Kayak vs. Expedia
Nowadays people are extremely busy, so it makes sense that you can do almost anything online. You can go shopping, read the newspaper, and book a vacation with the easy click of a mouse.
As a result, there are numerous travel booking sites, including Kayak and Expedia. These sites consolidate a wide range of airlines so that you can select the flight that works best for you. And the added bonus is that it will save you a lot of time.
There are so many different travel booking sites today that it can be overwhelming to some. It is also difficult to choose which one is better than another in terms of user friendliness, price, and who provides the best results. Here are a few things to consider when decided between Kayak and Expedia.
Why not try a search of all the travel sites to get the BEST rate?
A little history
Kayak
Kayak was created in 2004 by Steve Hafner and Paul M. English, with the former being a founder of Orbitz. Today, it is operated by The Price Line Group, who also own booking.com, Agoda, Cheapflights, OpenTable, Rentalcars.com, and Momondo. In total, The Price Line Group runs websites in around 200 countries and in over 40 languages.
Expedia
In 1996, Microsoft founded Expedia, which was later purchased by IAC/InterActiveCorp. It then acquired Orbitz, Wotif, Homeaway, Via Travel, and Travelocity. It is the most profitable travel company in the world today, operating around 200 sites in 75 countries around the world.
Which is easier to use?
There is not much of a difference with these sites in terms of ease of use, as each of them has a place to put where your flying from, going to, and dates of travel. However, the whole overall look of the two websites is completely different.
Kayak’s site is much plainer, so some may say that it seems easier to use, as Expedia’s homepage looks busier. Having a plainer homepage makes it look like Kayak offers cheaper flights, hotels, and car rentals, but whether or not it actually does is something else.
In terms of making bookings, there are a few differences between Kayak and Expedia that could make a difference. For starters, Expedia allows you to book all-inclusive vacations, cruises, and activities online. So if you want to book any of these than Expedia is the site that should be used. Kayak only books flights, hotels, cars, and flight and car packages. But it is also possible to book a train through Kayak, which is not offered with Expedia.
One very cool thing about Kayak that Expedia lacks is that if you’re not sure where you want to go, but have a budget in mind, you can use the ‘Explore’ feature. This allows you to fill in your departure city, the time of the year you wish to travel (or exact dates), how long you want to go, and your budget. It will then search for destinations according to this information.
For example, you want to go on holiday in the spring of 2018 for 5 days and your budget is $300. According to Kayak Explore you can fly to Mexico City, Cancun, St. Thomas Island, or Reykjavik (Iceland). You can also stay in the country and travel to Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, or New Orleans, and many others.
Is there a price difference?
Comparison 1
A search was done departing from Los Angeles and arriving in London for a fun long weekend abroad. Some flights with 1 stopover were less through Kayak and some were less through Expedia. It really depended on the airline. But it was nothing too substantial (maximum $20), so at the end of the day it wouldn’t matter which site you chose.
An interesting thing though is that although some of the airlines used were the same, they also work with different ones. Kayak had flights with Norwegian Air and Spirit Airlines, while WestJet and Air New Zealand were available only through Expedia.
For non-stop flights, you can get a flight for $300 less on Kayak if you don’t mind flying on Norwegian Air. For all other airlines, again, there was a slight price difference, but nothing significant.
To book a hotel as well as a flight (flight + hotel package), Expedia was quite a bit cheaper than Kayak. Sometimes more than $400 less. But the interesting thing is that Kayak books its hotels through Travelocity, which we know is owned by Expedia. So this could explain the lower hotel rates on Expedia.
Comparison 2
When booking a flight for the same London weekend away from Chicago things were a little bit different. With a stopover the price was generally the same, but when flying non-stop flights booked through Kayak were roughly $100 cheaper than flights booked with Expedia.
With a flight and hotel package, in most cases Kayak was cheaper. Some hotels were pretty much the same, while some were significantly cheaper when booking through Kayak.
Rewards points
Expedia offers a rewards program, while Kayak does not. So if collecting points and rewards is important to you, than you should definitely book your flight and/or hotel through Expedia. Their rewards program is called Expedia+ Rewards, and there are three levels of membership; blue, silver, and gold. You become a blue member as soon as you make your first booking, going up to silver after spending $5,000 in a one year period, and gold once you spend $10,000.
Expedia+ Rewards also gives you 2 points for every $1 spent on hotels, cruises, packages, and activities. You will get 1 point for every $5 you spend on flights, and 1 point for every $1 spent on flight and car rental packages. If you are a silver member you will also get an extra 10% in points, while gold members will get 30%.
Phone apps
Both Kayak and Expedia have a phone app so that you can book flights and hotels on the go. This means that you can make a booking from anywhere, be it in a restaurant, at the train station, or even at the office (just don’t tell your boss).
Both apps allow you to search and book flights, hotels, and cars directly from your phone. And both work with iPhones and Androids via Google Play.
Kayak
Kayak offers exclusive deals to app users, so you could actually save more by booking on your phone rather than on your computer. You can search and book your vacation quite easily, and even have the option of exporting your bookings to your Gmail account. Everything else is virtually the same when booking through the app versus the computer in terms of looks and user-friendliness.
The Kayak app also allows you to organize all of your travel plans, even if they were not booked through Kayak! All you have to do is import your booking through Gmail or forward your booking confirmation email to trips@kayak.com.
You can then build and save your trip so you have it with you everywhere that you go. Another added feature of the app is that it will notify you of any great deals on flights. Just tell the app where you want to go, and you will get alerts when there are great deals on flights to that destination.
Expedia
Expedia offers double points on flight and hotel bookings as soon as you download and start using the app. Like Kayak, they too offer exclusive deals through the app that you will not get if you book through the website on a computer. Plus, you will still earn the same rewards points through the app as you would when booking flights and/or hotels on their website.
A great feature of the Expedia app is that when you search for hotels you will see a map of the city with all of the hotels marked on it on the right side of the screen, and a list of the hotels on the left. This is something that Kayak lacks, and it definitely makes the Expedia app more user friendly.
It also has an itinerary feature, which is not on the Expedia website. This feature will send you alerts on any updates, like delayed flights, departure gates, and baggage carousels.
Conclusion
If you don’t mind searching for and booking flights, hotels, cars, and other trip details on a small screen than both of these apps are very useful and definitely great for anyone that is on the go a lot. If you prefer the larger screen, than booking on a computer will be easier for you.
In terms of which app is better; the Expedia app has more going for it. Not only is it more pleasing to the eyes, but it is also much more user-friendly. Yes, the Kayak app has some great features, but the overall look and ease of use of the Expedia app puts it above the Kayak app.
So which is better, Kayak or Expedia?
Generally speaking, most travel booking sites do the same thing. However, it all depends on where you are departing from. In some cases Kayak is the better way to go, in others Expedia is. All-in-all Expedia is more appealing. Plus, the fact that you get rewards points is a bonus if you are a frequent traveler. But Kayak offers better deals from certain destinations.
In the end, it all depends on where you are departing from and whether or not you care about collecting rewards points.