KAYAK Knows That Group Travel Planning is No Vacation

STAMFORD, Conn., June 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Traveling with friends and family: Love to do it. Hate to plan it. Are we right? A new survey conducted by the world's leading travel search engine reveals that nearly 50 percent of Americans are stressed out when travel planning for friends and family, with the U.S. ranking second among the most stressed out of all the countries polled.

Enter KAYAK Trip Huddle, a new tool to help take the pain out of planning group travel. KAYAK looked at some of the top pain points for planning trips ? choosing accommodations, selecting a destination and coordinating travel schedules, which collectively stress out 57% of Americans ? and created a tool to address each and every one of them. Boom.

From managing your high-roller BFF who demands the very best, to reeling in your party animal aunt or better yet, trying to do the impossible ? appease the group critic (let's face it, every group has one) ? KAYAK knows that travel planning with friends can be pretty stressful.

So what creates all that stress?  Well, pleasing everyone can be difficult, and KAYAK's new video, "The 7 Types of Travelers," will show you a few reasons...

• The High Roller: Lives by the mottos "you pay for what you get" and "I'll take two."
• The Super Saver: That special someone who considers couponing an extreme sport.
• The Critic: A friend who is hard to please, but impossible to ignore.
• The Life of The Party: The fun-loving champion who thinks outside the box and often off the rails.
• The Flow Master: So laid back they're unhelpful. But they're totally down for it! Whatever it is.
• The Late-Comer: Who should be here any minute now. Really. Any minute now.
• The Most Valuable Planner (MVP): The unsung hero who has every detail covered. Probably twice.

"KAYAK can't change your friends ? and be honest, would you really want to get rid of those endearing quirks ? but the good news is we can change the way you plan travel with them using our newest tool, Trip Huddle," said David Solomito, Vice President NA marketing, KAYAK.

To start a Huddle, the planner simply enters a name for the trip and invites the group (which may or may not include a few familiar faces from the list above). But don't stress. In the tool, the group can enter destination options, select up to 20 different date combinations and choose from among 20 different hotels. Once all of the information is entered, everyone in the group can cast their vote by selecting a rating for each option.

"At KAYAK, we understand that volunteering to plan travel for friends and family requires boldness, confidence, and of course, the right set of tools," said Solomito. "With KAYAK's Trip Huddle we're championing the planners by giving them exactly what they need to stay organized, and to focus on the challenging task of keeping everyone happy on vacation. Without the planners' dedication, most group trips wouldn't see the light of day."

Whether consumers are the ones taking charge or have a friend who loves to plan, those who share "The 7 Types of Travelers" video on Facebook or Twitter using the #MVPlannerContest hashtag and tag their "planner" friend will be entered for the chance to win $5,000 toward their next group trip, courtesy of KAYAK.

For more information about how the contest works, or to start planning your next group trip with KAYAK Trip Huddle, visit www.kayak.com/mvp.

About KAYAK
KAYAK helps millions of travelers around the globe make confident travel decisions. As the world's leading travel search engine, KAYAK searches other sites to show travelers the information they need to find the right flights, hotels, rental cars and vacation packages. KAYAK is an independently managed subsidiary of Booking Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: BKNG). For more information, visit www.KAYAK.com.

Media Contact: Alison Deasy, 212-373-6042, [email protected]

SOURCE KAYAK