About Us

Kayak is a travel search engine. Which means we search hundreds of travel sites from all over the world, provide the information to you in an easy-to-use display, and then let you refine and choose the exact result you want, then sending you directly to the source to make your purchase. More than any other travel site, we help you find the perfect flight, hotel, cruise, or rental car. After all, what good are 1000 options when you can't find the flight you want? We also allow you to setup fare alerts to track the latest prices for travel.

Since we search hundreds of travel websites, you now have to search only one: Kayak.

What we are not

Unlike online travel agencies, Kayak is not a store. Online travel agencies are retailers that can only sell you the products on their shelves. Their displays are designed to sell the merchandise that make them the most money, and they often add service fees which will increase the cost of your trip.

Kayak is not limited to the size of a stockroom. In fact, since we don't sell anything, we don't even have a stockroom. Rather, we search for travel goods across the Web and provide details on hundreds of options. Since Kayak doesn't sell anything, there's no hidden agenda or biased displays. And, Kayak is free to use.

Why we are

Kayak was started by co-founders of Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia who wanted to create a better online travel experience. They hired an exceptional web design team, and raised money from General Catalyst, Sequoia Capital and Accel Partners. Along the way, Kayak redefined the way people search and purchase travel online.

But, what truly makes us different is that we listen to you, our users. Kayak employees (from our co-founders to our engineers) personally read and answer each and every email. Try it. Send a question or comment to feedback.

What others say

Kayak has been named "Best of the Web" by BusinessWeek, "Best of the Web" by Forbes.com, "50 Coolest Websites" by TIME Magazine, "Best Travel Search Engine" by the Associated Press, "Best Search Aid" by Travel + Leisure Magazine and "Best of the Web" by US News & World Report. See all our awards or read what the media is saying about us.

How we make money

Kayak makes money when travelers click on our advertisements. Plus, we make money when they click on the results from travel suppliers like airlines, hotels and rental car companies. This is a revenue model (for all of you MBAs) similar to that of Google and Yahoo. Advertisers love the clicks because Kayak traffic is far more qualified than generic search engines.

The bottom line for consumers, however, is that we are not trying to sell you anything, which allows us to provide objective, comprehensive travel information to use as you want. Then, you select the travel products you want to buy and you decide where to buy them.

So use Kayak. Tell us what you like and what you don't like. We promise we'll not only listen but write you back. (You can also find us on twitter.)

Thanks for visiting. Come back whenever you need to plan a trip or just want to fantasize about one. Or subscribe to our newsletter and get a Kayak trip idea every week. And don't forget to tell your friends about Kayak! :)