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KAYAK Reviews

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ConsumerAffairs has collected 208 reviews and 266 ratings.

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Reviewed March 31, 2024

We rented a vehicle for a vacation in LA. We found a minivan on Kayak from a company called Priceless. The office turned out to be miles from LAX, there was no easy or even workable way to get there, and it was closed when we arrived at 4 pm on a Saturday. Btw, Kayak apparently allowed us the rent and pay knowing that the place was closed when our flight arrived. I called the help number about 20 times. Left many messages. Nobody picked up. Nobody called back. That was $300!! I’m trying to get my money back, but I would safely say that you should NEVER rent from Priceless. You will pay but probably never get a car!! And Kayak!! What a great cover company for a scammer. I’ll never use Kayak again.

Reviewed Dec. 16, 2023

I purchased a ticket. I was originally on the Canadian Kayak site. They flashed a flight deal and I purchased it. It never said in USD but when I got my receipt it said I purchased in USD. When complained they gave me a AI-generated response.

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Reviewed Nov. 21, 2023

DO NOT USE! I prepaid my car, was left stranded at airport. They gave me 6 different numbers to call for pick up. All were disconnected or Insurance sales numbers. Had to get rental car at ACE in airport. They emailed me Nov 1, I would get FULL refund in 7-10 business days. I have 4 emails from them telling me "refund was processed". Kept telling me 7-10 days, as we're now 14 business days in. Still no refund. Noelle told me another 3-5 days. She refused to let me speak to supervisor & give me their name until I pressed. She finally gave me a name she couldn't tell me spelling. Said to call after 7pm, however the site shows them closing at 6:30. They are trying to skirt giving me my money, they are a fraudulent fly by night company. I'm pressing charges in Florida, I've contacted my bank. Do NOT use them. They are cheap for a reason. Shame on Kayak for allowing them on their site. This is flat out FRAUD & THEFT!

Reviewed Oct. 28, 2023

Kayak is a complete joke! They hold no accountability. 6+ months after tickets were purchased the cancellations and changes started. At one point I was given the choice of either taking the only flight option they said was available (leaving a day earlier meaning we would miss the actual event we were traveling for) or cancel for a refund. Because of timing, the only option we could take was to cancel. Received an email stating our refund request was approved. After 4 weeks not seeing the refund, I sent a follow-up email. Their response was that the initial email was sent in error and our refund was denied. No further explanation.

It took WEEKS, MULTIPLE phone calls and HOURS upon hours of my life to find out that ‘apparently’ another flight option within the 4 hour window was available (never offered). Also, the initial flight was nonrefundable (nowhere did it say that or note that on the initial email confirmation when booking). NO…. no other flight option was provided to us at the time. I told them to check the recordings of the phone conversation, that I was not offered another flight option, even when I asked.

No response to that request of course (although the employee actually had the audacity to tell me to provide recording of the conversation to prove it?!?) HOURS upon hours of my life over the course of approx. 5 weeks spent talking and trying to speak to someone with authority who could perhaps communicate clearly and provide a resolution. Incompetent to the fullest extent. $1,200+ I will not get back, no matter the requests, pleading, emails and phone conversations. Scammers do not care, are not reasonable and will always find a way to scam. I will never ever again use a 3rd party to book a flight. Good luck to those who do.

Reviewed Oct. 27, 2023

Purchased an airline ticket from Orange County (John Wayne) to Edmonton Alberta. Oct19 2023. The departure date was November 01 2023. Kayak was used as a search. I purchased a ticket and was billed immediately. Upon enquiring with a Kayak rep about my reference and flight details which I had not received. I was informed that I would have to pay an extra $120. US to receive the ticket reference. A price increase after the fact that I had paid their asking price. I have never been billed extra after making a purchase. In short I will never use Kayak again. A scam is the best way I see it. Wayne **

Reviewed Oct. 14, 2023

Terrible customer service, Kayak forwarded us to a India website INDIAN EAGLE, which hasn't confirmed our itinerary change in 10 days whereas AMEX did it the same day. Really bad, will never recommend.

Reviewed Aug. 14, 2023

Advertised a no young rental fee through Dollar for a car rental. Paid 2/3 of the fee up front. When we picked up the vehicle, Dollar added on a $405 young renter fee despite us showing them the ad and total that Kayak promised. Tried calling Kayak 5 times. Hung up on every time on their voice system. Horrible bait and switch tactics, and atrocious customer service.

Reviewed July 31, 2023

The do not provide good info, they route you to other unknown sites that has bad reservations -- missing important information. I will go back to booking to my other site. They routed me to Prestigia which was not good.

Reviewed April 17, 2023

Kayak routed me to one of their hotel partner companies, Algotels. I found a hotel that fit my travel needs. When I was booking my room, Algotels added a $29 "Taxes and fees" charge on my $99.00 booking rate. I phoned Algotels and questioned the fee. I was told by their customer service representative that the $29 was, in fact, for the taxes on the booking. This would make the local taxes on a hotel room to be at a rate of 29.3%.

I asked the hotel manager what their tax rate was for my booking. She said that a $99.00 booking would have a tax amount of $17.33 (the tax rate is 17.5%). I phoned Algotels and asked them to refund the difference. The customer service representative told me that I had to prove what the tax rate was and that their charge was for taxes on my booking. Not true. I have filed a complaint with my state Attorney General's office. This is pure fraud. Algotels, and Kayak are not reputable companies. Book direct next time! Do not use third party companies to book travel through.

Reviewed April 14, 2023

Kayak routed me to Chatdeal which is a company that they own. While Kayak is good as a search engine, they are greedy because they are making their money by scamming users if you want to make any changes on a reservation. They booked me on Finnair. When I asked to make a change, I either had to pay $8000 more for a one-way business ticket or absorb a $500 cancelation fee. That’s when I found out major carriers were literally less than half the price of Finnair. I spoke to customer service at ChatDeal and they said, "You have to talk to Finnair." I tried to talk to Finnair and they said, "You have to talk to ChatDeal." So, got nowhere but had to absorb a $500 cancellation fee. It’s a scam and it seems like there is nothing I can do about it other than advise whoever reads this not to deal with ChatDeal. When you get the prices from Kayak, then just deal book the airline directly.

Kayak.com author review by ConsumerAffairs Research Team

KAYAK is a search engine that connects travelers to services offered by travel agencies all over the world. It was founded in 2004 and acquired by the Priceline Group in 2013.

Hundreds of sites: KAYAK's search engine draws results from hundreds of travel websites to give travelers the best deals possible.

Travel Hacker: Travelers can read an annual guide to the most popular destinations researched on KAYAK.

Organization: The site automatically organizes itineraries and expenses for services booked through the website.

Mobile app: KAYAK's mobile app lets travelers schedule services on the go.

Price alerts: Customers receive price alerts when selected services fall below certain prices.

The ConsumerAffairs Research Team believes everyone deserves to make smart decisions. We aim to provide readers with the most up-to-date information available about today's consumer products and services.

KAYAK Company Information

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