Bing makes the switch to Kayak for flights

Bing and Kayak implemented their partnership late last week and Kayak now powers Bing Travel's flights.

There are several questions about the switch that now have been answered.

Bing Travel flights has retained its "look and feel," but with the exception of Bing's Price Predictor, the tools and filters basically are the same.

And, at first glance the search results on Kayak-powered Bing Travel flights and Kayak.com flights appear to be similar, but there are important differences.

Here's a Bing results page for a Chicago 'O'Hare to Orlando International Airport roundtrip March 25 to March 27.

The bottom of the page says "Results powered by Kayak."

And here's a Kayak results page for the same itinerary.

The pages look similar, but Bing and Kayak handle their supplier relationships differently.

If you click "Select" on the $629 United flight on Bing, you navigate to Orbitz Worldwide's CheapTickets site for booking.

But, Orbitz Worldwide gets less love on Kayak.

If you click "Select" for the $629 United flight on Kayak, you are offered the choice of clicking on a $629 fare from CheapTickets, a $629 fare from United.com or "check rates" from Expedia.com.

The options look like this:

So, Bing is apparently honoring some online travel agency exclusivity rights for Orbitz Worldwide despite the switchover to Kayak, and whether Kayak.com is honoring Orbitz Worldwide OTA exclusivity provisions will apparently be a topic for the lawyers to hash out.

Another difference between Kayak-powered Bing Travel flights and Kayak.com flights is fare predictions.

In the switchover, Bing has retained its signature Price Predictor, offering tips on whether to buy or wait to book a flight, and Kayak says it has no intention of introducing a Price Predictor on Kayak.com.

The partnership is a big win for Kayak as it will benefit from the increased traffic and revenue in the countdown to an expected IPO try.

Remaining unanswered questions include whether Bing will take its Kayak partnership internationally and whether the alliance will expand beyond flights and into hotels.