Kayak Now Lets You Freeze Airfare Prices Through Hopper Partnership

Kayak began offering its app users the option to freeze airfares through a partnership with Hopper.

When consumers search for a flight in the Kayak app, Kayak said it directs them to a co-branded Kayak-Hopper site where they can freeze their airfares for up to 14 days for a fee.

If they freeze a $400 fare and it rises to $440 within the two-week period, for example, then the flyer could still buy the ticket for $400. If the fare drops to $380, the traveler would pay the lower fare.

In this instance, if the airfare rises beyond the frozen price and fee, then it's Hopper that would have to pay the difference, and not Kayak. Hopper takes the risk, but claims to predict airfare trends correctly 95 percent of the time based on historical data and its algorithms.

Hopper claims to make more money on these types of fees for an assortment of kindred services than on the flight bookings themselves.

Kayak announced the partnership on its blog September 30.

It's interesting that a metasearch business such as Kayak, which refers its customers mostly to online travel agency and airline sites to complete their bookings, is getting involved in offering a price freeze feature via Hopper. Essentially, it is a way for Kayak to make itself more useful to its customers.