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I want to love Hipmunk and I do a search on it every time I travel but Kayak has consistently returned flights that are $50 - $100 cheaper. I love the Hipmunk i

I want to love Hipmunk and I do a search on it every time I travel but Kayak has consistently returned flights that are $50 - $100 cheaper. I love the Hipmunk interface but not $100 worth.

saucerful 15y ago
Interesting-- before seeing your post I was already planning on asking how Hipmunk is better than Kayak, if at all... EDIT: Okay, I tried Hipmunk for an upcoming flight. Pros: It offers a 30 day window for a flexible date search as opposed just 7 days on Kayak. Pretty interface. Cons: Far fewer search options. My fare was $150 cheaper on Kayak! (Chicago to Hawaii over New Years).
spez 15y ago
Have an example? We should have the same fares as pretty much everyone else. There are some holes, but none in the US to my knowledge.
- paulgb 15y ago
  Hipmunk is always my first stop for flights, but the last few I've booked I've ended up finding better deals elsewhere: London to Toronto (cheaper with CanadianAffair.com) Halifax, Canada to JFK (cheaper on US Airways site) Edmonton, Canada to LGA (cheaper on US Airways site) They're all at least partly non-US, but I was able to find similar price discrepancies with flights from NYC to SF and Seattle. For example, I am quoted $398 ($441 tax-in) for a flight from LGA to SEA round-trip from Aug 25 to Sept 8. Hipmunk gives me tickets from $398 each way, so I'd be paying twice as much minimum. In Europe, I've found SkyScanner.net to be generally cheaper because they have more discount airlines (namely Jet2, easyJet, and GermanWings; I avoid RyanAir)
  - onedognight 15y ago
    > I am quoted $398 ($441 tax-in) for a flight from LGA to SEA round-trip from Aug 25 to Sept 8. Hipmunk gives me tickets from $398 each way, so I'd be paying twice as much minimum. This tripped me up the first time as well. That price is $398 round trip on Hipmonk. They show the best round trip price, not the best one way price. They say "from $398" to indicate that the best you can do is $398 if you pick the correct return flight.
    - spez 15y ago
      Also, our $398 is after taxes.
      - sgrove 15y ago
        Which is awesome, please don't change that.
    - paulgb 15y ago
      Good to know. For what it's worth the other flights were one-way so my misunderstanding doesn't affect the price difference.
- saucerful 15y ago
  ORD to HNL 12/28 to 1/5. Hipmunk: $1092. Kayak: $917. (Both reservations have one layover in each direction and include tax. Kayak sends me to United.com directly while Hipmunk takes me to Orbitz.)
  - michaelfairley 15y ago
    Edit: This is not actually true. I stand corrected. The Kayak number doesn't include fees and taxes, whereas the Hipmunk number does.
    - saucerful 15y ago
      Nope, from the the footnote: "Prices are per person and are for e–tickets and include all taxes & fees in USD."
  - goldfish 15y ago
    Possibly due to a fare update happening around the time you did the search. When I do that search on Hipmunk I see a lowest fare of $899 (http://www.hipmunk.com/#!ORD_HNL,Dec28_Jan05@0,0 http://www.hipmunk.com/#!ORD_HNL,Dec28_Jan05@0,0) for a one-stop flight in each direction. Kayak's price is the same for the same itinerary. Admittedly Kayak has one flight for $870 and a few for $896, but they involved two stops.
sterwill 15y ago
In my case I always start with Hipmunk, find a schedule I like, then I check southwest.com and end up buying a similar flight at about 75% of the other airline price.
- steve-howard 15y ago
  Truth. I use Southwest unless I have no other choice (the only times have been when I specifically needed a red-eye and when I took a Thanksgiving flight at the last minute). Aside from the price, it's also just less irritating: not having TVs showing ads on the back of every seat is a big plus, and I don't have to plan around not bringing checked luggage.
  - hugh3 15y ago
    I used to use Southwest a lot until I started discovering the joys of having status on an old-school carrier. If you fly less than 25,000 miles a year then Southwest is great, but if you fly more (and especially if you get up to 50 or 100K miles) then the perks of United (or similar) become irresistible.
    - steve-howard 15y ago
      I don't have status with anyone, but I'm usually broke. My impression is that having status with a carrier gets you perks, it doesn't so much make the experience as cheap as Southwest (and if you're strictly flying domestically, you're talking a 6-hour flight, max. That's really not that bad).
DanielRibeiro 15y ago
As a non us citizen, I also find it not to be any better for international flights that leave from Brazil. The UI is clean and great, but its search is just not comprehensive as local competitors. On the flip side, competitors also don't have all the data (company's site usually has data no-one else has).

I want to love Hipmunk and I do a search on it every time I travel but Kayak has consistently returned flights that are $50 - $100 cheaper. I love the Hipmunk interface but not $100 worth.

saucerful 15y ago

Interesting-- before seeing your post I was already planning on asking how Hipmunk is better than Kayak, if at all... EDIT: Okay, I tried Hipmunk for an upcoming flight. Pros: It offers a 30 day window for a flexible date search as opposed just 7 days on Kayak. Pretty interface. Cons: Far fewer search options. My fare was $150 cheaper on Kayak! (Chicago to Hawaii over New Years).

spez 15y ago

Have an example? We should have the same fares as pretty much everyone else. There are some holes, but none in the US to my knowledge.

paulgb 15y ago
Hipmunk is always my first stop for flights, but the last few I've booked I've ended up finding better deals elsewhere: London to Toronto (cheaper with CanadianAffair.com) Halifax, Canada to JFK (cheaper on US Airways site) Edmonton, Canada to LGA (cheaper on US Airways site) They're all at least partly non-US, but I was able to find similar price discrepancies with flights from NYC to SF and Seattle. For example, I am quoted $398 ($441 tax-in) for a flight from LGA to SEA round-trip from Aug 25 to Sept 8. Hipmunk gives me tickets from $398 each way, so I'd be paying twice as much minimum. In Europe, I've found SkyScanner.net to be generally cheaper because they have more discount airlines (namely Jet2, easyJet, and GermanWings; I avoid RyanAir)
- onedognight 15y ago
  > I am quoted $398 ($441 tax-in) for a flight from LGA to SEA round-trip from Aug 25 to Sept 8. Hipmunk gives me tickets from $398 each way, so I'd be paying twice as much minimum. This tripped me up the first time as well. That price is $398 round trip on Hipmonk. They show the best round trip price, not the best one way price. They say "from $398" to indicate that the best you can do is $398 if you pick the correct return flight.
  - spez 15y ago
    Also, our $398 is after taxes.
    - sgrove 15y ago
      Which is awesome, please don't change that.
  - paulgb 15y ago
    Good to know. For what it's worth the other flights were one-way so my misunderstanding doesn't affect the price difference.
saucerful 15y ago
ORD to HNL 12/28 to 1/5. Hipmunk: $1092. Kayak: $917. (Both reservations have one layover in each direction and include tax. Kayak sends me to United.com directly while Hipmunk takes me to Orbitz.)
- michaelfairley 15y ago
  Edit: This is not actually true. I stand corrected. The Kayak number doesn't include fees and taxes, whereas the Hipmunk number does.
  - saucerful 15y ago
    Nope, from the the footnote: "Prices are per person and are for e–tickets and include all taxes & fees in USD."
- goldfish 15y ago
  Possibly due to a fare update happening around the time you did the search. When I do that search on Hipmunk I see a lowest fare of $899 (http://www.hipmunk.com/#!ORD_HNL,Dec28_Jan05@0,0 http://www.hipmunk.com/#!ORD_HNL,Dec28_Jan05@0,0) for a one-stop flight in each direction. Kayak's price is the same for the same itinerary. Admittedly Kayak has one flight for $870 and a few for $896, but they involved two stops.

sterwill 15y ago

In my case I always start with Hipmunk, find a schedule I like, then I check southwest.com and end up buying a similar flight at about 75% of the other airline price.

steve-howard 15y ago
Truth. I use Southwest unless I have no other choice (the only times have been when I specifically needed a red-eye and when I took a Thanksgiving flight at the last minute). Aside from the price, it's also just less irritating: not having TVs showing ads on the back of every seat is a big plus, and I don't have to plan around not bringing checked luggage.
- hugh3 15y ago
  I used to use Southwest a lot until I started discovering the joys of having status on an old-school carrier. If you fly less than 25,000 miles a year then Southwest is great, but if you fly more (and especially if you get up to 50 or 100K miles) then the perks of United (or similar) become irresistible.
  - steve-howard 15y ago
    I don't have status with anyone, but I'm usually broke. My impression is that having status with a carrier gets you perks, it doesn't so much make the experience as cheap as Southwest (and if you're strictly flying domestically, you're talking a 6-hour flight, max. That's really not that bad).

DanielRibeiro 15y ago

As a non us citizen, I also find it not to be any better for international flights that leave from Brazil. The UI is clean and great, but its search is just not comprehensive as local competitors. On the flip side, competitors also don't have all the data (company's site usually has data no-one else has).