Record-high gas prices mean the cost of travel has risen dramatically, and increasingly higher prices are buried in fees and charges. Travelers only discover these higher costs when they arrive at the airline check-in desk and are charged an unexpected baggage fee or when they receive the credit card bill highlighting the total cost of gas for a rental car. To help travelers avoid these unpleasant surprises, Kayak.com has launched tools that educate travelers on the hidden costs of travel, enabling consumers to make a more informed decision about flights and rental car purchases.
In response to the rising cost of renting a car, Kayak.com launched a Miles Per Gallon (MPG) filter and Fuel Cost Calculator on the results page of its rental car search in an effort to provide the relevant information travelers need to make smart decisions.
The Fuel Cost Calculator estimates the total cost of gas for a trip and instantly adds this figure to the daily rate of each car option. The Fuel Cost Calculator takes into consideration four factors: miles per gallon for each vehicle; average price of gas; number of estimated miles traveled during trip; and the type of driving including highway, city, and combination. While other gas calculators exist on the web, Kayak.com is the only site that instantly updates the total price per day so users can compare the final price across rental car agencies and car class.
Meanwhile, in response to an increase in existing airline fees and the emergence of new fees, the total cost of a flight doesn’t always end with the purchase. To help consumers calculate the total cost of their flight, Kayak.com has launched an Airline Fee Chart allowing travelers to easily view and compare an airline’s policy for five of the most popular fees without having to visit each carrier’s site. Available on the flight results page, this easy-to-navigate chart outlines the fee policies for baggage, meals, transporting pets, unaccompanied minor service and seat assignments with added legroom for 25 of the most popular carriers searched on Kayak.com. The chart also includes links to the fee sections of the carrier’s own website and urges users to confirm policies with the carrier.
If travelers are going to pay more for their flight, Kayak.com wants to make sure users get the most for their money. Hence, the site launched several “Flight Quality†features to expose factors that may make a flight undesirable.
Originally posted on August 22, 2008 @ 10:03 pm