Online travel supermarket KAYAK helps you plan trips within your budget

You even get email alerts on the best deals; downside is that flight and hotel bookings come bundled

Travelling in India today is a rewarding experience simply because the planning part is no longer a headache, but a fun-filled exercise that throws up several options for you to choose from. Gone are the days when you had to rely on a travel agency to draw up your itinerary. Here is a new app, KAYAK, that helps you plan your trip online, compare prices and book your tickets and hotels.

Preview

KAYAK  is a travel fare aggregator website and travel metasearch engine. It is an independently-managed subsidiary of The Priceline Group. It is a tech company whose only focus is to making online travel a better experience.  

Unlike most other booking sites that sell their own inventory, KAYAK is a travel tool that doesn't sell anything. It only searches other travel sites for you and shows their offers in a clear, intuitive display, so you can easily compare and filter the results. Once you find what you want, it lets you choose where and with whom to book, unlike most other travel sites, which don't.

KAYAK helps travellers get the information they need before they book and offers tools and features to assist them throughout their trip. The website and mobile app searches hundreds of travel sites at once, so that travellers have the information they need to make the best decisions. It is much like entering a supermarket catering solely to travel products.

According to a statement by the company, KAYAK operates on a massive scale across the globe, with more than 40 international sites in 20 languages, powering 1.5 billion queries a year for travel information and displaying results from .

Review

Online travel sites mediate between you and airlines, hotels or rental car dealerships to get the best price. KAYAK's website is simple and minimalistic, with only the search bar and booking tabs at the top of the page and rates for popular destinations below.

KAYAK lets you search for the same booking on other discount travel sites as well. Comparative prices are a great way to cover more virtual ground by searching multiple sites at once. When you search for fares, the comparative pricing appears as new windows.

After your initial search, there are basic filters to sort your results. If you're new to using the site, it may appear that you can't refine a search for a hotel other than by location and date. However, you can expand the sidebar menu for more options, like star rating, amenities or flexible dates.

KAYAK's most outstanding feature is the mobile app available for Android and Apple devices, Windows phones and Kindle Fire. You can book flights, hotels and rental cars, compare prices, set for the right prices, and check your flight status through the app. The booking features are easy to use and work quickly. The app includes extra features such as a customised packing list, currency converter and the airline directory. Outside the app, you can find similar helpful tools on KAYAK's website. The 'explore' tool shows you rate averages for popular destinations around India and the world at any time of the year. The 'explore' tool offers a much easier way to figure out destinations within your desired budget, and at the same time, explore some new destinations that were not on the top of your mind before.

You can also set up email alerts to notify you when the best prices for your trips are available.

Verdict

KAYAK helps you to catch the lowest rates for flights, hotels and rental cars around the world. The site design is simple and streamlined, with options to expand search options. While KAYAK's website is aesthetically pleasing, the mobile app has some extra features and is the best way to use this discount travel site.

However, It misses the mark on multi-reservation packages. You can only book flights and hotels together. Most other discount travel sites offer multiple combinations for vacation packages, typically letting you book flights, a hotel and rental car together or in some other combination.