis, long before Kayak existed. Invariably, Orbitz had the best prices. Just as invariably, when I got to the payment page, there were no seats left at that (excellent) fare. Different times, different days, different months - didn't matter.

 

[silmarg]

Honestly? That's an Orbitz and Cheaptickets problem much more than anything to do with Kayak. Want to test my claim? Skip Kayak. Go directly to Orbitz. Put in your dates and airports. Search. If you still get the same $71, try booking the flight. I think you can't. Why? Those sites haven't updated their information, and won't for a while. No, I don't know how long .

I used to try to book a former boss flights from Boston to St. Louis, long before Kayak existed. Invariably, Orbitz had the best prices. Just as invariably, when I got to the payment page, there were no seats left at that (excellent) fare. Different times, different days, different months - didn't matter.

YUP... Earlier this evening the $71 was showing up on Orbitz directly, but when you book its not available. Now the $71 does not show up directly on Orbitz... only on Kayak... that points you to Orbitz.

 

[Ambassador]

did you try booking the airline directly from their site?

 

[bumbershoot]

"You might as well play Ms. Pacman rather than use KAYAK, for all the good we're doing."

That's hilarious.


OP, they ask you to report this sort of thing so they can improve it.

But ultimately, all they are is a search engine (though it looks like you can book *hotels* directly through them).

 

[CPT Tripss]

did you try booking the airline directly from their site?

 

[Brian Noble]

This happens from time to time. The root cause of the problem is that the airline in question either published a rate that isn't currently for sale, or they have not updated their published fares for that flight. There isn't much you can do about it. I've seen this happen most often with AirTran, but it has happened with others as well.

 

[silmarg]

did you try booking the airline directly from their site?

The airline did not have the fare so low... it was Orbitz and Cheaptickets...