Grinning from ear to ear, post-acquisition by Priceline, Kayak CEO and co-founder Steve Hafner still found time at the PhoCusWright Conference to tell everyone exactly what they already knew.
"We've been crappy at international expansion for some time."
Eight years in from its initial launch in the US, and with numerous attempts at trying to make a mark in other markets around the word, Hafner admits Kayak has "only a meaningful presence in three markets".
It has tried a number of methods - advertising, both off and online (particularly in the UK), PR, SEO and keyword buying - but still, apart from those three markets, Kayak has struggled to gain any significant foothold outside of the homeland.
"We just haven't been good at that," concedes Hafner when commenting on its existing international growth strategy.
But Hafner clearly now hopes this will change following its $1.8 billion (cash and stock) sale to Priceline - indeed, it was one of the primary elements mentioned in the reason for the buy last week.
But how?
Subject to the deal officially closing in the early-2013, understandably neither Kayak or Priceline will share many details, but obviously there is something in the Priceline arsenal of experience of growing businesses at a global scale that will be of use.
Hafner says Europe will be the first to get the growth treatment, in particular UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. He also cites Russia, where it is "still early days" but where it wants to "ride the growth of OTAs".
Following the Swoodoo acquisition in 2010, Kayak has been slowly building its team outside of the US, Hafner says, with more people in its European office than in its Connecticut headquarters.
So is this a wake-up call to the likes of fellow metasearch engines such as Skyscanner, Hotelscombined and Trivago?
Possibly.
For starters it's clearly going to be about branding, rather than any significant shift in technology or new products, with Hafner claiming more money will be spent on marketing in Europe than the US in 2013.