A Skyscanner Review for 2026
Are you tired of waiting for credit card points to pay out for free flights? You may want to start your journey using Skyscanner, a flight aggregator that compares cheap flights at the lowest prices. Learn more in our Skyscanner review below.
What is Skyscanner?
Skyscanner, founded in 2003, is a travel search engine and one-stop shop for travellers. It allows travellers to book flights, hotel stays, and car rentals, so they can schedule and plan an entire trip using their platform.
They allow everyone to filter results to meet their specific needs, providing results based on customers’ searches but also giving comparative options for the fastest or cheapest prices. They provide almost everything required when making travel plans.
How Skyscanner Works
Skyscanner partners with global companies and third-party booking sites to provide a wide range of flight, rental car, and hotel options.
In its years, Skyscanner has built a trusted network and can often provide reduced prices that competitors cannot compare to. The relationship Skyscanner has built holds strong over competitors.
Flight Search Functionality
Skyscanner offers a unique flight search engine. You can select a specific airport or city.
They will provide a list of all available airports, listing how many stops may be necessary on your travels. They will also provide a link to the number of hotels available from that specific airport.
Once a city or airport is selected, it will provide all available flights, listing the best, cheapest, and fastest options in easy-to-navigate chart format. Your flight ticket can be booked from there with a few easy clicks.
Hotel and Car Rental Options
The hotel options work similarly to the flight booking process. You search your selected city, and a map view will come up listing all the lowest prices available. Once a hotel is chosen, Skyscanner will list all prices for that same room across multiple third-party sites.
The car rental options focus primarily on rentals from airport locations but can also provide listings for locations outside of airports. The site allows you to narrow your search results to the specific type of car required and, again, will show prices listed across multiple sites for your select car and location.
Skyscanner’s Price Alerts
When you create a profile or download the Skyscanner App, they allow you to set up price alerts for specific bookings.
You select your destination and travel dates and enable price alerts to receive updates on ticket price fluctuations.
There are cheaper times to book flight tickets every month, so this tool is handy. It sends the updates directly rather than manually searching and keeping track of yourself.
On some occasions, the option to watch a specific flight with a specific airline is available to make saving even more precise to the flight you want.
Pros and Cons of Using Skyscanner
Here are some common pros and cons of using Skyscanner.
Pros of Skyscanner
User-Friendly Interface
The layout of Skyscanner makes it very user-friendly, even for customers who may not be super tech-savvy. All searches are clearly outlined right at the forefront of the website, and the help page is easily accessible.
Results displayed how they give the customer clear and concise options with pricing shown upfront.
Comprehensive Search Results
Skyscanner pulls pricing and travel opportunities from many third-party websites, but you would never get that idea from how organized they lay out search results.
They’ve searched the entire internet for the best to worst deals and organized them all within seconds to give the customer every single option available, giving full transparency. They may offer the largest selection of travel resources yet keep it simple and to the point.
Free to Use
There are no fees for signing up for an account or using the site to book any travel method or accommodations. You can search for endless destinations as many times as you like without being charged or even asked for a donation.
Cons of Skyscanner
Potential Price Fluctuations
While they have a price-watching tool, there are instances where potential price fluctuations are not foreseen and could cost a traveller more.
There can also be occasions when you schedule your trip, and prices drop within a week. Now you’ve paid more for booking early when it would have saved you money to wait the extra week.
Limited Customer Support
They do offer their help page, but if your question isn’t within their search parameters, you may have a more challenging time connecting with an actual person who can walk you through the issue you’ve encountered.
Finding a contact number on their website is difficult in itself. Once the number is located, you may have to wait a long time to speak with a representative.
Skyscanner vs. Other Flight Comparison Tools
Skyscanner vs. Google Flights
While both Skyscanner and Google Flights pull search results from multiple companies to provide you with the best deal, Skyscanner’s layout is more user-friendly.
Google Flights’ search result page could be called crowded and overstimulating, whereas Skyscanner lays everything out neatly and in a manner that any user could easily navigate.
Both platforms are reliable search engines for flights and accommodations, but Skyscanner, specializing in this field, gives them a one-up on Google Flights.
Skyscanner vs. Kayak
Kayak pairs with sources to find deals predominantly on flights and accommodations in North America, giving it a smaller overall market compared to Skyscanner. Both mediums do have helpful apps and website options.
Kayak may have better discounts and deals for North American travel because that is the area of the world that they focus on, but Skyscanner pairs with similar, if not the same, companies in North America and around the world.
Skyscanner vs. Expedia
Skyscanner and Expedia are the most comparable companies on this list. Both have easy-to-navigate websites and apps, flight trackers to monitor pricing and book when it is at its lowest, and years of experience to solidify their place in the market.
Expedia does allow users to list their properties as rentals for travellers, which isn’t an option through Skyscanner. However, this only helps users with rental properties available, who likely have those listed on other mediums (AirBnB, VRBO, etc.).
Tips for Using Skyscanner Effectively
1. Setting Price Alerts
Setting up price alerts for your specific dates will be a time and money saver when using Skyscanner. You no longer have to check back manually to see if trips have become less expensive.
Once the app is downloaded, your flight destination and travel window are selected for price alerts, and the notifications are sent directly to you, giving you the best dates to schedule your next trip.
2. Using Filters for Better Results
The more filters you apply to a search, the better results you will receive. Being as specific as possible will get you the best results for your specific travel needs and wants.
A vague search will bring up more results, but there will be options that don’t meet the specifics that a traveller could be looking for, so it’s much better to be precise and use as many filters as you can.
3. Booking at the Right Time
There are times each month, even weekly, when booking flights or hotels is cheaper than at any other time. Booking early may solidify a cheaper rate, but enabling the tracking option is the best way to make the most of your booking.
Flights alone can be hundreds of dollars cheaper when booked at the right time, leaving travellers with more money to enjoy their excursions.
Common Skyscanner Issues and How to Resolve Them
Price Changes During Booking
There are occasions when the price of a flight or hotel will change during your booking.
Skyscanner has a help page on its website and a customer service team that encourages users to call if a price discrepancy is found when booking.
Skyscanner does keep up-to-date with its pricing, but it is also quick to investigate if a price change occurs during the booking process.
Technical Glitches on the Platform
Whether using the app or the website, Skyscanner’s team is available 24 hours a day to investigate and fix any glitches on its platform.
If a glitch on their platform has, in turn, changed pricing or availability of travel plans, they will also be quick to look into a resolution for this.
Being such a large company with such a wide flight network, they want to ensure customers have the best experience possible. They do this by having employees on hand to assist with any glitches that occur.
Is Skyscanner Reliable?
Skyscanner has layers of security to keep travellers’ personal and bank information private, but it also offers customizable privacy settings through its website and app.
This allows travellers to control how private their experience is while using Skyscanner. Sharing privacy settings with users creates trust in the site and can make apprehensive customers feel more secure using Skyscanner.
Reviews across app stores and websites are more commonly positive for Skyscanner — most review averages hovering around 4.4/5.
Being around for as long as they have, they have assisted many customers who want to share their positive feedback. People are usually more likely to share a negative experience since they have been inconvenienced, but having a high overall rating means users went out of their way to share positive feedback.
Final Verdict: Is Skyscanner Worth It?
With years of experience and knowledge in the field and constant evolution within the travel and tourism industry, Skyscanner is one of the biggest and best mediums for booking travel plans.
Skyscanner has been a trusted source for years and will continue to be so going forward. It is worth it for any type of traveller, whether business-class work travelers or leisure travellers. Their comparative pricing and expert knowledge will assist you regardless of location or reason for travel.
Frequently Asked Questions About Skyscanner
What is Skyscanner and how does it work?
Skyscanner is a search engine that helps travellers find flights, hotels, and car rentals by comparing prices across booking platforms to offer the best deals without additional fees.
Is Skyscanner free to use?
Skyscanner is free to use. Signing up for a basic profile and downloading the app is free. Users can save their credit card or PayPal information within the app to make purchasing flights or hotels easier, but using the site or having a profile is free.
Does Skyscanner guarantee the lowest price?
Unfortunately, no flight search engine can guarantee the lowest price. Skyscanner is a tool used to compare cheap flights. Use Skyscanner as one part of the journey to finding an affordable flight.
