Kayak is getting all collegiate and partnered with StudentUniverse.com.
The travel metasearch site will begin displaying StudentUniverse.com fares for users registered with an .edu email address or if they are detected to be searching from a university IP address.
StudentUniverse.com strikes private fares deals with airlines for student travel.
You have to love the Kayak post about the news.
It says, in part:
“First a little research for some background: College students, from our ‘extensive, scientific research’ (read: not extensive nor scientific at all and solely our collegiate experiences), love precisely five things:
1. Not spending money
2. Traveling
3. Learning
4. Beer
5. ‘Extracurricular activities’
“Needless to say, our partnership with StudentUniverse hits a majority of the list above.”
This kind of fun-loving banter from Kayak appeared to be on the way out given it's pending IPO and all the cleaning up that's going on, including this revamped and relatively staid portrayal of the Kayak management team.
And, the Kayak-StudentUniverse love-in is slightly -- OK, very slightly -- ironic since StudentUniverse made some news last year by partnering with ITA Software. Kayak was one of the leading opponents of the now-consumated Google-ITA Software deal.
With the merger done, though, it's back to school and back to business for everyone.