Kayak (styled as KAYAK) is an American metasearch engine for travel services, including airline flights, hotels, rental cars, and vacation packages.[2] 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.
History
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.[9]
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 on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol KYAK, 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
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:
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
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]
External links
References
- Danny King. Kayak turns 2012 profit Travel Weekly, April 3, 2013^
- Lucas Peterson. Which Travel Search Site Is Best? It Depends on Your Goals The New York Times, 2017-04-18, retrieved 2024-09-01^
- Kayak.com: Private Company Overview