I’m going to try to keep this Skyscanner review as unbiased as possible.
I stifle a laugh. It’s a weird thought, I know.
I talk about Skyscanner a lot on Passport To Eden, but that’s because I’m completely in love with the website (note: this is not a sponsored post). To be honest, my love borders on somewhat obsessive. Y’all, my morning routine begins with a hot chocolate and a Skyscanner search. You’d think I was joking…
I’ve been using Skyscanner for the past four years. At the time, the company didn’t have a really big USA presence but I fell hook, line, and sinker for the design, the rates of the flights, and the “search everywhere” function.
This was supposed to be an unbiased Skyscanner review, right?
*ahem*
Today, I’m going to be diving into the good, bad, and ugly of my favorite website. As much as I talk about the sunshine and roses portion of Skyscanner, the search function can occasionally lead to dark thorny flights (I don’t think it’s any fault of theirs but I want this post to be a holistic collection of my experiences).
Are you ready to become a Skyscanner ninja? (*raises hand*)
Most flight searching tools rely on web scraping techniques to scour the Internet for flight deals (Skyscanner is no exception). In other words, Skyscanner sifts through the text of popular flight websites, RSS feeds, and other travel-related domains to find relevant deals.
Travel Tip: Skyscanner also communicates directly with airline providers (mainly through APIs) to pull the latest flight deals.
The key term here is relevant. Skyscanner tries to pick up the best searches for you (i.e. the cheapest deals).
And I just want to say the website has one of the strongest deal-finding algorithms I’ve ever come across.
That’s why Skyscanner has always been on my list of top three flight aggregation webpages (my other favorites are Momondo and Google Flights).
As much as I’m tempted to describe Skyscanner as a fairytale Godmother who works magic for all, I have to be honest: Skyscanner is more like Cinderella’s shoe. If it fits your profile, the website will make all your travel dreams come true. And if it doesn’t, don’t worry. You just need a little patience.
Were they a little more expensive than some other in-site options? Sure. But more often than not, Skyscanner still presented the cheapest option given all the restrictions.
We’re going through a step-by-step Skyscanner tutorial.
Travel Tip: Skyscanner also curates hotel and rental car deals, but I’ve never had much luck with them. You can find some rental car hacks here.
In the “From” section, start typing the name of the airport you are plan to depart from. Just below the search box, check “add nearby airports”.
For the “To” section, enter the place you are traveling to (alternatively, select everywhere). Again, check “add nearby airports”.
Skyscanner rewards flexibility. The more flexible you are, the better the deals.
For the depart portion, select your travel month (don’t add specific days). When you’re first searching, check for 1 adult (we can add multiple individuals later).
Now, you’ll be led to a calendar page. You can choose the graph option as well (I prefer the calendar format). Select the dates closest to your set travel dates that have a green price value label.
That’s it. Viola! You’ve just found the cheapest base flight fare!
Skyscanner Pros
Flexibility
The “everywhere” function is reason alone to use Skyscanner. Type your starting destination, your dates, and then autocomplete everywhere to discover some groovy new destination (did I just use the word groovy? Let’s forget that happened).
The results are listed in order of cheapest to most expensive so the design really benefits budget travelers with an eye for spontaneity.
Speed
I’m always shocked by how quickly Skyscanner loads the cheapest flight deals. For some reason, I expect them to take a long time to pull the best fares. No. It’s all done within seconds.
A Large Set Of Partners
Skyscanner has a large set of partners which means they aggregate a giant collection of flights. Occasionally, I question the authenticity of some of their partners. If you have a negative gut feeling about a certain deal that feels too good to be true, it’s okay to shy away from the tickets.
Read This Before Booking
Double Check The Deals: AKA The Branson City Incident
A few days ago, I was casually scrolling through Skyscanner when I came across an amazing flight deal – a $37 roundtrip ticket from Dallas to California.
I’ve never clicked on a deal so fast in my life (for the USA, this kind of ticket is crazy cheap). The arrival location was Branson, California.
I had never heard of the town, but I’m usually game for any destination.
After a solid hour on Google, I found out Branson is an abandoned ghost town in San Diego County. That didn’t sound too promising but I hoped there was a small town nearby I could cozy up in.
I was also a little worried about a rental car so I called up the San Diego Tourism Board. Y’all, they’d never heard of Branson either. The lady from the tourism board (who was super sweet) seemed genuinely surprised there was an airport in Branson (which raised all my alarms).
But she did a bit of research and found a way I could get from the hypothetical airport to a rental car. I discovered there were indeed some cute small towns nearby (score) and soon, my excitement was uncontrollable.
I clicked the link (stilled showed Branson, California) and Skyscanner took me to another website. I filled out all my details, looked over the flight details, and in a random just-for-fun moment decided to Google the airport code – BKG.
Normally, I save my first impressions for when I arrive. But I was insanely curious as to what a working airport in a ghost town looked like.
Y’all, BKG airport is Branson, Missouri. Missouri. Skyscanner incorrectly labeled the state.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t blame Skyscanner at all for this because the website I got referred to (completely forget what it was) gave no indication where in the USA BKG airport was.
Skyscanner doesn’t create the data. They just pull it.
Side note: there is no airport in Branson City, California.
I contacted Skyscanner’s support team and they escalated the issue quickly (which was really nice of them).
The moral? Double-check where your flight is headed. I can’t stress this enough.
Know That There Is A Strong Possibility Of Hidden Fees
Skyscanner pulls a lot of information from budget airlines. And as much as I love budget airlines providers, theycharge extra for carry-ons, checked-in luggage – basically everything that doesn’t fit on your lap.
Since the charges are based on the airline providers, there are certain “hidden” fees that don’t show up until booking (these don’t originate from Skyscanner but from the referral websites).
The most popular ones are:
Online Booking Fees
Customer Support Fees (a weird one I see on websites that don’t even have a customer support line…)
Cancellation Fees
Cancellation Handling Fees
Wi-Fi Fees
Seat Assignment Fees
Skyscanner Travel Hacks
Download The App
Simple-to-set up push notification system for airfare tracking. I really love Skyscanner’s mobile app (download it here). It has all the features of the main website streamlined into an intuitive form.
Use The Map Feature
Skyscanner’s most underrated feature. The map is a little hard to navigate to from the main website so I’m going to include a link here. It currently features all the latest travel restrictions.
Be Flexible
Skyscanner is all about flexibility. I know I’ve said this multiple times in this post, but I’ll say it one more time (sorry): the more flexible you are, the better the deals.
Clear Your Cookies
I’ve never run into a cookie issue with Skyscanner (I typically use a private window in Firefox)but it doesn’t hurt to clear your cookies before a flight search.
Book 21 Days In Advance
The sweet spot for booking domestic flights. If you are looking to plan a trip in June, at the start of May select the whole month of June to see the cheapest flight deals.
Final Skyscanner Review: Is Skyscanner Worth It?
Absolutely.
As much as I tried to keep this Skyscanner review completely unbiased, I’m 99% sure I failed miserably. And you know what, that’s okay. I don’t feel bad.
I love Skyscanner. It’s an amazing service that deserves a lot more recognition.
It’s my secret to cheap flights (*wink*).
Did you enjoy this Skyscanner review? Did you find it helpful? Let me know in the comments below! I love hearing from you! I tried to sprinkle ten flight hacks into the entirety of the review (hope it helps)!
Related
Anshula Varma
Editor-In-Chief
Anshula grew up with a love of stories and places. Thirty-five states and 100 bookstores later, she's made her hobbit home in Middle Tennessee. Her Tookish side still takes over and leaves her chasing window seats, literary destinations, adventure books, sunrise coffee, and indie bookshops. She's appeared as a travel source on HuffPost, Reader's Digest, and MSN.
I usually use Skyscanner and Google Flights. These are the best flight comparison websites to use when playing around. Sometimes, a cheap flight ticket comes with a layover somewhere you didn't intend on going to. This is possibly the best trick on how to find the cheapest flights.
When you're in the Skyscanner mobile app, tap the search icon at the bottom to see our curated “Explore” options. We bring you cheap flights by month and categories like quick getaways, popular destinations and more. Just type in your departure city to see the cheapest routes and the dates they're available.
Skyscanner's top competitors include Kiwi.com, AirWander, and Momondo Group. Kiwi.com is a global travel company that offers services providing users with options for cheap flights, hotels, car hire, and train travel, with a focus on finding bet… View more in-depth data on: Competitors.
Skyscanner is highly reliable. And the reason why is this… Skyscanner is an independent company with the sole goal of helping you find the best option for your personal travel plans. Every month, over 100 million customers trust Skyscanner to help them find the best deals on flights, hotels, and car rentals.
You can find cheap flight deals to anywhere in the world on Google Flights. Just enter your departure city, choose Anywhere as the destination, and select Explore. You can pick specific dates or leave departure and return dates blank if your plans are flexible. The cheapest fares to popular destinations will appear.
Flights that take off and land on weekends, or Mondays and Fridays generally cost more. So aim for Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. What is the cheapest day of the week to book a flight? According to our data and flight price history, Tuesday is the day to book.
Momondo was found to be the cheapest, offering the lowest fares for all 10 journeys, while popular comparison platform Skyscanner was matched or beaten by its fellow online aggregators for every flight.
The price of airline tickets can change frequently based on various factors like demand, the time of year, and how close the travel date is. While some people believe that buying tickets at night can lead to better deals, there's no strong evidence to support this consistently.
These weaknesses include: User Interface and Usability Issues: Skyscanner's interface has been found to be less intuitive compared to competitors like Google Flights, potentially leading to longer search times and increased user frustration.
For the best deals, start by checking Skyscanner, which offers a comprehensive search of multiple airlines. Google Flights is another excellent tool for comparing prices and tracking fare changes. Momondo and Kayak are also great for discovering budget-friendly options and hidden deals.
Skyscanner is a search aggregator and travel agency based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The site is available in over 30 languages and is used by 100 million people per month. The company lets people research and book travel options for their trips, including flights, hotels and car hire. Skyscanner Ltd.
Travel experts often advise checking to see if flying a day earlier or later or from a nearby airport—options that are now offered on most online search sites—might result in cheaper fares. But for bigger savings, consider extending your flexibility to the destination as well.
Booking just a few days or weeks ahead will mean you have fewer options and more expensive fares. The best time to book airfare is within a window of 21 to 74 days before you plan to fly, and the cheapest tickets are generally on mid-week flights.
Southwest Airlines is discounting flights ahead of a busy summer travel season. The Dallas, Texas-based airline recently announced the "Start Off Summer With A Sale” event, which provides fares as low as $49 one-way.
Introduction: My name is Corie Satterfield, I am a fancy, perfect, spotless, quaint, fantastic, funny, lucky person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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