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Kayak brings voice-enabled travel search to Amazon’s Echo device

Currently the feature is about high-level price search; booking is not yet possible.

Greg Sterling on May 11, 2016 at 12:51 pm

Amazon Echo and voice assistant Alexa have now integrated voice-enabled travel search from Kayak. Users can search for rental car, hotel and flight information, including flight tracking.

The capabilities are built on Kayak’s “Explore” and “Flight Tracker” features. However, users are not able to book reservations after searching; for now, it’s simply an information and pricing tool.

After enabling Kayak within the Alexa smartphone app, users invoke the tool by saying the keywords, “Alexa, ask Kayak” or simply “Alexa, Kayak.” It’s then possible to ask a range of questions. Here are some examples:

“How much does it cost to fly to New York?” (You can set a default airport)
“Search for hotels in London”
“I need a rental car in Detroit”

If more information is required, Alexa prompts you to provide it. Accordingly, you can have multi-step conversations with Alexa around travel information now.

Yet the capabilities are very far from perfect. Alexa/Kayak cannot answer many travel questions. For example, you can’t ask for the price of a specific hotel on a specific date. But it’s the start of something potentially much more compelling over time.

Read more in the companion story at Search Engine Land.

About The Author

Greg Sterling

Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog, Screenwerk, about connecting the dots between digital media and real-world consumer behavior. He is also VP of Strategy and Insights for the Local Search Association. Follow him on Twitter or find him at Google+.