I have used Kayak to search for flights in the past but have been taken to the airline's website when I go to purchase. There is a much cheaper flight on Kayak to Barcelona, however I have to purchase it through Kayak, not the airline. I have checked the airline and the same price is not available. Has anyone purchased tickets directly from Kayak before? A quick search of the internet has informed me that I shouldn't book hotel rooms direct from Kayak, but nothing about flights? Thanks for your help!
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23626 posts
Have frequently used Kayak with no problems. I thought there were very similar to the other search engines as Orbitz, et.
Posted by
Corvallis OR
7161 posts
I have purchased flights through Kayak and had no problems.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
Frank: at least in the past, Kayak was different from Orbitz. Orbitz is an online travel agent; you are buying the tickets from them directly, and you have to contact them if there is a problem (and from what I've read, good luck with that). Kayak is a search engine for flights, which searches multiple websites (the airlines' own sites, agents such as Orbitz and Expedia, and discount consolidators like Cheaptickets.com and flights-to-europe.com. You are then taken to the actual site offering the ticket to book. If you have a problem, you deal directly with who you bought the ticket from, not Kayak. BTW, I've used both Cheaptickets.com and flights-to-europe.com without problems, despite their sleazy-sounding names. But Chris's post indicates that Kayak now offers some flights of its own. This is new, and so I know nothing about it.
Posted by
Portland, Maine
2916 posts
Like Harold, I had no idea that Kayak now sells tickets themselves, so I'll keep that in mind. In general, I'm leary of buying tickets from web operators because of problems I've heard about when there are cancellations, disruptions, etc., although my one experience with that issue with Orbitz years ago was fine.