Is Skyscanner Safe to Book Flights?
Skyscanner is one of my favorite tools for finding amazing deals on airfare. They use a powerful tool to search hundreds of airlines and other booking sites. You can think of it as a search tool of search tools, with a really great map feature. You can find great deals on airfare, but is Skyscanner safe to use?
Skyscanner primarily functions as a search engine for airlines and other online booking sites. Think of it as a “metasearch” site. They find you great deals and refer you to the site to book the flight. You won’t generally purchase tickets directly on the Skyscanner website.
That being said, Skyscanner is a very legit site with a good reputation. They started in 2002 as one of the most comprehensive metasearch engines for airfare. Since then, many competitors have popped up, but I still find Skyscanner to be one of the easiest and best sites to find great deals on airfare.
What are Skyscanner Flights?
Skyscanner is an online booking website that allows you to easily find cheap flights anywhere in the world. Easily find great hotels to accommodate your gang and hire transport to get around once you are there.
Simply put, Skyscanner is like an online travel agent which searches hundreds of airlines and booking agencies across the world to rank the flights for you. The flights are then listed in the order of Best, Cheapest, and Fastest depending on your preference. Finding flights with Skyscanner is so easy because it stops you from checking out all the competitor’s websites one at a time, instead, seeing all the flights at a glance.
Below I will show you how to get the most out of using Skyscanner for flights. Whether you are just jumping on there for pure research, dreaming and searching for inspiration, or actually parting with cash and laying down a real booking.
Once you decide on the right flight for you, it is advisable to check the price against booking directly with the airline. Skyscanner is usually the winning price, meaning you should follow through. Occasionally you may find the cheapest flight through a 3rd party flight booking company such as Expedia. We have had nothing but great results using Skyscanner and have racked up heaps of miles using this fantastic research and booking system.
How to book a 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.
What Skyscanner is good at:
- Flexible date searching. Skyscanner makes it easy to see when there are better, cheaper flight options available to and from your destination. Their “cheapest month” option for searching allows users to view the fares for the cheapest month from their chosen departure to their destination. This is particularly useful if you have a set location but not dates.
- Flexible departure and destination search. Unlike other search engines, Skyscanner allows you to search for flights from one country rather than a specific city or airport.
- Searching within your budget. If you’re not picky about your destination and you just want to go anywhere, Skyscanner makes it easy for you to search within your budget. Their search “Everywhere” button is an exceptionally powerful tool if you’re flexible with your destination.
- Searching last-minute dates. Unlike other search engines, Skyscanner is great at looking for budget-friendly last-minute flights.
- Searching smaller OTAs. Skyscanner is often able to find the lowest flight prices because it searches smaller OTAs that other search engines neglect.
- Price alerts for specific dates/routes. If you have set dates and a set destination, you can set up an alert and you will receive email notifications of price fluctuations on that route.
- An easy-to-use app. The Skyscanner app is one of the best among its competitors. It has a clean interface and is easy to use, and you’ll get price alerts right to your phone.
What to Look Out For When Using Skyscanner
Because Skyscanner is a metasearch site, their primary focus is on finding you the cheapest airfare. They search a huge network of third-party Online Booking Agents (OBAs) and refer you to the one with the cheapest price. However, they don’t use the reliability of the booking agents as a factor in their ranking.
The OBA is ranked on Skyscanner using a star system, similar to other dating sites. Users can rate the booking agent and provide feedback on their experience. Before booking any tickets from a Skyscanner referral, you need to verify the booking agent has a good reputation.
You will have heard of many of these booking agents, like Expedia, Travelocity, etc. However, many of them you won’t be familiar with. Viana, Hop2, and JustFly just to name a few. Just because you haven’t heard of an OBA, doesn’t mean it’s not safe to use. But you need to do your homework.
Do a Google search for terms like “Hop2 reviews” or “Hop2 experiences” to ensure the booking agent can be trusted. Review sites like Trust Pilot, and Sitejabber are good places to start.
Biggest Issues With Booking Agents
During a recent trip to Puerto Rico, my mother and sister showed up at the airport to find their ticket had been canceled. The flight time was changed by a few hours and they never confirmed the change, so their entire flight was canceled. They never got a notification.
You’re purchasing your tickets through a third-party booking agent, not the airline. This means you often have to deal with them if there is a change. Communication about ticket changes and customer service are the biggest issues I’ve seen with online booking agents. Make sure to do your homework to ensure you are dealing with a company with a good reputation.
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