OK, so we all want to get the best deals on flights right? But the big question is where is the best place to search? Who is better Skyscanner or Google Flights? The two search engines that tend to come up on top when speaking to frequent travelers are; Skyscanner and Google Flights. But what are the differences and which one is going to get you the best deals I hear you ask? In this article, I’m going to compare them both and see who is better Skyscanner or Google Flights.
Who is better Skyscanner or Google Flights
Being a Digital Nomad, if there is one thing I know a lot about it is getting cheap flights! Being on the road so much I’ve been fortunate enough to get to speak to a lot of travelers about how they find their flights and get their feedback too.
In this article I’m going to try and answer the following questions:
- What are Google’s top features?
- What are Skyscanner’s top features?
- Who wins on price Google Flights or Skyscanner?
- Who’s the better search engine and why?
Top Google Flights Features
The Map
This feature allows you to see on an easy to use map the cost to fly to different places in the world from your chosen airport. Skyscanner offers something similar but it’s not quite so easy to find.
Best Flight Highlight
This feature highlights in a little box the flight google would pick if it was you. This could save you doing some filtering to get rid of the 24-hour flights that are only $10 cheaper than a 4 hour one.
Calendar and Graph View
Like Skyscanner, you can choose to view a whole month on a calendar or a graph. For me and a lot of other travelers, this is the most useful feature as we tend to be pretty flexible with dates preferring to save a few $.
Tips
OK, so this is probably my favorite feature that google flights have that Skyscanner doesn’t if you put in certain dates and it’s cheaper to fly out a day or two earlier or later it will let you know in here with the amount of money you will save.
Details about the Airline and the Plane
Once you have selected your flights and click through to get more details this will also include extra details about things like wifi and legroom. Always good to know!
Clean Interface
A lot of people I spoke to about Google Flights said they preferred it because the interface was clear of adverts and other distractions. With a white background and most of its filters hidden it’s pretty no-nonsense. If you are just looking to do a simple search for one place to another on fixed dates I can see how this could be a more appealing choice.
Price Monitoring
Once you have done a search you can click to track the flight and google will send you an alert to let you know if the price goes up or down dramatically.
Top Skyscanner Features
Search Everywhere
This is my favorite Skyscanner feature. Before traveling full time I spent many hours just searching anywhere and daydreaming about my next trip! Now I’m actually on the road I use it to decide where my next stop will be. It’s also a great feature if you want to go on holiday somewhere but you have no idea where to go. What better way to get some inspiration!
Cheapest Month
This is also another feature I use a lot, especially to help me to plan when to go to a certain destination. I love to use this together with Search Everywhere so I can see the best deals available. This is a dream feature for anyone traveling with no real agenda as well as someone who is looking to plan their next vacation and isn’t sure where or when to go.
Search by Weather
I love this feature! Needing to escape the winter and find some sun? Or do you want to find some snow? Skyscanner lets you search by the weather… amazing!
Recommended for you
Not sure where you want to go? If you need some inspiration Skyscanner makes recommendations
based on your history.
Explore by Map
Similar to Google flights Skyscanner also has a map you can use to find cheap flights.
Explore by Month
This is a great function if you want to look for the best place to go on a particular month.
Easy to use filters
Although Skyscanner and Google flights pretty much have the same filters the difference is that googles are well hidden. You have to search a bit to find them on Google, whereas on Skyscanner they are on the left-hand side of the page making them really easy to apply.
Price Alerts
Like Google Flight Skyscanner allows you to set price alerts for flights. This enables you to monitor your flights and get the best price possible.
Fun Engaging Interface
The main feedback on the Skyscanner interface was that is was more fun and friendly than googles. Although I personally prefer this interface some people prefer the more minimalistic interface google has.
Hotel and Car Hire Search
As well as flights you can also search for car hire and hotels. Once you have searched and chosen your flights you just simply click on either of the taps and your dates and destination are magically transferred through.
Travel App
Although Google Flights is relatively easy for a simple search on a mobile device it doesn’t have an app. Considering how many people use mobile devices to search for flights this is a big win for Skyscanner who has an app that is almost as easy to use as the desktop version. Download the Skyscanner app here.
Travel Guides
Skyscanner has a whole heap of fantastic resources about just about anything and everything to do with travel. From things to do in destinations through to advice about baggage allowances. If you need some extra information about a destination just scroll down to the bottom of the page and it will have a link to information about that place for you to help make up your mind.
But what about pricing?
I did one search and Google Flights came up cheaper but a few days later doing a different search Skyscanner was cheaper.
But who is better and why Skyscanner or Google Flights?
Both search engines do the same job and prices can fluctuate on both sites. A lot of people prefer google’s clean no-nonsense interface. There are no adverts, most of their filter features are a bit harder to find and it looks much more functional than stylish.
Skyscanner, on the other hand, has a bit more going on, it looks a bit more fun, and with Skyscanner, it’s really easy to filter results. It even let you know the price difference when you select this filter. This means you can narrow your results down quicker to make selecting your flight a little bit less overwhelming. To get to the same place with Google Flights takes a few more clicks.
Skyscanner also has a lot more features! If you aren’t sure where you want to go or when then they have lots of ways you can search
Final thoughts
So, to conclude, having fully researched both search engines and after speaking to a lot of travelers what it really comes down to is personal preference.
Skyscanner and it’s fun slightly more user-friendly interface or Google Flights and it’s a clean no-nonsense interface. I’ll be sticking with Skyscanner!
Here are my other planning guides
How to find the best flight deals online
12 Travel apps to download before taking your trip
A step by step guide to planning the perfect trip
This post was proofread by Grammarly
