Skyscanner is the world’s leading travel search engine. Since their beginning in 2003, they’ve connected millions of users with flight tickets without a major flight comparison headache or breaking the bank. Skyscanner puts users’ wants and needs first by designing their website and app to simply and efficiently list airline, hotel, and car rental options in one convenient place.
The Skyscanner site and app are easy to use. Just type into the main search bar the various parameters of your ideal flight. Then click the green search button, and you’ll be presented with a list of options that you can then organize and filter by price, departure time, and other filters.
More than 100 million people every month are using Skyscanner to meet their travel needs and find the best deals on airline tickets, hotels, and car rentals. Keep reading to find out how Skyscanner provides such great options and why it’s the best travel search engine to get the most affordable deals.
What is Skyscanner?
Skyscanner is a leading travel search engine dedicated to finding the most affordable travel options for visitors. As a flight search engine, Skyscanner brings together flight information from thousands of airlines and travel agencies across the web so that travelers can easily examine their options.
Visitors can search by destination, dates of travel, price, and use other filters to determine the best flight for them.
Rather than manually checking the websites and setting alerts for multiple airlines, Skyscanner does all the price gathering work for you.
While flights are one of the most significant travel costs for almost any trip, renting a car and hotel accommodations can also take up a lot of space in one’s travel budget. Skyscanner can also be used to compare the prices and availabilities for hotels and car rentals!
Skyscanner sets out to make booking the logistics of traveling as simple and efficient as possible.
How does Skyscanner Work?
Skyscanner is a metasearch engine that scours the web for users to gather the lowest prices on flights, hotels, and car rentals. It truly is a one-stop-shop for all of your booking needs, and simplifies the travel planning process.
Skyscanner puts its users first and prioritizes customer service. Unlike other search travel sites, airlines, hotels, and car rental companies cannot pay to rank higher in Skyscanner search results. This means that visitors will truly get a list of the best deals available to them.
However, Skyscanner is not a payment processing site. This means that when users find a flight or hotel that they plan to book when they click on the deal, Skyscanner will redirect them to the airline or hotel website. As opposed to other travel search websites, Skyscanner doesn’t allow users to directly book through their website.
Skyscanner has a few elements that really take travel planning to the next level, beyond some of the more well-known discount travel sites. Some of the perks of Skyscanner that makes it stand out from other travel search engines are:
- Airline ticket prices displayed already include tax, this is a fantastic tool that not all other sites do.
- Previous searches on Skyscanner aren’t tracked. Meaning users keep their privacy and travel companies don’t use previous searches to inflate their prices.
- The website is available in over 30 languages.
Skyscanner’s dedication to its users and making travel bookings as simple and efficient as possible. The different filters and options available, plus a user-friendly site, make it a reliable travel search engine where users can be confident that they are truly getting all the information they need to book the best deals available to them.
But also, by having it all in one convenient space, they don’t have to spend hours researching multiple airlines or going back in forth to compare all their options.
Not only does Skyscanner provide the most efficient and helpful travel search results, but they’re also committed to supporting travel and making it as easy as possible for people to participate in grand adventures.
Their site even features an “Everywhere” travel option, which allows users to explore what destinations they can go to for an affordable price. Many travel lovers know that feeling where they simply want to get away and even go somewhere they never thought to intentionally type into a search bar. With the “Everywhere” travel search, Skyscanner makes it fun to see what travel options are really at people’s disposal.
What Airlines Does Skyscanner Check?
Skyscanner pulls flight prices from thousands and thousands of airlines, ensuring that users are made aware of all the options at their disposal.
Some of the most popular airlines that Skyscanner checks are:
- Delta
- American Airlines
- United
- Southwest
- Korean Air
- Air China
- Air France
- Air Canada
And these are only a fraction of some of the most popular airlines that Skyscanner checks.
Checking out the different airline options that Skyscanner brings up in their search results is particularly useful if you use a credit card or are a member of a particular airline where you can achieve discounts and gather miles to make traveling more budget-friendly.
It’s also really helpful to know which airlines are popular for certain destinations. For example, an airline company that has a lot of options for flights to Canada may not have as many options for flights to France.
If you’re flying international, and you find that the airlines you’ve flown with most often previously don’t have as many budget-friendly options, you can easily use Skyscanner to find out which airlines are popular for that destination and will usually have cheaper ticket prices because of it.
Is There a Better Site than Skyscanner?
Skyscanner has the most direct referral relationships with airlines, hotels, and car rental agencies than any other travel search engine.
Users who find flights, hotels, or car rental deals on Skyscanner are also ensured to get top-notch quality. Skyscanner has high standards and rules in place for their partners so that their search results only display high-quality travel options.
Expedia and Google Flights are possible alternatives. Although they each have their downfalls when compared to Skyscanner.
Expedia
Expedia is helpful in that it rates hotels and flights based on the amenities and customer service reviews. This can be a big plus when thinking about booking on an airline or hotel chain that you’re unfamiliar with.
In some instances, you can also save some money when you bundle your travel bookings (flight hotel) through Expedia. However, a few cons of using Expedia according to frequent users are:
- The customer service can be lacking in certain instances. If you miss your flight or need to make a last-minute change, Expedia customer service may not provide the level of support that the airline or hotel chain would if you had booked directly with them.
- The cancellation policies can differ greatly depending on the specific booking. This can add unnecessary headache to your travel plans and your wallet if you have to cancel a booking or want a service refunded.
Google Flights
Google Flights is best known for its extremely useful travel calendar and comparison options. Google Flights allows users to compare up to 7 departure and arrival destinations, making it easier for travelers to remain flexible and plan their trips according to their own schedule.
However, Google Flights may not be the best option for budget weary travelers. Here are some cons:
- It’s not the most reliable option in terms of finding the absolute cheapest options. Sometimes it’s also behind in terms of price updates. A price discount that’s no longer available may still display in Google Flights, which can cause confusion when users actually go to book the deal and find that it’s no longer available.
- No customer support available. While you can’t book anything directly through Google Flights, the service doesn’t have a specific customer support team. This means any problems that users encounter with Google Flights leaves them with little options.
It’s always good to have options and to know which travel search engines are worth engaging with. All users want to make sure they’re booking the best flight for them, and the main way to do that is to compare the options from as many airlines and hotels as you can.
However, it can get frustrating to always be keeping your eye on the ever-changing flight prices of multiple airlines. Skyscanner is often reviewed as the most reliable and consistent search engine.
They keep it simple and straightforward, displaying the information available from multiple cities, airlines, hotels, and car rental agencies without muddling things up for the user with complicated discount deals or confusing ads that are prioritized over the organic search results.
Ultimately, when it comes to simply find the best deal as easy as possible, users point to Skyscanner as the number one option.
Download the Skyscanner App
When it comes to booking flights, remaining flexible for as long as possible is one of the best ways to get major savings. Travelers who are able to keep their eyes on the fluctuations of flight prices are more likely to know when that one ideal flight’s price has just dropped, and it’s the time to book.
If you’re looking to keep your dates open and see how the flight prices change as you approach your trip, download the Skyscanner app to make keeping your eye on flight and hotel prices that much easier.
Just like the website service, using the Skyscanner app is free, and it provides the same simple search interface that makes it easy to compare flights, hotels, and car rentals.
Use Skyscanner to Book Your Next Trip
Frequent travelers constantly site Skyscanner as their travel search engine of choice. With users as their first priority and changing the way we travel for the better as their mission, you can trust them to bring you high-quality search results that take the pain out of booking your travel logistics.
Save as much on your flights and hotels with Skyscanner so you can spend your travel budget on the activities and experiences that really make a trip worth taking.
Even if you don’t have a specific trip, dates, or destination in mind, use Skyscanner to explore all the places you can go to at the most affordable price. This is a great way to get inspired to travel and learn about all the destinations you can easily travel to without breaking the bank, and with ease of mind, you’re getting the best price available to you.
When faced with unexpected changes, understand the implications of your decision by exploring the question, “Is it better to cancel a flight or not show up?” in our comprehensive guide.