VIDEO: Kayak CEO Steve Hafner on new “Premium” badge, cross-brand loyalty and why it's a startup

It’s been a busy year for Kayak.

The metasearch engine has made several updates, including an announcement Thursday of “Kayak Premium,” a new program of curated and endorsed travel options. The first company to qualify for the Premium badge is Lyric, which designs and operates apartment rentals that will now be available on Kayak.

Kayak says it will add additional partners in the coming year, starting with boutique hotels and possibly extending to additional verticals.

“Kayak Premium is another step forward as we move beyond price comparison and into the traveler journey,” says Steve Hafner, Kayak co-founder and CEO.

“In the future, our app will help personalize and automate the Kayak Premium experience. For accommodations, this means seamless check-in and check-out, saved room preferences, delivery and dining options and amenity selection.”

In November, Kayak launched a free corporate travel service, Kayak for Business. And with Hafner now also at the helm of sister brand OpenTable, the two Booking Holdings-owned brands launched a partnership in January to enable users to redeem OpenTable points for discounts on hotel stays. 

So there was a lot to discuss when Hafner took the stage at The Phocuswright Conference in Florida in November. In his interview on with Phocuswright analyst Maggie Rauch, Hafner covered a range of topics such as efforts to develop a cross-brand loyalty program across Booking Holdings’ companies, why now is a great time to be an entrepreneur in travel, mistakes he sees other travel brands making and why he feels Kayak is still “in the startup space.”

Coming off stage, Hafner headed straight for the PhocusWire Studio for a follow-up discussion on Kayak product updates, how the brand can attract new users and his take on the topic of diversity and women’s leadership in travel technology.

View both interviews below.