Sites better than Skyscanner?

[RickG16]

I find Skyscanner good for checking routes, but I always get the feeling the cookies are tracking what I search for and putting the price up..........

 

Anyone have recommendations for sites which are even better / cheaper than Skyscanner?

 

Cheers

[VBF]

To directly answer your question, have you tried Trip Adviser?

 

Having said that, I find a Google search for "cheap flights to xxxxxx" is the best plan - having found what you think you want, check the airline's site direct as they're often cheaper than the consolidators.

 

As for cookies.... if you happen to be using a PC, install 2 browsers on it and switch between them, clearing the cookies from time to time. For that I use CCleaner (Free Version) 

Edited April 9, 2018 by VBF
More info

[phuketrichard]

 

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

https://www.cheaptickets.co.th/en

https://www.kayak.co.th/

 

After u check the first time, always delete cookies if u go back
Kayak also has an alert you can sign up for that watches the price for you. 

[KhunBENQ]

To avoid tracking by (standard) cookies does not need any high tech.

Start Chrome "New incognito window".

Start Firefox "New private window".

Start Edge "New InPrivateWindow".

In these modes the browsers do not supply or store cookies also no stored login data, passwords etc.

"Standard" cookies: I assume such sites do not use shady tracking methods ("fingerprinting") for which I don't know counter measures.

---------

15 hours ago, phuketrichard said:

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

A real good (and fast) addition to skyscanner.

Skyscanner is just boring slow by often useless provider searches.

And in the end I also try the airline sites directly even if it's a bit more expensive.

Too many shady troubling "brokers" on the market.

Also some airline sites have better price over date matrix (7 days) for those who are flexible.

 

A helper that I use for planning/lookup is:

http://www.flightconnections.com/

(best enter airport codes instead of clicking on the map)

It's not a booking engine, just shows (close to) all flight connections worldwide.

You could then go to the airline sites directly to check availability/prices there.

Edited April 10, 2018 by KhunBENQ

[Chivas]

That old myth still existing re putting prices up lol.

Absolute bunkem and the Simon Calder fella from the Travel writers for uk broadsheets completely proved in in 2017

 

Its completely farcical to think it happens anyway for obvious reasons. If the site you are on suddenly rises £20 for example for a flight then what it was an hour ago the very first you're going to do is go to another site anyway looking for a cheaper price  !!  You're not suddenly going to pay the additional £20 unless you're braindead

 

Not sure where OP is from but for uk travel I use travel trolley last 5-6 years probably 20 flights never an issue never a price change never a problem. Note that travel supermarket actually uses skyscanner now itself "powered by"

 

Edited...have just put a random date on skyscanner as opposed to travel trolley direct for Oman. Exactly £10 cheaper on TT own site albeit thats not always the case. Often they are very very close to each other but with TT you get £10 off future bookings if you do their trust pilot review post flights. I got about 7 reviews on there lol

Edited April 12, 2018 by Chivas

[RickG16]

15 hours ago, Chivas said:

That old myth still existing re putting prices up lol.

Absolute bunkem and the Simon Calder fella from the Travel writers for uk broadsheets completely proved in in 2017

 

Its completely farcical to think it happens anyway for obvious reasons. If the site you are on suddenly rises £20 for example for a flight then what it was an hour ago the very first you're going to do is go to another site anyway looking for a cheaper price  !!  You're not suddenly going to pay the additional £20 unless you're braindead

 

Not sure where OP is from but for uk travel I use travel trolley last 5-6 years probably 20 flights never an issue never a price change never a problem. Note that travel supermarket actually uses skyscanner now itself "powered by"

 

Edited...have just put a random date on skyscanner as opposed to travel trolley direct for Oman. Exactly £10 cheaper on TT own site albeit thats not always the case. Often they are very very close to each other but with TT you get £10 off future bookings if you do their trust pilot review post flights. I got about 7 reviews on there lol

Alright... fair enough ^__^ I wasn't claiming to be a flight ticket expert, I just had a suspicion on cookies etc.

 

The reason I started the post was to find out more.

 

I think tickets definately do go up in price, but this might be more to do with shrinking availability rather than any clever way of using cookies etc.

[Chivas]

On 13/04/2018 at 6:59 AM, RickG16 said:

Alright... fair enough ^__^ I wasn't claiming to be a flight ticket expert, I just had a suspicion on cookies etc.

 

The reason I started the post was to find out more.

 

I think tickets definately do go up in price, but this might be more to do with shrinking availability rather than any clever way of using cookies etc.

Yes fair enough. Unfortunately it is a myth that somehow has become an internet fact. Same goes for hotels. If Agoda was to suddenly whack up the price first thing you would do is change site.

You can delete cookies but it makes absolutely no difference.

 

You are perfectly correct in that if a flight price has risen its purely down to seats diminishing fast. Remember in economy there are 6 classes of ticket all priced differently

Edited April 14, 2018 by Chivas

[VBF]

2 hours ago, Chivas said:

Yes fair enough. Unfortunately it is a myth that somehow has become an internet fact. Same goes for hotels. If Agoda was to suddenly whack up the price first thing you would do is change site.

You can delete cookies but it makes absolutely no difference.

 

You are perfectly correct in that if a flight price has risen its purely down to seats diminishing fast. Remember in economy there are 6 classes of ticket all priced differently

There is some truth in it.

The cookies have several uses, one of which is to show a transaction is taking place. The server (back end) takes this into account -  see this link HTTP Cookies  

 

So when you delete them and go and restart the same transaction it appears as if another customer has come online and the server knows this and can be set to dynamically alter the price, or not, as desired.

 

Therefore...and this is the important thing....it appears as if the demand has increased but of course the availability has not. The opposite may  also be true.

This, in eCommerce websites is one of the many triggers that set prices. A lot will depend on how the particular site has been coded so it's not entirely an internet myth but we, the customers cannot predict how any given site will behave. There are also issues such as transaction and session timeouts that the Developers and Business Analysts consider. It's a very complex issue that will be unique to any given site - even 2 airlines my have their sites coded differently.

[hathairat2711]

Skyscanner will find you the best routing but not necessarily the best price.

 

If after choosing the flight you want and they then direct you to other sites to make a booking rather than direct with the airline(s) concerned, then that's the time to book direct with the airline(s) and not thru Skyscanner. 

 

The above applies to most other sites.

 

 

Edited April 14, 2018 by hathairat2711

[Lancashirelad]

Skyscanner's word on cookies:

 

https://www.skyscanner.net/news/tips/do-cookies-increase-flight-prices/

[VBF]

6 hours ago, Lancashirelad said:

Skyscanner's word on cookies:

 

https://www.skyscanner.net/news/tips/do-cookies-increase-flight-prices/

Probably true - my comments in #8 apply more to SOME of the individual airline sites - not all.

Sorry, i didn't make that clear.

[Millian]

On 4/14/2018 at 4:00 PM, Chivas said:

Yes fair enough. Unfortunately it is a myth that somehow has become an internet fact. Same goes for hotels. If Agoda was to suddenly whack up the price first thing you would do is change site.

 

Exactly, and in fact Agoda do the opposite, I have seen them reducing prices on my on my 2nd viewing with the same session for the same hotel to encourage me to book.

[Chivas]

1 hour ago, Millian said:

Exactly, and in fact Agoda do the opposite, I have seen them reducing prices on my on my 2nd viewing with the same session for the same hotel to encourage me to book.

Indeed and as I said earlier the uk top travel writer completely debunked the ongoing myth. Prices change upwards because people are buying tickets 24/7 and availability diminishes not because someones looked at a web page twice !

[VBF]

21 minutes ago, Chivas said:

Indeed and as I said earlier the uk top travel writer completely debunked the ongoing myth. Prices change upwards because people are buying tickets 24/7 and availability diminishes not because someones looked at a web page twice !

The top UK travel writer was presumably Simon Calder or someone of that ilk. He or whomever are certainly knowledgeable on travel  but they are not necessarily experts on eCommerce websites and the software behind them.

 

If we agree that there's little difference between airline and entertainment websites, both of whom offer a ticket-based product to the public, well then various methods may be used to automatically "regulate" prices.

 

Having worked on testing various "household name" eCommerce sites as recently as 2013 I can state this with some authority. See my posts 2 and 8 for details and note my emphasis on some sites, not all.

[Chivas]

Well I'll stick to what I see myself using booking sites because I can guarantee there is not one single person on Thaivisa that has booked more London Bangkok returns period then me. None nada zilch at over 170 return tickets for myself. (we'll ignore the ones I've done for 3rd parties) Have never seen price changes happening purely by refreshing web pages. Yes you can see rises often later in the day as confirmed bookings come in and online agents adjust prices up accordingly but the following morning invariably they are back down again. Often the reason I book using uk online agents at 5-6am before any algorithms push prices up later in the day

No website changes it prices purely because you've viewed it 5 or 10 times. For the simple reason 99% of people would automatically go to a different supplier to check

 

We can agree to disagree on this one but am speaking from very hardline booking experience and not what I've read from others on the web or wherever

Edited June 7, 2018 by Chivas

[VBF]

19 minutes ago, Chivas said:

Well I'll stick to what I see myself using booking sites because I can guarantee there is not one single person on Thaivisa that has booked more London Bangkok returns period then me. None nada zilch at over 170 return tickets for myself. (we'll ignore the ones I've done for 3rd parties) Have never seen price changes happening purely by refreshing web pages. Yes you can see rises often later in the day as confirmed bookings come in and online agents adjust prices up accordingly but the following morning invariably they are back down again. Often the reason I book using uk online agents at 5-6am before any algorithms push prices up later in the day

No website changes it prices purely because you've viewed it 5 or 10 times. For the simple reason 99% of people would automatically go to a different supplier to check

 

We can agree to disagree on this one but am speaking from very hardline booking experience and not what I've read from others on the web or wherever

Absolutely @Chivas and your comments about the algorithms make sense to me too. The only area in which i'd like to correct you, if i may is that you refer to ".......changes happening purely by refreshing web pages." That in itself wouldn't remove/replace the cookies anyway - it's the act of completely clearing all client-side (session) cookies and local transaction records that effects the changes, IF and only IF the website is appropriately coded. As you say, we'll agree to differ but should you want to investigate further, I found that the Emirates website exhibited this behaviour as recently as January 2018.   Cheers.....

Edited June 7, 2018 by VBF

[Rc2702]

www.farecompare.com

 

Then click to check all other parties such as:

 

Gotogate 

Momondo 

Etc

 

Should give you another set of results to compare with sky scanner.

 

Beware of Southall travel 

[Yellowtail]

I love SkyScanner for car rentals in the US, can generally get a great price that includes full coverage insurance.

 

I generally book flights and hotels direct with the airline/hotel but use Orbitz or something similar to shop.