How to use Skyscanner to get CHEAP flights
Have you ever wanted to spin a globe, close your eyes and travel to the place where your fingertip lands? Or maybe you have dreamed of showing up to an airport and flying to the destination with the cheapest ticket? Skyscanner is sort of like the virtual version of this, except I’m willing to bet it’s also way cheaper!
Wondering how to use Skyscanner to get cheap flights around the world? Here’s how..
1. Choose the date (or more broadly the month) when you are interested in traveling and boom: destinations will populate according to the lowest price from your departing airport.
I love the concept of this because usually I don’t care where I go, as long as I haven’t been there before. So for my week off next February, I used Skyscanner’s monthly search option to ‘Everywhere‘.
You can also click the tiny Map button on the top right corner of the ‘Cabin Class’ drop-down box to search destinations by an interactive price map (as shown below).
I searched the destinations for Feb. 2018 from Toronto by list, and settled on Columbia!
Prices in green are the cheapest, so simply choose the dates you like and click ‘Show Flights’ to see departure and arrival times.
Obviously not all of the cheapest options will be direct or have the most convenient times (note the 1:00AM departure time).
However, I actually like the options with longer travel times (20+ hours) because the layover can be long enough (depending on timing) to explore that city for an entire day. I chose the second option from the top because it gives a full day to explore Mexico City on both ends of the trip!
Note: Be sure to consider whether you require a visa before you go ahead with this idea (it may not be worth it if you do require one to exit the airport).
Once you select the fight you want, you will reach a landing page where you can choose which booking agency you would like to pay through (i.e. Flight hub, CheapOair, TravelBe, etc).
I chose flight hub because I have used them before with success. Below is a copy of my itinerary (for some reason the cost increased by 7$) but I purchased these on Black Friday weekend where seats were getting snapped up like hot cakes so still I went ahead with it.
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Note: In my experience, Skyscanner is not always 100% accurate. I initially tried Toronto to Guatemala City via Panama City for 340$ RT and each time I tried to check out, the flights went up to 1100$. I checked the airline website and it turns out all economy seats were sold out. I am assuming this is due to Black Friday sales, but be aware that Skyscanner doesn’t have updated prices 100% of the time.
With that said, I still recommend it for anyone who has flexibility with their travel dates or for anyone who doesn’t care where they go to. With a little patience and time spent digging, you will be sure to find some super deals!
Bonus Tip: I always purchase my flights with a cash-back credit card and all money reimbursed from my purchases goes straight to my travel fund. In fact, I once got a FREE flight to Iceland by using a cash-back card and once got an $800 flight for $80. It’s one of the many ways I can afford to travel so much! (If you are interested in reading about all the ways I fund my travel, head on over to my comprehensive article about how I afford to travel as a PhD student).
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