Kayak (company)

Travel metasearch engine owned and operated by Booking Holdings

Kayak

Screenshot

Type of site

| Subsidiary
Available in| 18 languages
Founded| January 14, 2004; 20 years ago (2004-01-14)
Headquarters| Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.
Area served| Global
Founder(s)| Steve Hafner
Paul M. English
Key people| Steve Hafner (CEO)
Ko Baryiames (CTO)
Amy Wei (CCO)
Peer Bueller (CFO)
Tore Pein Jensen (CMO)
Industry| Travel
Technology
Products| Travel agency
Metasearch engine
Revenue| US$292.7 million (2012)[1]
Parent| Booking Holdings
Subsidiaries| SWOODOO
Checkfelix
Mundi
Hotels Combined
URL| www.kayak.com
Launched| February 7, 2005 (2005-02-07) (Public)[2]
Native client(s) on| iOS, Android, watchOS, Amazon Alexa, Facebook Messenger

Kayak (styled as KAYAK) is a metasearch engine for travel services, including airline flights, hotels, rental cars, and vacation packages.[3] It is owned and operated by Booking Holdings.[4]

Kayak's website and mobile apps are currently available in about 20 languages and 30 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, India, China, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia,[5] Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Australia, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Belgium, Korea, Japan, and Singapore.

## History

[edit]

Kayak was founded in January 2004 by Steve Hafner and Paul M. English.[6][7] Before Kayak, Steve Hafner, Kayak's current CEO, helped found Orbitz in November 1999 and led its business development, advertising sales, marketing, and product marketing activities.[8]

The company was originally named Travel Search Company, Inc. and the name was changed to Kayak Software Corporation in August 2004.[9]

The website launched in February 2005.[2]

In December 2007, Kayak raised $196 million in financing from a group of investors including General Catalyst, Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners, and Oak Investment Partners. Using that funding, Kayak acquired SideStep, another online travel agency.[10][11]

On March 5, 2010, Kayak sold certain assets related to TravelPost.[12]

In May 2010, Kayak acquired German travel search platform Swoodoo.[13]

In January 2011, Kayak shut down SideStep and redirected SideStep traffic to Kayak.com.[14]

In April 2011, Kayak acquired all of the outstanding shares of JaBo Vertrieb-und Entwicklung GmbH, or JaBo Software, operator Checkfelix, a travel search engine in Austria.[15]

On July 20, 2012, Kayak became a public company via an initial public offering. On its first day of trading, Kayak opened at $26 per share and closed at $33.18 per share.[16]

On May 21, 2013, Booking Holdings, then known as Priceline.com, acquired the company for $2.1 billion.[17]

In September 2013, Kayak announced an office move to the Harbor Point district of Stamford, aided by a $2.5 million loan from the state of Connecticut.[18]

In 2017, the company acquired Mundi, a Brazilian flight metasearch company.[19]

In 2018, Kayak assumed leadership of Hotels Combined, which was acquired by parent company, Booking Holdings.[20]

In 2024, Kayak added fares from Southwest Airlines to its listings.[21]

## Awards

[edit]

In 2013, Travel + Leisure included Kayak's app in its list of the Best Apps for Business Travelers[22] as well as its list for the Best Apps for websites and travelers.[23]

Time named Kayak on its list of the 50 Best Websites of 2009.[24]

Mashable included Kayak in first place for the website's list, "10 Budget Airfare Tools Every Traveler Should Know in 2012".[25]

Kayak won the following Webby Awards:

* 2008: People's Voice award in the travel website category[26]
* 2009: The Webby Award in the travel website category[27]
* 2011: The People's Voice award in the mobile travel app category in 2011[28]
* 2012: 3 awards: both the Webby and People's Choice awards in the travel website category, and the People's Voice award in the mobile travel app category.[29]
* 2013: Nominee for Best Travel Mobile & App for Handheld Devices[30]
* 2014: both the People's Voice and Webby Award in the Travel category for Tablets.[31]
* 2015, Kayak Mobile won again the People's Voice Award in the Travel category.[32]

The World Travel Awards presented Kayak with the World's Leading Flight Comparison Website award in 2013 and the World's Leading Travel Search Website award in 2011.[33]

## All-American Muslim advertising

[edit]

In December 2011, Kayak announced that it would not renew a contract to advertise on the TLC reality television show All-American Muslim. The decision followed a campaign by the Florida Family Association, a one-man fundamentalist organization focused on “defending American values".[34][35] In a statement posted to the Kayak website, Kayak Chief Marketing Officer, Robert Birge, wrote that TLC “was not upfront with us about the nature of the show”.[36]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ King, Danny (April 3, 2013). "Kayak turns 2012 profit". Travel Weekly.
2. ^ a b Schaal, Dennis (January 30, 2012). "Kayak redesign: How and why they did it". Phocuswire.
3. ^ Peterson, Lucas (April 18, 2017). "Which Travel Search Site Is Best? It Depends on Your Goals". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
4. ^ "Kayak.com: Private Company Overview". Bloomberg L.P.
5. ^ Perez, Sarah (July 20, 2012). "Kayak Is Headed To Russia". TechCrunch.
6. ^ "The Billion-Dollar Travel Agent". Boston. January 9, 2018.
7. ^ "The Way I Work: Paul English of Kayak". inc.com. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
8. ^ Timmins, Beth; Cox, Josie (April 26, 2017). "A View from the Top: Steve Hafner, founder of travel comparison site Kayak". The Independent. London.
9. ^ "Kayak Software Corporation 2012 Form 10-K Annual Report". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
10. ^ Arrington, Michael (December 20, 2007). "Breaking: Kayak Raises $196 Million, Buys Rival SideStep". TechCrunch.
11. ^ Luzadder, Dan (December 21, 2007). "Kayak.com, SideStep to merge in $196 million deal". Travel Weekly.
12. ^ Schaal, Dennis (February 11, 2011). "Kayak has stake in TravelPost rollout". Phocuswire.
13. ^ Zinnagl, Lukas (May 6, 2010). "Kayak swoops on German travel search engine Swoodoo [Updated]". TechCrunch.
14. ^ Rao, Leena (May 27, 2011). "in-front-of-its-ipo-kayak-reports-growth-in-revenue-but-income-down". TechCrunch.
15. ^ May, Kevin (April 5, 2011). "Kayak buys Austrian travel search engine Checkfelix". Phocuswire.
16. ^ Empson, Rip (July 20, 2012). "That'll Fly: Kayak Closes IPO Day With Shares Up Nearly 30% And Market Cap Over $1.2B". Techcrunch.
17. ^ "PCLN Form 10-Q". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
18. ^ "Gov. Malloy: Kayak to Expand and Create 50 Jobs in Stamford" (Press release). Connecticut. September 25, 2013.
19. ^ O'Neill, Sean (August 4, 2017). "Kayak Acquires Assets of Struggling Brazilian Metasearch Company Mundi". Skift.
20. ^ Schaal, Dennis (July 9, 2018). "Booking Holdings Buys HotelsCombined as Kayak Expands Into Asia Pacific". Skift.
21. ^ Schaal, Dennis (August 5, 2024). "Kayak Can Now Show Southwest Flights – Finally". Skift.
22. ^ Brown Hunt, Katrina; Samiljan, Tom (October 14, 2013). "Best Apps for Business Travelers". Travel + Leisure.
23. ^ Rop, Gideon (January 8, 2015). "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Kayak.com". DPO Group. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
24. ^ Fisher, Adam (August 24, 2009). "50 Best Websites 2009". Time.
25. ^ "10 Budget Airfare Tools Every Traveler Should Know". Mashable. July 26, 2012.
26. ^ "2008 People's Voice: KAYAK.COM". Webby Award.
27. ^ "2009 Webby Award Winner: KAYAK.COM". Webby Award.
28. ^ "Kayak Mobile For Iphone". Webby Award.
29. ^ "We Won Three Webby Awards – Thanks to You". Kayak. May 1, 2012.
30. ^ "2013 Nominee: KAYAK - MOBILE SITES & APPS". Webby Award.
31. ^ "2014 People's Voice / Webby Award Winner: KAYAK Technology Team". Webby Award.
32. ^ "2015 People's Voice: KAYAK - MOBILE SITES & APPS". Webby Award.
33. ^ "Kayak". World Travel Awards.
34. ^ Freedman, Samuel G. (December 16, 2011). "Waging a One-Man War on American Muslims". The New York Times.
35. ^ Diaz, Johnny (December 14, 2011). "Kayak won't renew ads on Muslim TV show". The Boston Globe.
36. ^ Elliott, Stuart (December 14, 2011). "Kayak Defends Cutting Ties to 'All-American Muslim'". The New York Times.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

* v
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* e

Booking Holdings

People|

* Jeff Boyd (Chairman and former CEO)
* Jay S. Walker (founder)
* Darren Huston (former President and CEO)

Subsidiaries, brands, and divisions|

* Agoda
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* Cheapflights
* HotelsCombined
* Kayak
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Other|

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Travel search engines

Search engines|

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* FareCompare
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* Google Flights
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* Hotels.com
* HotelTonight
* HotelsCombined
* ixigo
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* JetRadar
* Justfly.com
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* MakeMyTrip
* Mobissimo
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* MSN Travel
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* Orbitz
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* Priceline.com
* Rail Europe, Inc.
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* redBus
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