Google Flights vs Skyscanner: Which Finds Better Deals?

Key takeaways

• Google Flights is fast, allows searching up to seven airports at once, and provides features like price alerts and a pricing guidance tool. It also offers a calendar to view the cheapest dates within a two-month window.
• Google Flights, however, doesn't search many smaller OTAs, can miss out on mistake fares, and sometimes displays ghost fares where the price no longer exists.
• Skyscanner searches many smaller OTAs, offers flexible date and location searches, and provides a "Search Everywhere" tool for finding the cheapest destinations. It also tracks flight prices and sends alerts.
• On the other hand, Skyscanner sometimes also shows ghost fares and has an outdated fare calendar. Additionally, some of the OTAs it searches may have questionable reputations, requiring extra vetting before booking.
• With Going membership plans, you can get real-time alerts as soon as prices drop for domestic and international flights. That way, you know you're getting the some of the cheapest flights every time.

As members of Going know, when we send an amazing flight deal to members, we include a link to a sample search; often this sample search is on Google Flights or Skyscanner, and sometimes, we link to both. 

Members have asked which is better, but it’s not so much a matter of one being better than the other. Rather, we recommend using both to cover all your bases and make sure you’re unearthing the best flights at the lowest prices. Additionally, neither site is perfect. In some cases, the downfalls of Google Flights mirror the benefits of Skyscanner, and vice versa. So, is Skyscanner the best for flights, or is Google Flights the smarter choice for finding deals? We break it all down so you can book with confidence.

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Why we love Google Flights 

Google Flights is a super fast flight search site with lots of great capabilities to help you find the lowest price quickly and easily. Google Flights allows you to search up to seven destination and departure airports at once and the calendar shows you the cheapest dates within a two-month period. The Google Explore Map will show you the cheapest place to go from your airport during a particular time frame. 

Google Flights also allows you to set price alerts so you’ll be notified when prices on a tracked route or flight change. And, Google Flights has also rolled out a pricing guidance tool (not yet available on all routes and dates) that tells you if the prices you’re seeing are average, high, or low for that route on those dates, based on historical date. 

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Weaknesses of Google Flights

Is Google Flights the cheapest? Not always. While it’s a great tool for finding deals, it doesn’t search many smaller OTAs, which sometimes offer lower fares. Similarly, many Mistake Fares, which happen when an airline or OTA accidentally discounts a price by up 90% off, don’t show up on Google Flights. Finally, prices on Google Flights sometimes “ghost,” which is when the price shown no longer exists and the real fare is much higher. 

>> Read our Google Flights review and guide to Google Flights or our advanced hacks for Google Flights

Why we love Skyscanner

Skyscanner has some of the same great features as Google Flights. Skyscanner advanced search allows for flexible date searching and makes it easy to see when cheap flights are available. It also allows a lot of flexibility on location; you can search for flights from an entire country rather than from a specific city or airport, and the Search Everywhere tool shows you the cheapest destinations from your airport during the time period you choose. Plus, it lets you track flight prices and get alerts when fares change, making it a great Google Flights alternative for finding deals. 

So, why is Skyscanner so cheap? One key reason is that it searches many small OTAs that Google Flights may not include, which can sometimes result in lower fares. In some cases, Skyscanner fares can even be cheaper than booking directly with the airline.

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Weaknesses of Skyscanner

As with Google Flights, Skyscanner sometimes displays ghost fares that are no longer active. And, while it does have great flexible date searching, its fare calendar doesn’t live-update, which means the pricing you see for less frequently searched routes might be incomplete. Finally, some of the OTAs that Skyscanner searches are questionable. You can see an OTA’s star rating on Skyscanner, but you may need to do some additional vetting before you buy. 

>> Read our Skyscanner review and guide to using Skyscanner

Features comparison of Google Flights and Skyscanner

Bottom line: Google Flights and Skyscanner are two of the best sites for searching for flights. Both have some great functionality, but each also has some areas for improvement. 

That’s why we often recommend pairing multiple search sites to ensure you're getting the best deal. E.g. you may want to start out on Google Flights to refine dates and location and then move to Skyscanner (and/or Kayak or Momondo) to check prices on smaller OTAs to compare prices and make sure you’re getting the best deal possible for your particular trip. 

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