Do you use kayak.com for all your travel bookings? (cruises, hotel)

[BigCityDreamer]

Or have you found better web sites for this purpose?

[annerk]

I book direct. Taht way when something goes wrong, you actually can get a person on the phone who is able to fix it as opposed to a third party who could care less.

[mels]

Originally Posted by annerk

I book direct. Taht way when something goes wrong, you actually can get a person on the phone who is able to fix it as opposed to a third party who could care less.

Exactly. I use Kayak to get an idea of prices and flight times, then I book direct. It is usually the same price or cheaper AND I will have someone to deal with if something goes wrong. I have seen all too often the aftermath of travel plans going awry and there is no one on the other end of Kayak, Expedia, etc. who can help. Third party websites do not offer the same protection as booking direct. So not worth it.

[Fuzz]

As far as I know, Kayak does not allow you make any flight bookings on their site. They simply show you the flights and prices, and then when you select a flight, it'll take you to the airline (or other travel) website directly to make the reservation.

For hotels you can book through Kayak or from the hotel (Kayak offers both links).

[cb at sea]

I book EVERYTHING directly with the provider......air, hotels, cruises....whatever.

I'll use some of the websites to check things out, but I NEVER, EVER book thru a 3rd party!

[rational1]

I don't know about better. I use Expedia now. I have stopped using Travelocity since they started to add travel insurance by default to airplane tickets.

I do not believe there is a significant difference in price. Go for the user interface that works best for you.

[gomexico]

I've found Kayak to be amongst the worst sources to consult. Generally, I've rarely if ever found one of the online agents which offer fares which are better than I can purchase them from the airline itself.

[Idlewile]

I use Kayak to get initial info on fares. But I have alerts set up thru Airfare Watchdog for certain routes and most often buy tix from the airlines directly based on the sales listed on Watchdog. Watchdog has been a lifesaver.

[Cdarocks]

I have never booked through Kayak. I use sites like that in the same way others here do - to get an idea of the general rates. I almost always book hotels through the hotel site. We just booked some flights through Priceline, but I think it is the first time we have done it that way. My hubs travels so much for work that he uses an agent. When schedules unexpectedly change he has someone here working for him who makes sure he can get where he needs to go.

[tinalimey]

Does Kayak include search results for Southwest? Because that's the airline I use most frequently - the only one that flies direct between New Orleans and Tampa. Southwest always used to be excluded from the big online travel sites.