Originally Posted by
corporate-wage-slave
Just to add a bit more on that, Kayak is an intermediary here, so it is reporting back from its partner travel bookers in return for a slice of the eventual pie.
They actually do both! Kayak did start as a comparator, but they now have their own sale channel too (they started with hotel rooms and have added plane tickets on a number of national kayak websites for a number of trips). So you will now often find the, say, 10 merchant quotes but also potentially kayak's own. As it's consolidator it won't be offered on all routes and flights.