Easy flight search with Skyscanner

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One of the questions I often get asked is “how do I get to (insert destination here)?” I reply with the route I took, following it up with the other possible routes that they can take. A related question would be “what airline did you take,” and “how much does the flight cost?” It gets tiring after a while, since for me, it’s something that you can easily search for in Google.

Apparently, there’s an even easier way to search for flights: Skyscanner. It’s basically a travel search site that helps you find cheap flights and even the ever elusive promo fares that airlines offer.
Here’s what you do, go to www.skyscanner.com.ph. Since it’s a localized version of the main site, the site will be in Tagalog and the currency defaults to Philippine peso. You can change this by clicking on the language option at the top of the page.

You’re probably already used to the booking facilities of most airlines: select origin airport, destination airport, departure and return dates, etc. Skyscanner looks the same, but with one huge difference: you don’t have to set a destination nor a date for your search!

Actually, you do. At the start, you just set your home airport and set an open date for your trip. You can set it to search for flights tomorrow, next week, the entire month or even the entire week. Leave the destination set to everywhere and Skyscanner will show you a list of destinations you can go to, starting from the cheapest fares.

The great thing about this is that if you want to travel, but can’t make up your mind where to go, this gives you concrete ideas as to where you can go based on your budget and schedule.

One awesome feature that I liked is the fare chart that shows you which days are the best to travel so you’re guaranteed cheap airfare. Skyscanner searched through thousands of airlines, so gone are the days where you have to open at least 3 browser tabs just to check fares and schedules for different airlines. How’s that for convenient?

Speaking of convenient, they have a mobile app for your iOS and Android devices. Of course, it requires a network connection, but it does make searching for flights while you’re on the go so much easier.

Skyscanner is not a booking site. While it does the searching for you, to book the flights you selected, you will be redirected to the airline’s website. Worry not though, because when you’re redirected, you’ll find yourself in the flight selection page, with the destination and dates already set to the specification you set in the Skyscanner website. Nifty, eh?

By the way, if you’re planning a trip with friends and family, you can share your search results to the joiners through Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail.

Give Skyscanner a try, it’s a really impressive and easy to use travel tool. The unfortunate downside that I ran into while trying it out is that it’s making me want to book a trip. Or three.