Kayak.com is launching a “Best Fare Trend” graph that
offers historical airfare data that allows users to track and identify the cheapest airfares found within
the past 90 days on Kayak.com.  The new graph joins two other innovative
tools recently launched on Kayak.com, Kayak Buzz and Best Fare History,
all of which empower users with the ability to compare historical data
for prices and itineraries over a specific time period, enabling a more
informed purchasing decision. 

“Airfares can change thousands of times a day so consumers are confused
about when to purchase,” said Steve Hafner, Kayak.com CEO and
co-founder. “Kayak.com’s Best Fare Trend graph displays price
fluctuations for a specific route on a single departure date or over
various dates so travelers can always be confident that they found the
lowest fare. With the launch of Best Fare Trend, Kayak.com now offers
more historical airfare data tools than any other travel site.”

Best Fare Trend charts pricing for city/date pairs found by Kayak.com
users over the past 90 days.  The chart is available for searches that
have been queried five or more times.  Currently, there are Trend graphs
for 415,000 city pair/date combinations, covering the most heavily
traveled markets.  The city pair with the most diverse set of dates is
currently Newark to San Juan, Puerto Rico with over 251 departure dates
searched. 

The Best Fare Trend graph appears at the top left hand corner of the
flight results page.  For detailed trend information, consumers click on
the “details” link above the chart.  A new window opens with a larger
graph and Best Fare History list.  Consumers can use the date drop down
menu to change the departure date and instantly review a new Trend
graph.  Users with flexibility can find the lowest fare over a month’s
time by choosing “any day” which charts two data points for a city pair:
“average low fare found” and the “absolute best fare found” for a
specified month. 

Kayak.com was the first travel site to provide historical data to
consumers with the November 2005 launch of Kayak Buzz, a tool that
displays the lowest fares to the 25 most popular destinations from any
airport or city.  In May, Kayak.com enhanced the Buzz product with Best
Fare History, an option to view up to 100 fare/itinerary combinations
for a specific city pair found by other Kayak users over the past 36
hours.  A “check availability” link is integrated with all three tools,
allowing the consumer to check instantly for real-time availability and
pricing.

Kayak Forums

Kayak.com also launched the first phase of an online travel community
with new user forums.  Kayak Forums allow consumers to share and request
travel tips, stories and additional information with other users.
Forums are searchable by region (Africa, Asia, Canada, Caribbean,
Central America, Europe, Mexico, Middle East, South America, South
Pacific and US), topics (Adventure Travel, Budget Travel, Family Travel,
Romantic Getaways and Sports Travel) or key words.  Launching later this
month users will be able to place a “watch” on forums of interest.  An
alert will be emailed once a message is posted to that specified forum.
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