In a major twist, Kayak began taking direct hotel bookings on its own website through a white-label partnership with the Travelocity Partner Network.
Under the revamped system, the first hotel booking option in Kayak’s core hotel search results will be Book Kayak.com, with the word “Book” highlighted in green.
Travelers can click the button, input their credit card information and then book the hotel on Kayak.com.
The usual metasearch options, where consumers would be transferred to Orbitz, a hotel website or via an ad to Expedia for bookings will be listed below the direct Kayak booking option.
The new display looks like this:
Kayak is not becoming an online travel agency per se, but has upset the metasearch applecart.
The Travelocity Partner Network isthe merchant of record and handles customer service on a white label basis.
So, the Travelocity Partner Network is the travel agency involved here.
To the traveler, however, the booking experience on Kayak, including filling in billing information, is Kayak-branded like this:
Read the full story at:http://www.tnooz.com/2011/03/14/news/in-mega-meta-reversal-kayak-takes-direct-hotel-bookings-through-travelocity/
