travel websites – skyscanner.net

I promised some time ago that I will post some short info on the websites I use most frequently when I plan a trip.

I start today with skyscanner.net, probably the best flight search website (at least for low-cost airlines). There are lots of websites that allow you to search for a flight on specific dates, for a specific destination. But most often I do not have a particular destination in mind, nor a specific month. I am just waiting to be surprised. And Skyscanner can do that.

I tried to get some screen captures with the usual procedure of buying airline tickets (usual for me at least). I chose for “from” Romania and Bucharest, and for “to” Everywhere – Any Country, Any Airport. This is a feature not present in most website.

It has a lot of potential: you can search for any flight to anywhere in Spain, or flights to Spain, France and Italy, or just find the cheapest flight in Europe. But it gets even better. You are not required to pick a specific date for depart, nor return. It is well-known that sometimes -/+ 1-2 days around the intended departure might halve the cost. Skyscanner has the possibility to pick a certain month or why not – the whole year! So if you are flexible, only the sky is the limit.

Next step, after hitting “search”, is picking from the list of possible destinations. As I had selected “Everywhere” as destination, I get as result a nice list of countries, ordered by price of the ticket. The prices are always tax-included, so no surprise waiting here.

Once I decide on a specific country, and city (I did not include any screen capture for that step though), I get to the next “gem”: a calendar with prices. It is very easy to select the best combination of flights that will get me the lowest price.

So in about 15 minutes I can find a great travel opportunity, anytime in the current year, to almost any destination.

Of course, there are some limitations. While Skyscanner has flights operated by national airlines and low-cost carriers, it is not really aware of special promotions. So it is always worth it to check the main carriers websites. Another minus, which is not really Skyscanner’s fault, is that it’s not aware that some airlines (I am thinking Wizzair here) like to add supplemental charges, generally for checked luggage. So even when I find a good price, I still have to be aware that I will have to pay a bit more (around 15 – 20 euros) for luggage and payment commission.

Having said that, Skyscanner is the first place I turn to when I have an idea (or none at all) where I want to go in my next trip. I hope this short website presentation was useful. If it is, i will try next time to talk about reserving hostels and hotels.