Is Skyscanner Legit? Review and Tips 2024
Skyscanner is one of many search engine tools to find deals on flights, hotels, and car rentals. But with so many tools out there claiming to be the best travel deal finder, you’re probably wondering: is Skyscanner legit? This Skyscanner review will detail how Skyscanner works, why it’s legit, and how to use it most effectively to save money.
As an avid and frequent traveler, I have been using Skyscanner long before I even thought of becoming a travel blogger. It’s one of those tools I had as an app on my phone and would mindlessly use to search flights and ponder my next trip and destination while sitting in my college lectures!
I’ve found many great flight deals through Skyscanner and found inspiration for new places to travel to that I would never have thought were affordable enough (for a broke college student).
Now that I’m a more experienced traveler, I still use Skyscanner to search for deals, I just know a little more about how it works and that Skyscanner is legit.
>>> CLICK HERE TO HEAD STRAIGHT TO SKYSCANNER❗
Full disclosure: I do earn a (very) small profit if you use Skyscanner through my post. However, I also actually use Skyscanner myself and would never recommend a product that I thought was not reliable or safe for you to use.
So, Is Skyscanner Legit?
Yes, Skyscanner is a legitimate company and a great tool for finding travel deals.
The company was started in 2003 and now has over 800 employees and operates worldwide in 30+ languages. It has over 100 million users monthly and has won multiple travel app awards over the years.
Skyscanner operates under all relevant laws and regulations to provide a legitimate service to its users.
How Does Skyscanner Work?
Skyscanner is a search engine that pulls data from airlines, hotels, car rentals, and travel agents around the world to quickly and accurately find the best deals for the user’s search parameters.
They are essentially a comparison website, you can book your travel directly with the airline or travel provider or through Skyscanner itself.
Skyscanner tries very hard to work with legit and reputable travel companies to provide its users with the most secure and reliable travel deals.
The partners that Skyscanner chooses reflect on and affect its reputation, and as such, they stay away from working with companies that are not legit and choose to work with companies that are reliable and honest.
How Do You Pay For Skyscanner Flights?
You pay for Skyscanner flights either by buying with a partner or buying directly through Skyscanner. If you pay through a travel provider’s sight, they will handle your payment and you will follow their directions.
If you buy a flight directly through Skyscanner, they accept all major credit and debit cards and you can pay in your preferred currency.
Are Skyscanner Flights Trustworthy?
Yes, Skyscanner flights are trustworthy. You will either be directed to the site to book directly or pay for the flight on Skyscanner. Either way, Skyscanner vets the services it works with to provide accurate and trustworthy flight and travel information for its users.
>>> CLICK HERE TO SEARCH FOR FLIGHTS ✈️
How Does Skyscanner Make Money? Is It Legit?
The way that Skyscanner makes its money is legit. When users book a flight, hotel, etc. through their search engine, Skyscanner earns a referral fee from the provider (not you as the booker). The price you see on Skyscanner is the price you will pay on the travel provider’s site.
Skyscanner also makes some money through advertisements on its site (at no cost to the user).
Who Is Skyscanner Owned By?
Skyscanner has been wholly owned by Trip.com (formerly Ctrip) since 2016 but remains operationally independent. Many people think Skyscanner is owned by Google or Expedia, but this is not the case.
Why Is Skyscanner So Cheap?
Skyscanner is so cheap because of its partnerships and software that can scout for the best deals. They use multi-city searches and track price trends as a factor in finding the cheapest deals.
Skyscanner claims to “pride ourselves on having more direct partnerships with online travel agencies, airlines, hotels, and car rental companies than any other travel search website” (Skyscanner).
They also share that they build their own technology that can reliably search the internet for the cheapest and best deals.
Skyscanner does not let companies buy a higher spot on their results page either, meaning the deals that come up are truly the cheapest ones on the internet. There are sponsored options that top the results, but they are clearly marked as such.
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Can I Book Directly From Skyscanner?
Yes, you can book directly on Skyscanner for some deals. Most of the time, you will be booking on the travel provider’s site. When you see “Book on Skyscanner,” that means that deal can be booked on Skyscanner, using Skyscanner’s booking form.
Currently, only flights are available to be booked directly from Skyscanner. For hotels and rental cars, you will be directed to a travel provider’s site.
Is It Safe and Legit to Book a Flight Through Skyscanner?
Yes, it is safe to book a flight directly through Skyscanner. If you are directed to the travel provider’s website, you will be booking with a legitimate travel provider and/or agent. It is actually best to book directly on the travel provider’s site, in case there is any problem down the line you will not have to go through a 3rd party to fix the problem.
Otherwise, Skyscanner’s booking system itself is safe and legit to use. They follow all legal regulations and provide an honest system to ensure your booking is done accurately.
Is Skyscanner Reliable for Hotels?
Yes, Skyscanner is legit for hotel bookings too. However, unlike the flights, with hotels you will be directed to a 3rd party provider. While they should be a reputable provider, please always do a bit of extra research before buying from any travel site to ensure the safety of your purchase.
NOTE: Regardless of how reputable the site you’re booking travel on, it’s ALWAYS recommended to buy travel insurance.
Things go wrong when you travel, that’s just the nature of travel. To be prepared and save the most money if something DOES go wrong, you should have travel insurance.
As someone who travels constantly (I’m a digital nomad who is almost always traveling internationally), I use and recommend Safety Wing.
It’s specially designed for travelers and digital nomads to be flexible and affordable. The best part is that it covers BOTH medical and travel and even includes some coverage for COVID-19 related issues, which many insurances do not do.
>>> CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE
or use the tool below to check pricing!
Does Skyscanner Have Hidden Booking Fees?
No, Skyscanner does not have any hidden booking fees or taxes. The prices on Skyscanner are pulled directly from the travel agency or airline’s website so the price you see on Skyscanner is the price you will pay.
How Do You Use Skyscanner Effectively?
Using Skyscanner in and of itself is effective for finding the best and most legit travel deals because they search the internet and work with partners to provide the best deals. There are a few tricks and suggestions to maximize the effectiveness of Skyscanner, particularly when it comes to flights.
1. “Anytime” Feature
If you have time flexibility, search for flights but don’t enter a departure date. Instead, select “whole month” and then click “cheapest month” to see what days have the cheapest flights.
2. “Everywhere” Feature
This is my FAVORITE feature and the main reason I love Skyscanner.
If you don’t have a destination in mind (maybe you know you want a vacation but you don’t care where you go, just want it to be cheap, or want to explore somewhere you never would have considered on your own) then this is the perfect feature for you.
Select the airport you’ll fly out of then select “everywhere” for destination and either enter your dates or you can select the cheapest month again.
3. Set a Price Alert
If you have a specific destination and time in mind, you can set up a flight alert from your home airport (you can set multiple at a time) to be notified when the prices go up or down.
>>> CLICK HERE TO TRY A FLIGHT SEARCH ✈️
How to Use Skyscanner to Save Money
Staying flexible and using the above features will help you use Skyscanner to save some money on your travel. However, I also recommend using multiple sights to compare prices and make sure you are truly getting the best deal out there.
I also use the following sites to price-check my travel deals:
- Expedia (flights, hotels, car rentals, activities)
- Google Flights
- Hotels.com
- Booking.com (hotels)
- Discover Cars (car rentals)
- Hostelworld (budget hostel stays)
>>> CLICK HERE TO CHECK SKYSCANNER PRICES
Skyscanner Reviews
On Trustpilot, Skyscanner receives an “excellent” score of 4.4/5 stars from over 17,000 people – which is pretty great!
Some of the best reviews of Skyscanner praise the great deals and quick customer service. Reviewers share that the site is straightforward, accurate, and easy to use. The top reviews all highly recommend Skyscanner and its services.
The best of the best for reasonable rates and assortment of flights
Sky scanner has been my go to for booking flights for at least 10 years! Always best prices and I like that you can plan your trip [economically] by looking at dates for a whole month. I always recommend sky scanner and continue to use their website… Just booked a trip last week!!
Verified Customer on Trustpilot
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Skyscanner Complaints and Problems
Unfortunately, as of late, there seem to be more mixed and poor reviews of Skyscanner too. The biggest complaints are that they are accepting more scam websites as travel providers.
I have seen Skyscanner respond to poor customer reviews of the provider sites saying they will look into the provider and remove them if they find they are truly not a reputable site. Whether they actually will or not is uncertain.
Hopefully, they take action on these recent poor reviews and step up their game again as the site does truly have many great features and deals!
SUMMARY: My Personal Review of Skyscanner
While I have never personally had any problems with Skyscanner, this is something to be aware of and pay attention to.
To avoid any issues… do your research into the reviews of the companies Skyscanner directs you to, always price check, or exclusively use Skyscanner’s booking features directly. Please do your due diligence and use your best judgment before buying any travel deals or packages.
Skyscanner IS a legit company, and I hope you have come away with a better understanding of how it works, customer reviews, and how to save some money by using the site.
>>> CLICK HERE TO CHECK SKYSCANNER❗
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