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If you are planning a holiday and want to secure the best flight deal possible, visiting a travel comparison website is a must. Sites like Skyscanner allow you to compare flights and airline tickets all year round, but if you can’t find the cheap flights you are looking for, Skyscanner alternatives such as Google Flights, Expedia, and Priceline can give you a link to direct flights, car hire or exclusive deals.
Best Skyscanner Alternatives at a Glance
Our list of the best Skyscanner alternatives goes like this.
- Best Skyscanner alternative overall: Google Flights
- Best for a last-minute booking: Priceline
- Best for rewards: Expedia
Now we’ve had a look at our favourites, let’s check out the complete list.
1. Cheap Flights
Headquarters: London, United Kingdom
Founded: 1996
Parent organisation: KAYAK
Founders: David Soskin, John Hatt
Travelling on a budget and don’t feel like hitting up Skyscanner? Cheap Flights are yet one more alternative you can trust. It compares hundreds of airlines and travel sites to offer you delicious discounts and other tasty perks courtesy of parent company KAYAK (it’s no wonder both the websites look exactly the same). Meanwhile, a team of resident experts are on hand to dispense with handy tips and guides, helping you explore various destinations should you need any extra details. We recommend subscribing to their weekly newsletter in order to score exclusive deals on flight prices and plane tickets should you be eyeing a holiday in the near future.
2. Google Flights
Owner: Google
Date launched: 13 September 2011
There’s an old saying in the tech world that if you have a good idea, Google is probably going to copy it and make it better. That goes for Google Flights, with a simple-to-use website that requires no sign-up or payment. It almost feels like cheating, but Google has access to pretty much all the best flight, hotel, and accommodation deals from all the best travel sites around the world.
You’re going to save time and money in one fell swoop when using Google Flight. To find cheap flights with this tool, simply type your desired flight parameters into the search bar or hit up Google Flights directly. Let’s be honest, it’s probably what you were going to do in the first place. Our only criticism is that they don’t have a rewards system, although, you might save any money you were going to get back in the first place.
3. Kayak
Owner: Booking Holdings Inc
Sibling Sites: Booking.com, OpenTable, Priceline.com, Agoda.com, Rentalcars.com
True to its slogan, Kayak allows you to “search hundreds of travel sites at once.” As such, it’s like an Internet within the Internet (better known as a metasearch engine), saving you the hassle of a broader search. Sign up for personalised recommendations with some of the best and easiest-to-use settings amongst any of the Skyscanner alternatives.
Further to this, Kayak also allows you to book hotels and car hire, so if you’re thinking of upping your stay with a luxury hotel experience, this site can help make it a reality. The platform also has no added fees, so you can be sure you’re getting the best price available. Our major knock on Kayak would be the interstitial ads throughout the search results. Nonetheless, you’re easily able to sort flights from cheapest to most expensive.
Related: Looking for more travel tips and tricks? Check out all our guides right here.
4. Expedia
Owner: Expedia Group
Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, United States
Subsidiaries: CarRentals.com, Expedia.com, HomeAway, Hotels.com, Hotwire.com, Orbitz, Travelocity, trivago, Venere.com and Vrbo
Let’s get one of the biggest names out of the way, if not the biggest name. Indeed, Expedia helped make travel fare aggregation a thing in the first place. To this day, it remains a leading travel deal website, where you can buy cheap airline tickets on multiple flights, rent cars, book hotels and holiday packages, or wrap everything together in a money-saving package.
We give this one the edge over Google Flights because you can save money by signing up and becoming a member. This doesn’t make it the best option for quick flights, however, it’s the most rewarding. Literally. Become a member and you’ll earn points with each booking, and rack up additional discounts in the process.
While we’re getting things out of the way, here are some other well-known travel fare aggregators owned by Expedia, these include Trivago, Hotwire, Orbitz, and Travelocity.
5. Flight Centre
Founded: 1982
Headquarters: Brisbane, Australia
Founders: Graham Turner, Geoff Harris
If you’re in the market for top daily deals, then Flight Centre might very well be the cheap travel site for you. You can book directly and even converse with a live human via online chat or 24-hour phone line. In terms of the website UX itself, we love the filters on the left-hand side where you can easily adjust everything from selecting your own airline to departure times and the number of stops.
They’ll even recommend you options based on price, time frame, and what they believe is the best flight deal. If anything goes wrong, you can talk to a real person, which is often an advantage in itself.
6. I Want That Flight
Founder: Garth Adams
Founded: 2003
Headquarters: Melbourne, Australia
Aiming straight for the hearts of Australians, I Want That Flight is a considerably efficient flight scanner. It compares hundreds of airlines and travel agencies around the world, allowing you to book directly with no hidden charges or fees.
Presuming you remain somewhat flexible and don’t mind opting for a last minute travel deal, you can find a number of incredible deals in these parts. You can also set up alerts for when the particular flight you’re looking for becomes available. Our only knock against this Skyscanner alternative would be the design of the website itself, with too much text in menus that makes it tougher to navigate and buy tickets.
7. BudgetAir
Parent Organisation: Trip.com Group
Founded: 2001
Headquarters: Australia
Travel comparison site BudgetAir offers a range of cheaper flight options departing from Australia. The Skyscanner alternative has links to a number of boutique and budget airlines that service more than 9,000 destinations across the globe. Importantly, the service allows you to see flight paths from alternative vendors, making sure you are able to choose the most efficient flight for your money.
While the user experience is certainly lacking and you aren’t likely to score any exclusive deals, BudgetAir does exactly what it says on the packet – Identifies cheap flights from available providers with the click of a button. Best of all, the service does not charge a booking fee, so you can forget about nasty extra charges.
8. WebJet
Headquarters: Melbourne
Founded: 1998
Subsidiaries: Online Republic Limited, Destinations Of The World, MORE
Founders: David Clarke, Allan Nahum, John Lemish
You’ll notice that WebJet and Flight Centre have very similar website designs… well, the comparisons between these Skyscanner alternatives don’t end there. They both offer flights, hotel, and travel options with similar filter categories resulting in a great overall user experience. We’ll give Flight Centre the edge in terms of customer service experience, but you’re promised a more personalised experience with either of these websites as they’re based in Australia. If you’re looking for cheap flights in Australia, we highly recommend looking at WebJet.
The online travel agent service provides flight options to a number of popular destinations across Australia and internationally, meaning you can start planning your next adventure now. Webjet also offers price alerts, with price match options sometimes available to customers.
9. Priceline
CEO: Brett Keller
Parent organisation: Booking Holdings
Headquarters: Norwalk, Connecticut, United States
Founded: 1997
Founders: Jay S. Walker, Scott Case
One of the earliest players in the online travel game is still one of the best, Priceline incorporates everything from hotels, flights, bundles, cars, and even cruises together in one place. The user interface is very easy to use, combining a car or accommodation is simply a click away.
We particularly love the ability to clearly see how much each airline is charging in the left-hand column, while there’s a phone number for customer support clearly shown at the top of the search screen. Above all, Priceline offers some of the cheapest flights and deals we’ve seen, often finding a single seat for a bargain price meaning it’s great for last-minute flights.
10. Kiwi.com
Owner: General Atlantic (53.5 %); Oliver Dlouhý (22.4 %)
Founder: Oliver Dlouhý
Founded: 17 April 2012
Headquarters: Brno, Czechia
In addition to prompt alerts, daily deals, and a clean layout, kiwi.com delivers an accessible pricing map, allowing you to see fares from various airports all over the globe. One might say that this flight comparison site quite literally puts the world at your fingertips. It also covers you in the case of schedule changes or delays by way of the Kiwi guarantee. As this site is directly linked to booking.com, you can also book accommodation with your flights.
11. Wotif
Owner: Expedia
Founder: Graeme Wood
Founded: March 2003
Headquarters: Brisbane, Australia
Originally an Australian-born business, Wotif was acquired by Expedia back in 2014. As a result, the interface and experience you receive while looking for cheap flights Australia-wide is very similar to the massive global conglomerate. The Skyscanner alternative allows you to book hotels and tours as well as flights, meaning you can organise a trip according to the platform’s best deal. Unfortunately, as Wotif is a third-party provider without established connections to many existing airlines, the booking system has been touted as ‘unreliable’ by some reviewers. Make sure to receive a confirmation email from the hotel/airline you booked with and perhaps only consider Wotif when travelling to Western countries.
12. Hopper
Founder: Frederic Lalonde, Joost Ouwerkerk, Dakota Smith
Founded: 2007
Headquarters: Montreal, Canada
A Skyscanner alternative with a Gen Z twist, Hopper is an app-first travel provider that offers discounts on major airlines and hotel chains. Working predominantly across the US, Hopper’s destinations are limited, however, there are some bargains to be found. According to the platform, customers saved an average of $65 when they booked their flights with Hopper, courtesy of the in-house machine learning algorithms. Hopper says that it uses this tool to predict future prices with 95 per cent accuracy.
13. Fly.com
Compare cheap flights and the best travel sites at Fly.com, which also features fare calendars and a helpful blog. Taking a fine-tuned approach, the site puts you in touch with top deals from around the world, often breaking them down by theme (i.e. “Best Fares from a Major City,” etc) which is a feature we really like. On the other hand, the user interface isn’t the cleanest or simplest to use although they often have some of the cheapest flights on offer.
14. DoHop
Founded: 2003
Headquarters: Reykjavík, Iceland
Between its playful layout and efficient search features, DoHop emanates charm and approachability. Put simply, you feel like part of something greater when you use this site to compare flights or book hotels. There’s even an entire section built around making sure you know what to do if you miss a connection. Welcoming vibes persist.
15. Momondo
Founder: Thorvald Stigsen
Headquarters: Copenhagen, Denmark
Owner: Booking Holdings
At first glance, Momondo might seem like just another cheap flight comparison site, albeit one that makes deft use of colour. However, it’s known to outperform the competition in the respective areas of multi-city bookings and short-term trips, especially on brief notice. The platform’s intuitive and organised app is likewise the stuff of legend.
16. FlyGreen
Address: Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen 10, 1017 RR Amsterdam, Netherlands
Province: North Holland
Injecting the travel experience with a thoroughly modern mindset, FlyGreen (aka FlyGRN) offsets the carbon emissions of your flight, free of charge. How does it do that, you ask? By re-routing the fees it gets from its travel partners into tree planting and solar panel projects. This is definitely one flight comparison site to rally behind. It’s worth noting here, that if you book directly through airlines such as Qantas, there is an option for them to do this as well. As a business, Man of Many is one of Australia’s first and only carbon-neutral publishers so you know where we stand on this subject.
17. BYOJet
Headquarters: Surfers Paradise, Australia
It might sound like a place where billionaires go to book expensive flights, but BYOJet is far more democratic than the name implies. In other words, all are welcome to come here and find terrific deals courtesy of their parent company Flight Centre. Our only real point of criticism is the trouble we had trying to find a customer support option, the list of FAQs outlined by the brand is helpful, but a little too general for our liking.
Things to Consider for Sites like Skyscanner Australia
Given our perennial love of travel, it’s no surprise that we Aussies spend lots of time scanning for great deals on flight comparison websites. And while Skyscanner makes for a truly sound and popular choice, there are plenty of worthy alternatives. Sure, you’ve probably searched for cheap flights on sites like Kayak and Expedia, but that’s merely skimming the surface in terms of what lies in store. Here are some considerations to keep front of mind when it comes to travel comparison sites like Skyscanner.
- Is it OK to book through Skyscanner? – While you may have apprehensions about booking through third-party travel providers such as Skyscanner, the tools are generally considered to be safe. Always check the reviews and only buy tickets from reputable airlines and sources. This is particularly pertinent in the wake of the global pandemic, where many airlines may not offer refunds or flight credits for cancelled flights. Be sure you check the terms and conditions before booking anything.
- Does Skyscanner find the cheapest flights? – As a travel comparison site, Skyscanner is designed to find the cheapest flights possible, however, you may be able to find better options elsewhere. In some cases, sites will have exclusive deals that are only available to members, so always check the rewards program before buying tickets.
- Cheapest Month – When it comes to buying airline tickets, there are on-peak and off-peak times. Flying to Iceland in the winter, for example, would be considered off-peak as the tourist demand is minimal and therefore you may be able to get a cheaper flight. Always consider this prior to purchase.
- Does it Price Match? – Some travel sites will offer price match guarantees for customers. This means even if you see a better-advertised price on Skyscanner, you may be always to nab the same price on an alternative travel provider’s site.
What is Skyscanner?
Skyscanner is a meta-source engine and travel comparison website. IT was created in Edinburgh and is designed t scour the internet to identify the cheapest possible flights across several different airlines and providers. The aggregator is able to recommend different flight options based on your goals and offers exclusive deals for members. More information on Skyscanner can be found below.
Headquarters: Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Founded: 2001
CEO: Bryan Dove (30 May 2018–)
Parent organisation: Skyscanner Holdings Limited
Subsidiaries: Youbibi, Twizoo LTD., Fogg, Distinction Kft.
Founders: Bonamy Grimes, Gareth Williams, Barry Smith
How Man of Many Chose this List of Skyscanner Alternatives
The popular Australian travel and flight comparison site, Skyscanner, is often the first thing your brain thinks of when you think “cheap flights” and truth be told, it’s often the best option. However, with great ideas come even greater competition and Skyscanner has it’s fair share of opponents. Our team of expert editors have gone through all the best options on the internet to bring you a list of Skyscanner alternative, considering everything from ease of use to more important features like pricing. We’ve highlighted those with the best maps, deals, the quick and unbiased search engines to help you plan the perfect trip.
Skyscanner Alternative FAQs
Skyscanner is widely regarded as the most popular flight comparison site, however, Google Flights and Flight Centre have emerged as major competitors.
All flight comparison sites and travel websites will have their own deals with particular airlines. Sites like I Want That Flight offer flash sales and as such, often offer the cheapest flight deals.
Booking flights on Skyscanner is the most reliable method for online travel purchasing, as this is where you do the actual booking.
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