Travel search engine Kayak.com has launched Flexible Search functionality to help consumers find lower priced airfares on alternate dates.

Published: 30 May 2006

Travel search engine Kayak.com has launched Flexible Search functionality to help consumers find lower priced airfares on alternate dates.

The company shared that Kayak.com users can now search up to three days before and/or after their preferred travel dates for the best fare and itinerary combination. Also launching is a new Traveler Profile page and enhancements to the popular Kayak Buzz feature.

Steve Hafner, Kayak.com chief executive officer and co-founder referred to Jupiter Research findings, as per which one out of two consumers want the ability to search for lower fares by flexible dates.

“Kayak.com innovations like Flexible Search and the new Traveler Profile page help ensure that our 25 percent month over month increase in traffic continues,” said Hafner.

According to Kayak.com, to use Flexible Search, users need to click on the “My dates are flexible” link on the Kayak.com homepage. Users will be prompted to sign-in or register so Kayak.com can incorporate user preferences into results and save searches to the new profile section. It added that to compare prices and availability for a range of dates using Flexible Search, users simply input preferred travel dates and use the drop down menus to specify up to three days before and/or after their desired travel dates.

Results are displayed in order of price, but consumers can use the sorting and filtering tools to change results instantly. Check boxes are provided for each date of travel, number of stops, airlines and airports while sliders are used to filter results for departure/arrival time and price. To save time, Flexible Search allows users to further specify number of travelers (up to six), cabin class (first, businesses and coach), itinerary type (roundtrip, one-way or multi-city) or number of stops.

Kayak.com has revamped the “My Profile” section, enabling the site to provide more personalised services than any other travel site.

“As the leader in travel search 2.0, Kayak.com is building personalisation features that recognize a user and display results tailored to that person's travel preferences and search history,” said Paul English, Kayak.com CTO and co-founder. “Consumers will benefit from more relevant search results, providing a more efficient and productive search experience.”

The My Profile section is divided into the five following tabs: My Profile (general information including nickname, name, email address, email preferences, password and home airport); Preferences (specify preferences for airlines, hotel brand, hotel stars and hotel amenities); Email Alerts (create a new Fare Alert or Buzz Alert or manage existing alerts); Search History: saves all searches and click thru history for air, hotel and car. This information is also used by Kayak.com to help personalise a user’s search results; Member Pages: share your travel interests and profile with the world, including personal blog page, Flickr screen name, travel videos, member quote, personal quote and picture. Kayak.com will be the first travel site to incorporate community and social networking with travel search