Booking Flights on Kayak: Pros and Cons

The process of searching each airline one by one to get the lowest airfare and best routes is time-consuming and frustrating. Also, it is difficult to quickly compare several results across many websites. That is the reason why travel agencies, like Kayak, are so famous: OTAs offer options for booking flights from many airlines in one place, minimizing tab fatigue and saving time.

In this Kayak.com review, we will look at the process of booking through Kayak versus airline websites in order to determine if it is one of the best places to search for flights.

Pros of Booking Flights through Kayak

All flights of several airlines can be found in one place

It is annoying to search for flights on different airline websites. Kayak compares prices among dozens of airlines, searching simply.

Provides for cities price trends

After you indicate which cities you wish to travel between, Kayak displays the price trends within those cities. Trends apply to how many days you wish to travel, and easy-to-read graphs show the cheapest or most expensive dates. Kayak offers a critical advantage when compared to airline websites when booking.

Possible destination options to be considered

Kayak has a map-based search; therefore, based on your departure city code and travel dates, it will suggest various cities that can be travelled to depending on the price. It allows travelers to identify potential destinations in the U.S. and internationally. This is a solution when you want to travel (and what dates) but have yet to determine where.

Hacker Fares can help you save more money

Some airlines have low-cost single-direction tickets, but return flights are costly. By reserving through Kayak, you may get the advantage of “Hacker Fares,” allowing different airlines to service return and departure flights. These fares of split-airline can frequently result in the lowest price possible, which is not a transparent way to book directly with the airlines.

Price alerts when change in fares

While looking between two cities, you could click to get alert emails when prices change for that selected route. Furthermore, travellers who are not still need to be ready to make the booking can be alerted regarding price fluctuations so that they can grab the flight when prices reach a level that fits within their budget.

Provides ‘fee assistance’ for checked bags or carry-on

Sometimes, when you fly with some airlines, checked baggage fees are charged at the airport. Kayak provides a “fee assistant” that includes checked bag fees in its search results, so you do not get blindsided by this additional charge.

On the disadvantage, you cannot include your credit card or elite status benefits when comparing. Either would likely cancel baggage fees, which would hold down the price.

Airline alliance search

For those travellers who like to stay with one particular airline alliance, you may filter the results by your preferred alliance. This is more convenient since you can take advantage of the benefits of the alliance when flying with an alliance partner and be able to choose which flight will count toward earning elite status.

“Aircraft type” filter searches

Real aviation geeks looking for specific planes they want to fly will be able to filter by aircraft types in the Kayak search results. By selecting this filter, you will have your desired seat arrangement, in-flight experience, and so on.

Airlines like Southwest Airlines flights were not in OTA search results for several years. In addition, Kayak is among those few OTAs that offer Southwest flights, so you can compare them to other airlines. Â However, this function is only accessible through a Kayak business account – which costs nothing to open.

Cons of booking with Kayak

Kayak.com books only several flights

Kayak.com allows you to search for your ideal flight and then make a reservation, but there are few available options of booking your flight directly on Kayak. Often, when you use Kayak, it directs you to the official website (or another OTA) of the airline in order to book the flight.

It may confuse travellers, and it is difficult to know who they need to be when something went wrong. Also, if you’re redirected to a site that is unknown to you, it may seem like your credit card and your personal information are lost.

No loyalty program

Such other OTAs as Priceline and Expedia have loyalty programs that acknowledge their best members. Kayak does not. Users cannot accumulate points that are redeemable for discounts, free rooms or some other perks. This reduces the motivation for reserving a Kayak instead of airlines or other OTAs that provide loyalty schemes.

Sponsored flights appear within search result

The search results’ first flight is a paid ad, so although its route and price may be attractive, it may not exactly be the best deal.

Kayak flights, recapped

Kayak offers various advantages and facilitates the price comparison of airfares for various airlines. However, you can only sometimes book directly with Kayak. Or you may be referred to the airline’s website or another online travel agency to finish your reservation.

Also, different credit cards earn you reward points or elite status bonuses once you book a flight with them.

People May Also Ask

How trustworthy is Kayak?

Kayak is as reliable as every other travel search engine, so one would never ask, “Can I trust Kayak?” In fact, it could be even more reliable than third-party booking websites because of its ability to direct users to individual travel providers for booking.

Can I purchase airline tickets through Kayak?

After you have chosen a flight, hit on “View Deal” and Kayak will redirect you directly to the airline’s or online travel agency home page for booking the plane ticket. It may seem like you are booking your flight directly via Kayak, but it will direct you to an OTA. Kayak does not sell flights directly.

Is Kayak charging any booking fee?

Prices are coming directly from travel sites to your screen and have no hidden charge from KAYAK. After you have selected your desired deal, the provider of that deal pays us either to direct you to their site or to facilitate booking with them. This makes their service completely free of charge for their customers.

Does Kayak allow cancellation?

We realize that travel plans frequently change. Tickets should be cancelled at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

What is a hacker fare on Kayak?

In airline ticketing, the term hacker fare can refer to one of these two things: Booking two one-way tickets in order to purchase a round trip for less money than a conventional return ticket, mainly via two different carriers (a term that Kayak invented), hidden-city ticketing.