Skyscanner Myths Debunked: the truth behind Europe's favourite flight search engine

Tuesday 5 August 2008

As one of the main players in the global flight search market and the biggest in Europe, Skyscanner is constantly being talked about in the press, on blogs, in forums, travel guide books and undoubtedly over pints of ale in the various pubs and bars of the world.

A lot of what is said about us is true ("Skyscanner.net gave us more options and less attitude than the help desk", "Skyscanner probably saved us about $1000 dollars per ticket", "Skyscanner - My first stop whenever I get itchy feet", the list goes on...).

However, there also seems to be a few Skyscanner myths floating around, so for the sake of truth and clarity, we’d like to set the record straight once for all.

Myth 1: It’s more expensive to book through Skyscanner – WRONG!

Skyscanner don’t sell air tickets; we are not a travel agency. We just compare prices and help you find the cheapest flights. Unlike many comparison sites that charge you commission when you book through them, Skyscanner always send you to the official airline or travel agent's website to book directly with them.

So the price you see on Skyscanner is the same price as on the airline’s website. You never pay more by using Skyscanner because you’re not booking with us, you’re booking directly with the airline.

Myth 2: Skyscanner only show airlines with which they have commercial deals with – WRONG!

We show airlines and routes, regardless of our relationship with the airline; Skyscanner is completely independent. Our goal is to find you the best flight deals. We are adding new routes and airlines to our flight search engine all the time and though we’re not quite there yet, our goal is to show every commercial flight in the world.

Myth 3: Skyscanner only show budget airlines – WRONG!

Although Skyscanner started life comparing only budget airlines’ flights, we have long since expanded our search engine to include conventional carriers too. That means that alongside all the no-frills airlines (think: easyJet, WizzAir, bmibaby etc) you’ll also find flight prices from the traditional airlines too (think: BA, Lufthansa, Virgin etc).
 
But it’s worth remembering, that these days, the traditional carriers also offer some very low fares, so no-frills isn’t always the cheapest way to fly. With Skyscanner, you can compare them all, so you’ll always be able to see which airlines offer the best prices for your flight.

So, we hope that sets a few things straight. As ever, we’ll be monitoring the World Wide Web – keeping a close eye for any untruths written about Skyscanner!

Start your Skyscanner search for cheap flights here.