Comments on: American Ditches Kayak, But Let’s Clear Some Things Up

By: Kayak.com and American Airways fight turns ugly | Travelwires.com

Kayak.com and American Airways fight turns ugly | Travelwires.com — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 07:06:48 +0000

[...] none Image via CrunchBase, source unknownNew York – This fight between Kayak and American has become downright ugly. Now we have allegations and lawsuits flying back and forth as both sides [...]

By: The Cranky Flier » American Pins Kayak In the Corner

The Cranky Flier » American Pins Kayak In the Corner — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:14:01 +0000

[...] fight between Kayak and American has become downright ugly. Now we have allegations and lawsuits flying back and forth as both sides [...]

By: OMG. OMG. OMFG.

OMG. OMG. OMFG. — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 02:21:29 +0000

[...] (look over their providers for a comprehensive look at where Kayak gets their fares). Why? Brett at The Crankyflier explains Kayak’s need for online travel agents: “Backfill. It’s hard to develop a [...]

By: American Airlines cut ties with Kayak.com | Travelwires.com

American Airlines cut ties with Kayak.com | Travelwires.com — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 03:53:17 +0000

[...] will be displayed. American doesn’t like that so they’re walking away.Get entire story on – The Cranky FlierRelated articles by ZemantaTalking travel with the CEO of Kayak.comTrouble in Online Travel: [...]

By: Anon

Anon — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:19:32 +0000

Sorry…if Kayak is all about choice, why do they just offer Orbitz as the only OTA option? The crappiest of the lot? If Kayak is the consumer choice advocate then Expedia, Priceline, Travelocity should all be listed. Let the consumer have full choices.

This fight is all about the money and I thought I heard somewhere before that AA has/had unique deal w/Kayak where they paid differently than the other airlines (I can’t find the source). This may amount to a kind of listing fee as you mention above. If true then they are getting double dinged. It’s also easier to take risks when your capacity is going down by 10%+ – need less help filling seats.

But kudos to Kayak for all this free publicity! It’s amazing and will only take them to the next level.

They win regardless of how this turns out.

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 03:00:48 +0000

I love using Kayak to find flights. I’m very disappointed in American (my usual favorite airline) for not working with Kayak anymore. I never use Kayak and then go to Orbitz for an AA ticket. First, the Orbitz tickets are usually more money. Second, the ability to change tickets, request upgrades and get boarding passes directly from the AA site is very important to me. Which is why I liked Kayak in the first place – I searched on them and then booked on AA.com. Looks like JetBlue might be my new favorite airline from Boston.

By: Richard

Richard — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 12:51:32 +0000

Personally, I read it as yet another “nickel-and-diming” initiative by American. They’re out to take what they can get, from whoever they can (e.g. leading the industry in baggage charges etc.). Cutting out these Kayak types of deals wil likely save them – nickles and dimes.

The customer remains the biggest loser while AA will eventually go under – because they don’t have the courage to raise their fares to cover their costs. The quality of the flying experience these days with the bigger national airlines is equivalent to that of the budget European airlines – go figure.

By: Charlton

Charlton — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 22:41:34 +0000

I think it comes down to the fact that AA will probably has to pay more to sell flights through Orbitz/Expedia/Etc. than a site like Kayak. Makes sense for them to push for a direct sale.

Most of the time I prefer a meta search that just kicks off searches on several sites like that kayak comparison thing or traveldealzone.com

By: MS

MS — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:32:13 +0000

I like and am a huge fan of parenthesis. Keep ‘em coming.

By: Inside

Inside — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:14:46 +0000

“That means American has to pay a double tax, once to Kayak and once to Orbitz.”

Why would AA have to pay Kayak for a booking on Orbitz? Orbitz will pay Kayak and AA will pay Orbitz.