Skyscanner or book direct

[Invicta]

I have only just started reading reviews into agencies on Sky scanner, that put doubt in my mind for the first time about their reliability. Obviously booking direct with airlines is more expensive but that gap seems to have narrowed at this present time. I have to say I normally book with Skyscanner and up until now had no problem but I guess if I hadn’t read the reviews good or bad I would have been none the wiser. Prices for next February seem much the same as earlier this year, but I have never booked this far in advance. I guess no one knows what the future holds but I doubt prices will go down dramatically 

[fostraswift]

Sky scanner ok for finding a good deal

or kayak

Book direct thu,

[mark joseph123]

book direct it’s worth the extra money any problems with the flight your top priority. 👍

[jocky king]

Always book with sky scanner for the flight for certain date on return . Alwsys book with agent or direct airlines booking so that you could change the return date more easily . 

[Shuggy]

Personally i use Google flights or Kayak 

Have saved me thousands over the years.

[davidge]

1 hour ago, Invicta said:

I have only just started reading reviews into agencies on Sky scanner, that put doubt in my mind for the first time about their reliability. Obviously booking direct with airlines is more expensive but that gap seems to have narrowed at this present time. I have to say I normally book with Skyscanner and up until now had no problem but I guess if I hadn’t read the reviews good or bad I would have been none the wiser. Prices for next February seem much the same as earlier this year, but I have never booked this far in advance. I guess no one knows what the future holds but I doubt prices will go down dramatically 

Skyscanner don’t sell flights. They are just a comparison site and you click through to various agents. Some of these agents have a history of being dodgy, some are ok. Skyscanner doesn’t care if the agent is good or not, you need to do your own research.

Personally, I now always book direct with an airline as it makes it much easier if I need to change my plans. If an agent I thought was reliable had a flight much, much cheaper then I’d consider it but I wouldn’t just book with the cheapest agent regardless of who they are.

[LeoTex]

I often use a search engine to do some looking on price.

In the end I always book direct with the airline. 

When something happens such as cancelled flights, delays do to weather or equipment problems, the airline I booked with stepped up and helps.

Things like book a different flight even with a different airline, or put me up in a hotel in the city where the delays happened. 

 

[MidniteM]

As already mentioned, Skyscanner don't sell tickets, but they will show you what deals can be had from the airlines (direct) and from ticket consolidators (such as Trip.com, Kiwi.com, etc).  Finding flights through Skyscanner (or Google Flights) is a great way to find the best route and airline, but I always book directly through the airline.

Using a consolidator gives you an extra step in the process.  You are buying the ticket through them, so there can be issues if times change.  There have been cases with some not issuing tickets in a timely manner, emailing back after a few days saying the tickets requested are no longer available so they have given you something else, or other issues.

Since the pandemic, flight have been significantly more likely to change timing in the future as airlines continue to ramp up and put on new flights, change flight schedules for new demand and change flights for plane/staffing considerations. This was most noteable in 2022, but I have still seen this in 2023.  So booking several months out leaves more room for flight changes and more things that could go wrong.  Some consolidators have a poor history of advising people of flight changes, delays and cancellations.

Booking directly with the airline allows you to be in no doubt about tickets being issued and contact with the airline if things change.  This has been something that has saved me a couple of times in the past.

[Sunnyman]

i would prefer kayak. Of all my flights i had to thailand i had there the best prices.

 

If not try google flights sometimes they have good prices there too

[Liam15]

I've never had a problem booking through an agent through skyscanner but I think is better booking through the direct airline for peace of mind and easier to change flights etc but I found better price through skyscanner then clicking on thaiairways link through them going on thaiairways website

[jaynewcastle]

Skyscanner allow all the well known shoddy 3rd party agents to advertise on their website. I see Kiwi.com, who are reckoned to be the worst 3rd party agent have already been mentioned.   

I find the Google & Matrix flight search engines superior to Skyscanner, I then check the airlines website & book direct with the airline as always recommended

I'd never book with a 3rd party agent

[Kale]

14 minutes ago, jaynewcastle said:

Skyscanner allow all the well known shoddy 3rd party agents to advertise on their website. I see Kiwi.com, who are reckoned to be the worst 3rd party agent have already been mentioned.   

I find the Google & Matrix flight search engines superior to Skyscanner, I then check the airlines website & book direct with the airline as always recommended

I'd never book with a 3rd party agent

Not sure why people keep mentioning Skyscanner when Google flights is much better imo.

Edited July 11, 2023 by Kale

[petermik]

Book through an Agent if the prices are cheaper then put your booking details on the Airlines website and enter your passport details....sorted

[RomaBob]

Skyscanner gives you an idea of what is available and the price but for me all these cheap fares have too many connections, long flight times and use multiple airlines. I prefer to book direct with the airline.

[jaynewcastle]

2 hours ago, petermik said:

Book through an Agent if the prices are cheaper then put your booking details on the Airlines website and enter your passport details....sorted

But virtually every single complaint I see is by people who ignored the advice to book direct with the airline, & instead booked through a 3rd party agent 

[petermik]

Before I moved here I used a comparison website plus checked the Airlines website prices also...if a fair difference 30/40 UK pounds cheaper on the 3rd party site I booked with CC with them.....once I had confirmation I would then login to the Airlines site and enter the 3rd parties booking ref which then gave me the Airlines ref. no. I would then enter my contact details plus passport number which then registered me directly with the Airline.....this was 10 years + ago so things may have changed since then

[Liam15]

When I tried looking at my dates direct through airline showed me sold out but when looked same dates through skyscanner then went direct with airline through skyscanner showed me available 

[Invicta]

On 11/07/2023 at 10:42, mark joseph123 said:

book direct it’s worth the extra money any problems with the flight your top priority. 👍

Just booked direct with Eva air 10 Feb 2024 £717 for 4 weeks, just £30-40 dearer than agencies on Skyscanner. Pretty good deal as I paid £700 on Emirates in April this year

[Liam15]

Eva do pop up with good prices but they disappear quickly so lucky you booked it quickly

[jaynewcastle]

On 13/07/2023 at 09:16, Invicta said:

Just booked direct with Eva air 10 Feb 2024 £717 for 4 weeks, just £30-40 dearer than agencies on Skyscanner. Pretty good deal as I paid £700 on Emirates in April this year

Emirates prices for Jan/Feb 2024 (NCL-BKK), are even higher than they were last year for Jan/Feb 2023  😞

[jjaosn12]

always book directly. 

Edited July 14, 2023 by jjaosn12

[KyleReading]

Agent every single time for the myriad of reasons I gave on another thread

This absolute utter "internet myth" that somehow has turned instead into an "internet fact" this last 25 years that airlines wont deal with you if you have booked with an agent is absolute urban bollacks

Contrary to popular belief every airline protects its supplying agents with very good reason as they provide the backbone of clients that make up Economy seating

The very first point (and theres no need to go further) is that if you have an issue with the booking you have a two pronged attack to rectify it

Hardly worth mentioning but certainly relevant that agents being consolidators in that the ticket prices will normally be cheaper as well to start with

Edited July 16, 2023 by KyleReading

[KyleReading]

On 12/07/2023 at 12:31, petermik said:

Before I moved here I used a comparison website plus checked the Airlines website prices also...if a fair difference 30/40 UK pounds cheaper on the 3rd party site I booked with CC with them.....once I had confirmation I would then login to the Airlines site and enter the 3rd parties booking ref which then gave me the Airlines ref. no. I would then enter my contact details plus passport number which then registered me directly with the Airline.....this was 10 years + ago so things may have changed since then

Utter nonsense

All emails come through with the (formally known) Amadeus 6 character airline booking reference that you can check immediately with all legs confirmed as "OK" or on occasions "WL"  (wait listed sectors on very rare occasions)