What is Skyscanner?
Skyscanner is a metasearch engine 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.
The company was formed in 2003 by three information technology professionals, Gareth Williams, Barry Smith, and Bonamy Grimes after Gareth was frustrated by the difficulties of finding cheap flights to ski resorts. Skyscanner was first developed and released in 2002. In 2003, the first employee was hired to assist with site development. The Edinburgh office was opened in 2004.
How does it work?
Skyscanner is a popular travel search engine that helps users find the best flight, hotel, and car rental deals. It was founded in 2003 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is now owned by Trip.com Group.
Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how Skyscanner works:
1. Search
The user enters their travel details, including departure and arrival cities, dates, and the number of passengers.
2. Results
Skyscanner searches a vast database of flight options, from multiple airlines and online travel agencies (OTAs). It then displays a list of results, sorted by price, with the option to filter by airline, departure/arrival time, number of stops, and more.
3. Selection
The user selects their preferred flight option and is then redirected to the airline or OTA’s website to complete the booking process. Skyscanner does not handle the booking or payment process but simply serves as a search engine.
4. Price alerts
Skyscanner also offers a price alert feature, which notifies the user when the price of specific flight changes. This allows users to track flights and book at the best time.
5. Hotel and car rental search
In addition to flights, Skyscanner also allows users to search for hotels and car rentals in their desired destinations. The process is similar to the flight search, with results displayed based on the user’s search criteria.
6. Mobile app
Skyscanner also has a mobile app, which allows users to search for and book travel deals on the go.
What is Skyscanner?
Skyscanner is a flight search engine. To be more general, they are an online travel search engine since they also let you book a hotel and rent a car, but I’ll focus on Skyscanner flights only here.
The website (and the Skyscanner app) are completely free to use. There are neither hidden fees nor additional expenses: the prices you see are the ones you will pay. That transparency is the result of a few years of work and improved consumer protection laws, for the better!
Think of it as Google, but dedicated to finding the cheapest airfare only, among the multitude of airlines and online travel agents (OTAs). Do you know that Google scraps thousands of websites in a few seconds (even less) to present you with the most relevant results for your query? Skyscanner does exactly the same by searching airlines and online travel agents’ websites, by displaying the cheapest flight deals in under 30 seconds (that’s their promise, and after many uses I found it to be true quite often).
You don’t actually book Skyscanner’s cheap flights on the website or the app: after selecting your trip, you are redirected to the platform of the airline or OTA, where you complete your booking and pay.
how to book the flight using Skyscanner?
Skyscanner is a flight search engine that does not handle flight bookings directly. Instead, it redirects users to the airline or online travel agency (OTA) website to complete their booking.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to book a flight using Skyscanner:
- Go to Skyscanner’s website or mobile app and enter your travel details, including departure and arrival cities, dates, and the number of passengers.
- Skyscanner will display a list of available flights based on your search criteria. You can filter the results by airline, departure/arrival time, number of stops, and more.
- Select the flight that you want to book and click on the “Select” button.
- You will be redirected to the airline or OTA’s website to complete the booking process. Make sure to double-check the flight details, such as dates, times, and prices, before proceeding.
- Enter your personal and payment information as required. Skyscanner does not handle the payment process, so you will need to provide your payment details directly to the airline or OTA.
- Once your payment is confirmed, you will receive a confirmation email with your flight details.
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