Kayak Price Discrepancy
 

Hi,

I found out about kayak.com from posts on Fodor's and used it last night to look at flights to Brazil. The kayak site listed that AA had flights from $966, but when I went to the AA site, the same flights were priced at ~$1150. I realize that the prices on AA may not be exactly those on kayak, but I was surprised at the large difference between the two.

Is this normal, that the kayak price is so very different from the airlines?

Thanks!

Airfares change minute to minute. Sometimes fares on various 3rd-party reservation system may be stuck on older fares.

But when you see the $966 price on kayak.com, does it say it's a aa.com price? Or does it direct you to a different booking service?

Yes, it said "On Sep 5 your price was $966 per person from AA.com." However, I just did a new search and its now displaying the same price as the AA site did last night. So, it must be like you said, stuck on an old fare.

Interesting how much a day makes in airfare pricing. I'll never understand how they figure them out.

Airlines have different fare codes with different restrictions.

What you might have seen on kayak.com, which btw is not a travel agent, was a fare that no longer was available due to it being sold out, the restrictions of the fare, etc....

The fare exists but it's not available for your flight(s). Sites like kayak.com or whichbudget.com or ita.com are not travel agents. They will pull out possible fares but not necessarily available fares.

Does the $966 fare include taxes/surcharges/etc?

kayak.com should give the final price. Not pre-tax, pre-surcharges.

BlueSea, yes it said it included all taxes and fees.

I have found that Kayak's fares pulled from aa.com match the AA website well.

I have found more discrepancies with their cheaptickts.com prices (or whatever it's called).

Obviously not an exhaustive list, but quite a few data points.

it is really frustrating when kayak lists a great price, and you click on it, and, Ooops, it's no longer available. Anywhere else, and I'd say that was bait and switch...

Of course, you haven't paid for anything on Kayak so you are free to shop around. No bait and switch in that.