• Kayak

Kayak

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Overview

Kayak has a rating of 2.3 stars from 321 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about Kayak most frequently mention customer service, credit card, and search engine problems. Kayak ranks 228th among Travel Search Engine sites.

  • Service
    55
  • Value
    48
  • Shipping
    17
  • Returns
    25
  • Quality
    41

This company does not typically respond to reviews

Positive reviews (last 12 months): 44.4%
Positive
4
Neutral
0
Negative
5
15
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How would you rate Kayak?
Top Positive Review

“Easy, quick, dependable”

Nick M.
3/20/15

Perfect place to compare flights, hotels, or cars. Truly a one stop shop. I'm so sick of popup and other ambiguous travel sites. Kayak's price predictor is top notch and the interface is bold but simple. I like that you can set up alerts for price points

Top Critical Review

“Don't trust Kayak, they partner with scammers”

Elinor M.
9/11/22

Kayak used to be a trustworthy site but not anymore! They send customers to unscrupulous partners, like Travelgenio, who take your money, give poor customer service (no way to reach them, they ignore your emails, etc.) and don't give people refunds or vouchers they are eligible for (among many other complaints many people have). Kayak sends unsuspecting customers to these shady sites and then walks away with commission. Use the airlines directly, not these unnecessary middlemen.

Reviews (321)

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Reviews that mention popular keywords

customer service (60) use kayak (72) credit card (20) travel sites (21)
Thumbnail of user elinorm14
1 review
4 helpful votes
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September 11th, 2022

Kayak used to be a trustworthy site but not anymore! They send customers to unscrupulous partners, like Travelgenio, who take your money, give poor customer service (no way to reach them, they ignore your emails, etc.) and don't give people refunds or vouchers they are eligible for (among many other complaints many people have). Kayak sends unsuspecting customers to these shady sites and then walks away with commission. Use the airlines directly, not these unnecessary middlemen.

Service
Value
Thumbnail of user joannaj14
4 reviews
20 helpful votes
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August 4th, 2023

I have been trying to book a flight. Kayak shows what looks like a good price. I click on the button and suddenly the price changes, and definitely not in my favor! I try the other link that shows the same price, same thing! Kayak does NOT offer cheap flights, they offer you cheap LIES, and then they to bait and switch you into the actually much more expensive flights. I left the times on the photos so you can see these screen shots were within seconds of each other. And I could take the same pictures 8 hours ago so no, the prices didn't "just" change and the system hasn't caught up, they are like this as a standard matter of policy.

Tip for consumers:
This should be illegal to show prices that don't exist!

Products used:
I am still looking due to their lies

Thumbnail of user nickm59
14 reviews
25 helpful votes
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March 20th, 2015

Perfect place to compare flights, hotels, or cars.

Truly a one stop shop. I'm so sick of popup and other ambiguous travel sites. Kayak's price predictor is top notch and the interface is bold but simple.

I like that you can set up alerts for price points

Thumbnail of user allaa2
5 reviews
6 helpful votes
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May 30th, 2016

I literally end up booking all my flight via Kayak. I've tried many: expedia, skyscanner, opodo, last minute and etc - but every time prices on Kayak are better and they have some great search options, allowing you to quickly compare and book your flight. Highly recommend it.

Thumbnail of user claasj
1 review
3 helpful votes
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July 5th, 2017

If you want to find best price for your trip, avoid kayak. Low cost airlines like Thai Smile have their own online booking which is much cheaper but not included in kayak search. Kayak suggested to book same flight via kiwi.com 50% more expensive. Never again

Thumbnail of user jamesl14
15 reviews
81 helpful votes
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June 19th, 2011

Indispensable tool when you are traveling to get the best prices for plane tickets. Although it doesn't carry every airline, like regional stuff in south america, it does a pretty good job for US travels. I always use the search then link directly to the airline's own website. I've never seen a better price displayed on Travelocity or any of the other travel sites, and they always charge a commission and make cancellations are complete nightmare.

Thumbnail of user barlamg
12 reviews
26 helpful votes
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January 29th, 2014

Why anyone would want to walk into a travel agents or use other sites for flights only is beyond me. Kayak filters everything down and is far easier to use and quicker than Skyscanner. You can also adjust to your own preferences if you have a favourite airline, or just browse with approximate calendar dates. The site makes it clear what are the cheapest seats available at any one moment.

Thumbnail of user tr280
1 review
0 helpful votes
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August 11th, 2022

Wood Springs Suites San Antonio Tx Stone Oak
You can not go wrong with your stay here.
Easy in and out location. Safe and Quite.
Employees are very helpful. They'll help with anything you might need.

TR

Service
Value
Quality
Thumbnail of user janetb16
1 review
17 helpful votes
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August 4th, 2013

Booked a car through kayak with enterprise. Went to pick car up in Stuttgart to find though quoted €230. We had not got any insurance even though I was sure I had added this and and also would have to pay €6 a day if we took the car out of Germany! We ended our holiday paying €437! When could eventually contact kayak they said it was all in the small print. My advice is check that your insurance is included and about the border money before you go as this put quite a damper on our holiday. Don't think I'd use kayak again.

Thumbnail of user ashleym1319
1 review
4 helpful votes
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January 2nd, 2022

My Ethiopian flight was cancelled without Kayak informing me. I found out through my sister who picked the same flight via Expedia. When i informed Kayak, they failed to put me on another flight…stating they are waiting to hear back from Ethiopia airlines. After receiving no response for 2 weeks, I asked Kayak for a refund. And again, no response. Thus, I had to call my credit card company to dispute the transaction. Thank you chase for being understanding. However, I DO NOT recommend flying with Ethiopian airlines or booking through Kayak. Terrible customer service especially when it entails refunding people their money.

Thumbnail of user williamf21
4 reviews
6 helpful votes
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January 10th, 2013

I work as a concierge and marketer at Hotel Maison De Ville. This review is from a business perspective- They are the best, if not one of the best to deal with.

I have had nothing but headaches dealing with other hotel search engines, whether it was incorrect information or having to wait 2 months just to claim our Hotel as OUR hotel in their business listing.

Through Kayak.com not only were we able to claim our hotel through a quick (but secure) sign up process, but the management screen is so simplistic that I was able to update the outdated information and have it approved with new photos in less than a week. That's a ridiculous turnaround considering that for other sites I have to wait weeks if not months for approval.

There was also an error when people were trying to book us, it didn't give our phone number and incorrectly stated we had no rooms. I sent kayak.com an email and they had it fixed in mere HOURS. I can't recommend their site highly enough.

Thumbnail of user daniab1
1 review
16 helpful votes
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September 28th, 2017

Kayak.com sucks when it comes to doing their job. Do not book a car with them or with Dollar/Thrifty. I wish i could give a zero and not a 1 for ratings. Poor customer service on both ends. Gave me this around Kayak that Dollar owed me the refund then Dollar same thing on no Kayak owe you the refund. I would suggest dealing with the actual car rental company like Enterprise etc but don't book with a third party. From personal experiences. Second time trying Dollar car rental. Never again... You have been warned..

Thumbnail of user rs172
4 reviews
19 helpful votes
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May 3rd, 2017

Kayak.com essentially is a deceptive advertising platform for shady booking companies to blend in with legit airlines to fleece unsuspected travelers with 'cheap fares' schemes. Booking companies like Vayama and kiwi.com can become a thorn in your travel experience. They "partnered" with Kayak.com to get customers but they provide no real customer service. These booking companies have hidden fees that make it very unwise to use them. And Kayak.com facilitates all this. Just stay away from Kayak.com to save yourself money, headache, and suffering.

Thumbnail of user rogerr1
5 reviews
13 helpful votes
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October 30th, 2010

There's no reason to search the other travel sites because Kayak already does that. This is the one stop shop for putting together travel ideas. Although the prices might not reflect the best deals out there, it's a good starting place for finding out what actual flights will get you to where you want to go. In terms of prices, there's a lot of strategies out there and Kayak does a good job of quantifying price fluctuations and trends, but sometimes once you know the flight you want it's just better to buy directly from the airline. I've been using this site for years and plan to continue until Google comes up with something clever and makes it obsolete ;)

Thumbnail of user leahb8
3 reviews
5 helpful votes
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September 28th, 2014

This is my favorite travel site! It's so easy to use and you really do get the best deals! I have probably booked 10 or so trips through them. One time my flight was cheaper buy renting a car at the same time, so check out their deals.

Tip for consumers:
Make sure you check out surround flights and different days to get the best deal.

Service
Value
Thumbnail of user paulj46
1 review
4 helpful votes
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February 14th, 2014

Found a hotel on Kayak and entered all the info to complete the booking. The last page showed the terms which were never get a refund for any part of the booking if you cancel. I never check the box to accept those terms and they processed it anyway. I immediately called explained the situation, ask for supervisor in total spoke with three people got transferred etc. In the end they would do nothing except take the money. There whole booking system is set up to cheat you. There is no reason to ever make a reservation through Kayak. There bordering on crooked.

Thumbnail of user dustytodd
1 review
2 helpful votes
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February 20th, 2024

I recently booked a hotel room at the Hyatt House Charlotte, N.C. Using Kayak / Traveluro using the Kayak app. I selected the 2 queen bed room but they changed it to a king room and could not get them to admit their mistake or any help what so ever, terrible customer service,

Service
Thumbnail of user xuann
3 reviews
17 helpful votes
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June 11th, 2012

Kayak has become the on-line trip planner for every vacation and business trips of mine. Whether going alone or with my family, the first thing I would normally do is to hit on Kayak.com to browse through all options for my trip. Narrow down all the possibilities and finally reserve stuff.
The only downside is sometimes the deal does not exist and it gets cancelled at times.

Thumbnail of user simonh59
2 reviews
20 helpful votes
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May 22nd, 2015

On many a trip in past years, I used Kayak.com and got some pretty good deals. Then all of a sudden the ad's on tv stopped for Kayak and then it was Trivago.com, well... they all either have the exact same software or something else is up. I'm not sophisticated enough to figure it out, but the good deals are far and between now on Kayak, and yet I can get some good deals, albeit occasionally on sites LIKE Trivago. Considering I am extremely cheap when I travel and the fact that I like to stay in nice hotels (I know...), I am searching multiple sites from the ones mentioned to hotwire.com to the actual Marriott or Hyatt ($#*! Hilton) sites trying to find a deal that makes sense with price, promotions, points, etc.) It really gets down to where you're going. Deals are out there you just need to shop multiple avenues to get the best deal, never just check one site like Kayak or any other.

Thumbnail of user evelyns6
1 review
1 helpful vote
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April 3rd, 2012

I was searching for last-minute flights over Easter weekend to attend a funeral. Of course, flights were hard to find and expensive. Two or three times I found reasonable prices on kayak.com and worked out schedules with another person travelling, only to find out when I came back to buy that the prices were obsolete. So disheartening and frustrating. I guess now that I understand that their prices are possibly obsolete I would handle my decisions differently, but this was such a discouraging process for me, under already emotional circumstances.

Thumbnail of user marks185
1 review
3 helpful votes
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September 29th, 2014

This site worked ok for the first few times - then we hit one of their listed websites and received nothing but a rubbish run around - no confirmation of flight and no reply... lucky we could cancel one of our credit cards... then we got a call!. Stay away from this site... with any of these sites remember to check for budget lines like ryanair that dont take part...

Thumbnail of user davidw145
1 review
3 helpful votes
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April 7th, 2014

This has been the worst experience I have ever had in booking a flight in 20 years of using the Internet. My flight has changed at least 10 times since I booked the flight in November for a June trip. Everytime the flight changes I have to call their so call customer services. It usually two to three calls of 30 minute hold time before I reach a person who doesn't understand English and then I'm on the phone for another 30 minutes before they can re-ticket my flight. Sheer incompetence. If I could give them zero or negative stars I would.

Thumbnail of user sammys103
1 review
5 helpful votes
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February 4th, 2022

If you need to change or cancel your ticket through Kayak you will have hard time and lose money in any way. They keep saying " it's the policy sir" for everything they charge. When trying to cancel the ticket your ticket exchange charges are not included. Not a good experience at all. I don't recommend this website at all!

Products used:
Tickets

Thumbnail of user cdc1
1 review
2 helpful votes
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August 5th, 2012

Received a confirmation of cancellation, but was still charged for the reservation. Called and was given a run-a-round. Checked history on their site and no history concerning this even was posted. I noticed that it was far less aggravating getting reservations directly from hotels.

Thumbnail of user kathf1
1 review
3 helpful votes
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July 26th, 2014

Absolutely awful customer service! They use third party booking service so you never know who to complain and all they do is point fingers at one another. They change your flights, has happened to me twice already. I booked my flights on a set date and once I receive the confirmation email the date is different and there is no way around it because they have a no refund policy. Also I booked a non smoking hotel room through them once and they never passed on the message of smoke free room on to the hotel staff. Terrible, kayak is full of scams! A bunch a thieves and they must be stopped. Stay away!

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From the business

Kayak is a large price comparison search engine for travel. It has prices for plane tickets, hotels, car rentals, and vacation packages. Kayak doesn't sell any of these services directly, but instead directs you to another site where you can make a purchase.

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jim g.
Typically does not respond to reviews

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