【】
KAYAK and Amazon are bringing flight planning to Alexa, the virtual assistant in Amazon's smart home products.
Launching Tuesday, the KAYAK integration provides a voice-activated travel service to let users ask about travel options using their voice and an Alexa-enabled device.
SEE ALSO:Google Trips is a comprehensive mobile travel app, but you can't get it yetUsers can track live flights, find out what destinations are within their budgets, and get recommendations on the best time to travel to save money on flights, hotels and car rentals. To access the features, you would say, "Open KAYAK" or "Ask KAYAK," and then ask a question about flights.
"You can be in the kitchen and know, if you have to pick up someone from the airport, if the flight is going to be on time or late," Giorgos Zacharia, KAYAK's chief technology officer, told Mashable.
"Hey KAYAK, where can I fly for $500?" or "When is the best time to fly to Cancun?" are the kinds of questions KAYAK's service is programmed to respond to.
"It will be the travel agent on your kitchen counter."
With this first release of the service, customers will not be able to book flights directly with Alexa. So while you'll be able to get ideas, you'll have to break out your mobile or desktop device to actually buy a ticket.
Zacharia says that the company will be making updates to the service with user feedback, and hopes to make the experience more personalized. Eventually, Alexa would remember flight preferences and personalize recommendations.
"It will be the travel agent on your kitchen counter," he said.
Although many travelers have adopted do-it-yourself online booking instead of relying on a real live travel agent, KAYAK is among several technology companies trying to bring personalization back — in the form of machine learning and AI instead of traditional human knowledge.
KAYAK's digital travel agent even has a sense of humor: During product testing, users often asked where they could travel for $1 million. For any requests higher than $100,000, KAYAK is programmed to tell users that they can go anywhere, "even the moon." (Although we're pretty sure a ticket to space is more expensive than that.)
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
TopicsAlexaAmazon Alexa
相关文章

Aly Raisman catches Simone Biles napping on a plane like a champion
Simone Biles is exhausted. She won five medals at the Summer Olympics in Rio, posed for selfies with2026-01-05
What to know about storing 'verifiable' COVID vaccine records in your Apple Wallet
Call it the vaccine card shuffle. Walk up to a restaurant or prepare to enter a sports arena or conc2026-01-05
Nothing finally drops its $99 Ear (1) wireless earbuds
The wait is officially over for Nothing's rather elusive true wireless earbuds. Known as the Nothing2026-01-05
Life-changing or just plain shady? Mashable is getting to the bottom of promises made by health and2026-01-05
Researchers create temporary tattoos you can use to control your devices
In the future, your tattoos could be much more than just ink designs. 。Scientists have created a new2026-01-05
Mazda finally goes electric, but its MX
As I weaved through a dry canyon pass in Southern California, I felt stealthy, quick, quiet, and nim2026-01-05

最新评论