Skyscanner is a leading travel search engine, not an online travel agency (also called an OTA). That means that if you want to book a flight, hotel, or car rental that you find on Skyscanner or our mobile app, we'll redirect you to the company where we found the deal, whether it's an airline, hotel, car rental agency, or online travel agent. You'll pay on their site and they're the one responsible for securing your reservation.

Now let's get into specifics.

Is Skyscanner legit?

Yes, Skyscanner is a legitimate travel search engine. While many people use Skyscanner to book flights, it also brings users the lowest-possible rates on hotels and car rentals.

How does Skyscanner work?

Skyscanner is a tool that’s been designed to help you find the cheapest flights, hotels, and car rentals without having to search individual sites or online travel agencies. Just input your travel details into Skyscanner's search fields and then use the filters to see the search results that work best for your itinerary and budget.

When you’re ready to lock in your travel reservation, all you have to do is hit the Select button next to the search result that you're interested in. Then you’ll be redirected to an airline, hotel property, car rental company, or travel agency site to complete your booking.

Does Skyscanner process online payments?

Payments are never made through Skyscanner. Instead, you'll complete your travel transaction(s) offsite, either through the airline, hotel, car rental agency, or travel agency that is offering the reservation you found using Skyscanner’s search engine.

So basically, Skyscanner redirects users to a third-party website to complete their reservation and payment.

Is Skyscanner an online travel agency?

An online travel agency (OTA) allows users to search, book, and pay for their travel through the site. Skyscanner is not an OTA because we do not processing bookings or payments. Instead, you can think of us as a travel ally, allowing you to search and compare rates and itineraries before booking. We check the web for the best flight, hotel, and car rental deals for your next trip to help you save time and money.

Who can I speak with about my reservation?

Since Skyscanner has no involvement in booking or payment processing, your reservation will be managed by the airline, hotel, car rental agency, or travel agent that you ultimately book with. So if you have questions about your trip, you will need to get in touch with that company's customer service.

Final thoughts: Using Skyscanner to book flights and more

If you have questions about Skyscanner or how it works, we invite you to contact our Help Center. Alternatively, we have an amazing community of travel lovers, just like you, on Facebook. Be sure to give our page a like, and feel free to ask millions of people for travel advice, tips, and trip suggestions!