Why does Kayak have a a 'secret carrier' option for a flight?
When searching for a flight on kayak.com (not for me, I don't fly business), it shows a "Secret Carrier" option.
What gives? Why are they unable to tell us even the code-share partner? What if you want to use miles? How does the travel agent know who they're booking with?
Best Answer
They know, don't worry about them. Its you who're kept in the dark. This is usually something I expect on Hotwire or Priceline, didn't know Kayak started doing that too...
The idea is that you give the requirements, and they tell you "we have a ticket more or less fitting your requirements, but we will only sell it for you at this price if you let us not tell you the details". When you pay, it is usually non-refundable. Whether its a company you actually like or don't, and the dates/hours are good for you or not - you'll discover only after paying.
I tried it a couple of times with hotels, sometimes you get bargains, sometimes you wish you weren't so cheap about things...
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Can I trust kayak flights?
Overall, Kayak is a solid option to research prices. It's fast and easy-to-use and pulls information from a variety of sources. You shouldn't have a problem researching and booking a basic airline ticket with Kayak. The other travel purchases are easy to book and research too.Does incognito work for flights?
According to Scott's Cheap Flights, there's no harm in clearing your cookies or searching for a flight in your browser's incognito mode, but know it won't do anything for you.What is a hacker flight?
A "hacker fare" is when you book a one-way trip with one airline, and then a one way trip back from another airline. Many online travel agencies are actually posting the hacker fares now. You can always check out their deals, but you can look for your own, too. And if you take the time, you can find a better deal.How do I stop airlines from checking my searches?
Simply navigate to the browser menu, usually found in the upper right-hand corner of your browser window, and select \u201cNew incognito/private window.\u201dWhy Do We Kayak? Answering the Often Asked Question with a Video
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Answer 2
A couple weeks ago, I bought a RT under "Secret Carrier", with Major Airline, on Kayak with Airfare.com for $700 cheaper (-35%). It was a nonstop flight so i didn't have to worry too much about long lay-overs.
Little research based on the take-off time and flight duration allowed me to guess the flight and the airline.
Almost immediately after checkout, I had an email from Kayak for pending reservation and an email from airfare.com for reservation confirmed. A couple of hours later, airfare.com sent me the email with my ticket number, which i used to check the reservation on the airline website and everything was included, just like a ticket i would purchase directly with the airline (the qualifying miles, the 50lbs check-in luggage, option to choose my meals, etc.)
One thing that got me worried a bit was that I had 2 lines pending on my credit card of the same amount (one from airfaire.com and one from the airline). But about 5 days later, the 2nd line from the airline disappeared and I've only been charged by airfare.com.
My 2 flights went well. I would definitely buy it again, saved me $700!!!
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