Kayak Car Rental Scraper

Extract comprehensive car rental data from Kayak with ease. Collect detailed listings, including prices, vehicle types, and rental companies, at scale for market research and price comparison. Perfect for travelers, travel agencies, and data analysts looking for real-time rental availability.

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Features

• Real-time Price Comparison — Gather current rental prices from multiple providers in one go.
• Detailed Car Specifications — Extract car types (economy, sedan, SUV), models, and rental company details.
• Flexible Search Parameters — Support for custom pickup/return locations and specific date ranges.
• API Polling Workflow — Uses Kayak's search polling and result list endpoints for faster extraction.
• Production-Oriented Input Validation — Early checks for missing or invalid inputs with clear errors.

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Use Cases

Price Monitoring

Track car rental prices across different locations and dates to identify the best deals and seasonal trends.

Market Intelligence

Analyze the inventory of various car rental companies on Kayak to understand market share and vehicle availability.

Travel Planning Automation

Build custom tools for travel agencies or corporate travel departments to automate the search for car rentals.

Competitive Analysis

Monitor competitor pricing and service offerings in the car rental industry for strategic decision-making.

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Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
pickupLocation	String	Conditional	—	Car rental pickup location (e.g., 'Abu-Dhabi,United-Arab-Emirates'). Required when startUrl is not provided.
pickupDate	String	Conditional	—	Pickup date in YYYY-MM-DD format (e.g., '2026-02-19'). Required when startUrl is not provided.
returnDate	String	Conditional	—	Return date in YYYY-MM-DD format (e.g., '2026-02-26'). Required when startUrl is not provided.
carType	String	No	—	Optional car type filter (e.g., 'economy', 'sedan', 'suv').
startUrl	String	No	—	A specific Kayak car rental search URL to start from.
results_wanted	Integer	No	20	Maximum number of car rental listings to collect.
proxyConfiguration	Object	No	{"useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]}	Proxy settings for reliable extraction.

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Output Data

Each item in the dataset contains:

Field	Type	Description
company	String	Rental company name (e.g., Hertz, Avis, Budget).
car_type	String	Type or model of the car (e.g., Economy, Toyota Corolla).
price_per_day	String	Rental price per day.
total_price	String	Total rental price for the specified period.
pickup_location	String	The pickup location used for the search.
pickup_date	String	The rental commencement date.
return_date	String	The rental return date.
rating	String	Customer rating of the rental offer or company.
url	String	Direct link to the car rental offer on Kayak.

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Usage Examples

Basic Location Search

Extract the first 20 rental listings for a specific location and date range.

{
  "pickupLocation": "Abu-Dhabi,United-Arab-Emirates",
  "pickupDate": "2026-02-19",
  "returnDate": "2026-02-26",
  "results_wanted": 20
}

Advanced Filtering

Filter search results by car type and increase the result cap for broader coverage.

{
  "pickupLocation": "Los Angeles, CA",
  "pickupDate": "2026-03-01",
  "returnDate": "2026-03-10",
  "carType": "suv",
  "results_wanted": 50
}

Direct URL Extraction

Extract data from a specific Kayak search result URL you've already found.

{
  "startUrl": "https://www.kayak.com/cars/Abu-Dhabi,United-Arab-Emirates/2026-02-19/2026-02-26?sort=rank_a",
  "results_wanted": 100
}

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Sample Output

{
  "company": "Sixt",
  "car_type": "Toyota Camry or similar",
  "price_per_day": "$45 per day",
  "total_price": "$315 total",
  "pickup_location": "Abu-Dhabi,United-Arab-Emirates",
  "pickup_date": "2026-02-19",
  "return_date": "2026-02-26",
  "rating": "8.5 Great",
  "url": "https://www.kayak.com/cars/Abu-Dhabi,United-Arab-Emirates/2026-02-19/2026-02-26/detail/..."
}

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Tips for Best Results

Use Residential Proxies

For the most reliable results and to avoid being blocked by anti-bot systems, always use residential proxies. Kayak has sophisticated detection mechanisms.

Specify Accurate Locations

Use the exact location names as they appear on Kayak (e.g., 'City, State' or 'City, Country') to ensure the search works correctly.

Start with Small Result Sets

When testing your search parameters, start with a small results_wanted (e.g., 10-20) to verify you're getting the data you expect before scaling up.

Balance Speed and Detail

If you only need a small sample for QA, keep results_wanted low to validate the output before scaling up.

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Integrations

Connect your data with:

• Google Sheets — Export rental data directly for automated price tracking.
• Airtable — Build a searchable database of car rental options.
• Slack — Get notifications on price drops or new rental listings.
• Webhooks — Send extracted data to your own custom API endpoints.
• Make / Zapier — Trigger complex automated workflows based on new rental data.

Export Formats

• JSON — Best for developers and system integrations.
• CSV — Ideal for spreadsheet analysis and reporting.
• Excel — Professional business reporting and presentations.
• XML — For legacy system data exchange.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many car rentals can I scrape?

You can scrape as many as are available in the search results. Use the results_wanted parameter to set your desired limit.

Does it support all locations?

Yes, it supports any location worldwide that Kayak provides car rental searches for.

Can I filter by specific car types?

Yes, you can use the carType parameter to narrow down results to specific categories like 'economy', 'luxury', or 'suv'.

What happens if Kayak changes its layout?

We regularly monitor and update the scraper to ensure it continues to function correctly even if the website changes.

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Support

For issues or feature requests, contact support through the Apify Console.

Resources

• Apify Documentation
• API Reference
• Proxy Settings

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Legal Notice

This actor is designed for legitimate data collection purposes. Users are responsible for ensuring compliance with website terms of service and applicable laws. Use data responsibly and respect website rate limits.