Affirm and Kayak Extend Pay Later Partnership to Canada

Affirm continues to deepen its travel industry footprint by expanding its partnership with Kayak.

The pay later company and the travel search engine have offered services to travelers in the United States since 2023 and are now bringing their collaboration to Canada, Kayak said in a Thursday (May 22) press release.

“Consumers are increasingly turning to Affirm when booking their flights, hotels, rides and more as flexible payment options remain a top priority for travelers across Canada,” Affirm Chief Revenue Officer Wayne Pommen said in the release. “This expansion with Kayak is a natural next step for our long-standing partnership as we look to offer even more travelers peace of mind when paying for their next trip using Affirm.”

By choosing Affirm at checkout on Kayak’s Canadian website, approved travelers can split the cost of flights, accommodations, and car rentals or car sharing into monthly payments, according to the release.

Affirm already works with several other travel companies, including Booking Holdings brands Agoda, Booking.com and Priceline, which itself owns Kayak.

Kayak Chief Product Officer Matthias Keller discussed with PYMNTS Thursday the company’s launch of Kayak.ai, a conversational travel booking assistant powered by generative artificial intelligence.

“This is not just a chatbot,” Keller said. “It’s a ChatGPT just built for travel. You can ask any travel question, and in a conversation, you get real-life rates that are also bookable on Kayak.”

Kayak.ai was created to emulate natural human conversation and the kind of planning a traveler might do with a knowledgeable agent or friend. It isn’t fully automated, but future versions of the assistant will allow for seamless and even semi-autonomous bookings within the chat itself, Keller said.

“Right now, it’s more like an attended booking within the chat,” he said. “You’ll still see what you’re booking, confirm the price, and maybe enter your credit card. But over time, this could get more and more semi-automated. Maybe you leave your details, and the booking happens in the background.”

Meanwhile, Kayak’s integrations with major airlines, hotel chains and global distribution systems (GDS) offer it a competitive edge, Keller said.