Type of site | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Available in | 18 languages |
Founded | January 14, 2004 |
Headquarters | Stamford, Connecticut, U.S. |
Area served | Global |
Founder(s) | Steve Hafner Paul M. English |
Key people | Steve Hafner (
CEO) Giorgos Zacharia ( President) 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 |
Launched | February 7, 2005[2] | (Public)
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. It is owned and operated by Booking Holdings. [3]
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, [4] Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Australia, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Belgium, Korea, Japan, and Singapore.
Kayak was founded in January 2004 by Steve Hafner and Paul M. English. [5] [6] 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. [7]
The company was originally named Travel Search Company, Inc. and the name was changed to Kayak Software Corporation in August 2004. [8]
The website launched in February 2005. [2]
In December 2007, Kayak raised $196 million in a new round of 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. [9] [10]
On March 5, 2010, Kayak sold certain assets related to TravelPost. [11] In May 2010, Kayak acquired German travel search platform Swoodoo. [12] [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] [16]
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. [17]
On May 21, 2013, Booking Holdings, then known as Priceline.com, acquired the company for $2.1 billion. [18]
On September 25, 2013, it was announced that Connecticut would assist Kayak with a $2.5 million loan to help facilitate their move to the Harbor Point district of Stamford. [19]
In August 2017, the company acquired a Brazilian flight metasearch company named Mundi. [20]
In July 2018, Kayak assumed leadership of Hotels Combined, which was acquired by parent Booking Holdings. [21]
In September 2018, the company launched a feature to help travelers determine if their luggage fits in the overhead bin of planes. [22]
In 2013, Travel + Leisure named Kayak's app in its list of the Best Apps for Business Travelers [23] as well as its list for the Best Apps and Websites for Travelers.
Time named Kayak to 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:
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]
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]