Awards
Since our launch, industry experts, journalists and readers have named Kayak.com Best in Class more times than any other travel site. Want to weigh in as well? The most valuable feedback we get is from our users, so please share your thoughts.
2008
Webby Awards People’s Voice Winner, May 2008
The global Web community voted Kayak.com the “People’s Voice Winner” in travel category. The Webby, the leading international award honoring Internet excellence, is presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 550-member body of leading Web experts, business figures, luminaries, visionaries and creative celebrities.
Entrepreneur magazine “Best Site for Travel Deals,” May 2008
Kayak.com is among the winners of Entrepreneur Magazine’s 2008 Business Travel Awards by editors of the magazine. Considered to be a bright spot in an otherwise difficult year for travelers, Entrepreneur magazine feels that Kayak.com is “so well-engineered that it seriously slims down the time it takes to research the cheapest, most convenient itinerary; the frequency program that lets entrepreneurs enjoy the same perks and discounts as the big guys.”
Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, “Finds the Best Fares”, May 2008
The money-saving experts at Kiplinger’s agree that Kayak.com is the best site for finding deals on domestic and international fares. “The Google of travel, it’s the fastest and most comprehensive search engine. In just a couple if minutes, it will fetch hundreds of airline fares, from Delta to Darwin Airline. And it will search other sites, such as Groople.com (which specializes in group trips) and Onetravel.com (which focuses on business and first-class travel and specials for seniors).”
Webware 100 award winner, May 2008
More than 1.9 million Webware readers and Internet users across the globe voted Kayak.com to the Webware 100 best Web 2.0 applications. Kayak.com’s industry-leading functionality were highlighted, “Some of its most useful features are the Buzz and Fare Alert planning pages. Buzz shows you the cheapest deals as discovered by other Kayak users in their searches. These prices are aggregated from historical data and listed when you do a search from your city. The Fare Alert service will send you an e-mail when a trip from one city to another becomes available at a low price, letting you pick when you’re going to travel by the cheapest price.”
Condé Nast Traveler, “Best Site for Searching for Airline Tickets,” March 2008
The magazine’s online travel expert put hundreds of travel sites to the test and named Kayak.com the best site for finding the best deal on airfare. “Kayak makes quick work of leading you to the Web sites that offer the lowest prices. It casts a wide net and delivers the best combination of itineraries, prices, and ease of use. It also has terrific tools, including filters that allow you to sort results by airline and airline alliances; takeoff and landing times in both directions; number of stops; flight and layover durations; sites searched; and price. On certain routes, a chart with 90-day historical fare data is provided, as well as the cheapest departure dates.”
New York Post “10 Sites You Need to Bookmark Now,” January 2008
Kayak.com was recognized by the New York Post as of one of the top travel websites. The New York Post gave Kayak.com the following review, “On a daily basis we find Kayak to be the most efficient way to find out what you can expect to pay on average to get somewhere, stay over, rent a car — even research cruises.”
2007
The World Economic Forum “Technology Pioneer 2008,” November 2007
Kayak.com was selected by The World Economic Forum as a Technology Pioneer 2008. To be selected as a Technology Pioneer, a company must be involved in the development of life-changing technology innovation and have the potential for long-term impact on business and society. In addition, it must demonstrate visionary leadership, show all the signs of being a long-standing market leader – and its technology must be proven. The final selection was made by a panel of leading technology experts, including venture capitalists, technology companies, academics and media, appointed by the World Economic Forum.
Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine “Best of Everything 2007,” November 2007
Kayak.com was selected by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine as the best website for travel booking in their annual Best List issue. Kayak.com’s review said, “The site is comprehensive, simple to use and compares its results with those of other top sites so you don’t have to sift through the complex screens.”
2007 Momentum “Company of the Year,” October 2007
Kayak.com was named by the Momentum Growth Conference as one of the top Momentum Companies for 2007. The conference honors 15 industry leaders dominating the web and who have shown significant traffic growth over the last 12-18 months. Readers of Fast Company Magazine named Kayak.com the company with the most momentum.
Travel + Leisure “Top 25 Travel Websites,” September 2007
Kayak.com was selected by Travel + Leisure as the best site for booking hotels. T+L gave Kayak.com the following review: “This two-year-old aggregator scours 159,000 hotels worldwide, and about 10 percent of the places that it turns up have been suggested by real people, so the picks are well-rounded. (Hotels.com only lists 70,000 properties.) New features allow you to sort the listings by location (using Google maps) and view photographs.”
TIME magazine “25 Sites We Can’t Live Without,” July 2007
Kayak.com was recognized by the editors of TIME as one of the most efficient and comprehensive search engines for their “25 Sites We Can’t Live Without” list. TIME’s rave review said, “When planning your next trip, make this your first stop. The search engine works fast, scouring hundreds of travel sites to find the best airfares. You can compare rates on different travel dates, or check prices to several destinations at once. Create a profile so you don’t have to enter certain data every time you use it.”
Laptop Magazine “Top Web 2.0 Sites,” July 2007
Kayak.com was the only online travel site selected by Laptop Magazine for their “Top Web 2.0 Sites” list. Their review said, “Kayak helps you search for airfare, hotel, and car-rental deals, and then sends you directly to the sites themselves-including low-cost carriers like JetBlue. This way you get the lowest prices, and Kayak doesn’t take a chunk out for itself; the company is supported by travel companies.”
Consumersearch.com “Best Travel Search Engine,” July 2007
Kayak.com was voted “Best Travel Search Engine” by media experts who said, “An overwhelming majority of reviews say your first step in researching the best air, hotel, cruise and car-rental prices should be a visit to Kayak.com. While sites such as Travelocity and Hotwire search only their own databases, Kayak searches over 100 airline websites, online travel agencies and other travel sites, including some international ones, to come up with its list of best fares. One interesting tool lets you see the best fares for similar routes found by other Kayak visitors. You can also get fare alerts and tailor searches for preferred airlines, airports or dates. There is no fee for most bookings.”
PC World magazine “100 Best Products of 2007,” May 2007
Kayak.com was recognized by PC World magazine in their annual “100 Best Products” issue. Kayak.com was the only online travel site to make the list by securing the 22nd spot with the following review: “This travel search engine consistently digs up the best deals on airfare, hotels, and rentals by searching though a vast range of sites and databases.”
2007 Webby Award Nominee: Travel Category, May 2007
Kayak.com was named a Webby Award Nominee in the travel category at the 2007 Webby Awards. The Webby, the leading international award honoring Internet excellence, is presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 550-member body of leading Web experts, business figures, luminaries, visionaries and creative celebrities.
New York Post “Best Aggregator,” January 2007
Kayak.com was chosen by the New York Post as the “Best Aggregator” for the second year in a row. Kayak.com received the following review: “Less than two years old, this not-a-booking engine quickly became a favorite for finding hotels, rental cars and plane tickets. It moves fast, too, which is great when the boss calls and says, “I want to go to Honduras. What’s it cost?” We can get them the answer in 30 seconds or less, and pretend we had that information right at our finger tips. Day saved.”
2006
Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine “25 Best Value Travel Sites,” October 2006
Kayak.com was selected as one of the best Web sites for booking airfares for the time-pressed traveler saying, “Kayak.com fetches fares (plus hotel rates and other travel products, if you ask) from more than 140 sources. Click on the best deal, and Kayak.com will send you to a site where you can buy the ticket. If your itinerary is flexible, you can boost your chances of finding a deal by searching for dates up to three days before and after your ideal travel dates.”
BusinessWeek “Best of the Web,” September 2006
Kayak.com was selected as the top travel site in BusinessWeek’s annual “Best of the Web” list of “Must-bookmark sites.” The list identifies the most useful and engaging sites on the Web through a combination of reader input and editor votes. Kayak.com has claimed top honors in its travel category for the past two years.
Travel + Leisure “Top Travel Websites,” April 2006
Kayak.com was recognized by Travel + Leisure in their “Top Travel Web Sites” list as the best “Search Aid.” Their review said, “Our favorite one-stop destination for competitive hotel and car-rental prices is Kayak, which launched last year. The site quickly searches more than 100 Web sites, including discount agents and hotels’ own sites… There are multiple ways to sort through listings, and clicking on each one gets you more details and booking info.”
Entrepreneur magazine “Best Site for Airfare Shopping,” April 2006
Kayak.com was selected by Entrepreneur magazine as the “Best Site for Airfare Shopping” in its 13th Annual Business Travel Awards. Entrepreneur applauded Kayak.com for the benefits it provides to small business travelers stating, “By booking directly with the travel provider, small-business travelers can avoid paying service fees, which are usually charged by travel agency sites. In addition, by booking directly, you’ll benefit from supplier-direct incentives such as upgrades and bonus miles.”
Forbes.com “Best of the Web,” February 2006
Kayak.com was recognized by Forbes.com as one of the most useful and innovative travel Web sites with the following review: “Clean and simple travel search site. Comb through fares from more than 100 sources, and then filter your results by airline, departure and arrival time, and local airport. Then book directly through airline sites like AA.com or JetBlue.com. Get a Fare Watch alert by e-mail when prices change.”
TIME magazine “50 Coolest Websites,” August 2006
Kayak.com was recognized in TIME magazine’s annual “50 Coolest Websites” list for Travel & Real Estate. According to TIME, “A slew of new features makes this a compelling meta-search site useful for planning your next trip… Fare Watch lets you track any number of trip itineraries and receive email alerts when a fare meets or beats your specified price. Kayak Buzz lists the best fares to 25 popular destinations from a specific airport, and now you can also view the “best fare history” – the 100 best prices found by other users searching the same route during the last 36 hours. The new Flexible Search lets you compare fares on alternative travel dates.”
Entrepreneur magazine “Hot 100,” June 2006
Kayak.com was recognized as number 83 on Entrepreneur magazine and PricewaterhouseCoopers’ 12th Annual Hot 100 listing of the fastest-growing new companies in the United States. Kayak.com was the only online travel site to make the list. According to Entrepreneur, “It takes guts to jump into the swirling currents of the online travel industry. Your chances of staying afloat are a bit better, however, if you have a great concept and a top-notch team that includes co-founders of Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity. The two entrepreneurs who founded Kayak.com in early 2004 were equipped with both–and their own determination and drive are ensuring that the Norwalk, Connecticut, company doesn’t just stay afloat: It thrives.”
Associated Press “Best Travel Search Engine,” May 2006
Kayak.com was selected by the Associated Press as the “Best Travel Search Engine.” Their review said, “Among the search sites, Kayak had the most flexibility and options. Only Kayak let me search for multi-city (as in New York to Chicago to Boston to New York) and so-called open-jaw trips (flying from New York, but returning to Boston). Kayak also has e-mail fare alerts similar to the agency sites. Kayak was also easiest to use. For instance, of the four sites permitting multi-city searches, only Kayak automatically filled in the next box.”
2005
Laptop Magazine “Editor’s Choice Award,” August 2005
Kayak.com was selected by the editors of Laptop Magazine as the best site for booking travel online. From a field of online travel search engines, Kayak.com received the only perfect 5-star score and was recognized for its “real-time searches, easy-to-read screens and prices that include all taxes and fees.”
Mastercard Usability Excellence Awards, August 2005
The Usability Services Team at MasterCard evaluated leading Web sites on seven important principals of Web usability, including navigation, information architecture, accessibility, error prevention and recovery, writing for the Web, support and interface design. Kayak.com – the only travel site acknowledged by MasterCard – was recognized for it’s “very clean, straightforward design and the fact that advertising never diverts the user from the primary task of searching for travel rates.”
BusinessWeek “Best of the Web,” September 2005
Kayak.com was an Editor’s Pick for one of the top three travel sites in BusinessWeek’s annual “Best of the Web” list. This ranking identifies the most useful and engaging sites on the Web through a combination of reader input and editor votes.
U.S. News & World Report “Best of the Web,” December 2005
Kayak.com was preferred by editors of U.S. News & World Report in their December 5 “Best of the Web” issue. Editors found that Kayak.com outperformed other search engines in a series of tests and said, “In the end, we preferred Kayak. Its results page allows travelers to find exactly the flight they want. And best of all, the prices on Kayak were typically $5 or $6 cheaper than the prices on SideStep because it doesn’t pass booking fees on to you.”
New York Post “Best New Web Site,” December 2005
Kayak.com was selected as the “Best New Web Site” in the New York Post’s annual Web Guide. The rave review said, “First there were Expedia and Travelocity. Then there was Orbitz. Now, a team that had its fingers in all three is giving the world of discount travel a sound thrashing with the development of this 11-month old meta-search engine… It doesn’t book your travel – it just leads to the sites where you can. It’s also possible to look for air, hotel and car rental deals. Each search utilizes more than 100 sites …Viva la revolucion!”
Flavorpill.com “F-List of Up and Comers,” December 2005
Kayak Buzz was recognized by Flavorpill, a publisher of email magazines about culture and lifestyle in major urban areas, and awarded a spot on its coveted list of “Up-and-Comers” for its unique and industry leading destination map features stating, “There are loads of services that track down cheap airfares, but this is the only one we’ve seen so far that mashes it up with Google maps. Drop in your departure city, the region you’re traveling to, and even a theme (skiing, golf, or gambling of course) then map it all out.”
