Skyscanner-safe or not?

[jimboh]

Went, for my first time ever, to book a flight with skyscanner.com, all going well till I came to pay-and then I was directed to another company, think it was called eticket, seemed to be Thai based, and this was where I got scared. I was under the impression that I would be paying skyscanner, not another third party.

I have in the past, booked flights etc with ebooker and made the payments to them, never any issues.

Anyone got any experience similar?

[davidge]

Skyscanner doesn’t sell flights. They just show fares from lots of different ticket agents, some ok some not. Your booking is with the agent.

You need to check out each agent before you book.

Personally, I would only book direct with the airline unless it was much cheaper with an agent, and even then only with certain agents.

[shadscat]

there are a few scam tickets sellers on skyscanner that when u book the fare u originally wanted is no longer available and they try and get u to call up and buy an overpriced ticket. personally i use skyscanner but always buy direct from the airline link on there rather than an online travel agent. if in doubt read the trust pilot reviews most of the sellers have loads of scam reports against them.

[LeoTex]

1 hour ago, davidge said:

Personally, I would only book direct with the airline unless it was much cheaper with an agent, and even then only with certain agents.

I agree with this 100% as I always book with the airline.

If there is a problem such as missed connection, overnight unscheduled layovers and cancelled flights, you got the airline to help you you out, not a 3rd party which in most case are not much help. 

[jaynewcastle]

Once they started allowing all the well known shoddy 3rd party agents to advertise on there, I stopped using Skyscanner quite a while ago

I now use the Matrix & Google flight search engines to research flight schedules & prices, as they only show the airlines prices, however I always use the airlines own website to buy flights

I don't buy flights through 3rd party agents at all

 

 

[gazO]

When I book skyscanner gives best order of price. But I book on the airline site link not usually much more than what other links are offering 

[littlefella24]

It's also much easier to deal with airline regarding refunds than 3rd parties IMO 

[LASportsNut]

When I was more budget conscious I always used Skyscanner and booked the "best" flight that met my departure and/or arrival criteria.

I never had any problems using the 3rd Parties.

After covid, I realized it would be a major pain to get any sort of refunds, without paying a premium.

I know use Skyscanner as a tool to find a flight I like and then I will go directly to the airlines and book it.

Or use my credit card miles on the same flight through my credit card company.

I may check out Matrix and Google Flight as a tool in the future.

[Bonkabit]

I imagine that the difference between the third party agent's price on Skyscanner and the price on an airline's own web site relates to the commissions paid. 

Years ago there were fairly substantial commissions paid to travel agents but as time went by, these have been cut. (Indeed some carriers, budget ones, do not pay commission at all. Some travel agents now charge a service fee for helping plan and for booking travel).

In consequence a third party agent does not now have the margin to undercut the airlines' own prices to such a large extent.

Like others, I prefer to book direct with the carrier, unless there is a significant saving; for me that is about ten per cent. Unlikely to be offered.

Edited November 9, 2022 by Bonkabit

[bcn111]

I always book with the airline directly. Probably will be real pain in the butt if something happens and you have to get your money back. I just don't trust 3rd party sellers. Plus the discount you usually get it's not usually big enough to be worth it. For me at least.

[Dutcher]

Skyscanner is just a search engine, only specialised in travel. I think that they receive a percentage commission for every lead that they provide.