Skyscanner is a travel fare aggregator website and travel metasearch engine. It is owned by Ctrip, the largest travel company in China, as of November last year. Site visitors can use Skyscanner to plan and book their travels, including flights, hotels, and car hire, at the best prices. The website is available in over 30 languages and includes a news section with flight and travel industry news, as well as travel tips for customers.
Skyscanner is one of the most visible online booking engines, winning numerous awards, including an award for being the Best Flight Comparison Site in 2010, from Travolution.
History
Skyscanner was launched in 2001 by a group of three IT professionals – Bonamy Grimes, Barry Smith, and Gareth Williams. They had been frustrated by the difficulty in finding cheap flights to ski resorts, and Skyscanner was their own answer to the problem.
The website was first released to the public in 2002, and its first office in Edinburgh, Scotland, was opened in 2004. Over the years, new offices were opened in Singapore, Beijing, and Miami. The company also acquired various other travel sites, such as Zoombu and Toubibi, as well as mobile app developer, Distinction. By 2016, Skyscanner had a $1.6 billion valuation and employed 600 people.
Ctrip bought Skyscanner for $1.75 billion at the end of 2016.
The service
You can work with Skyscanner’s world-leading platform, by joining their network of over 1200 trusted airline and travel businesses. Services offered include:
Direct bookings
Direct bookings allow travelers to research and book instantly on Skyscanner. You can capitalize on Skyscanner’s traffic and easy booking processes at the same time. This service allows you to retain customer details just as if the booking was occurring on your own website.
Direct booking is compatible with New Distribution Capability, or NDC-ready providers, as well as other integration types. The service offers full mobile support for customers using mobile devices. You can add upsell options including baggage fare upgrades, seat selection, insurance, and meals using the Skyscanner service.
British Airways uses Skyscanner for direct bookings
Hotel Integration
Launched in 2014, this service allows your hotel business to reach millions of users across the Skyscanner website and mobile app. Partners have access to Skyscanner’s knowledgeable sales managers who can guide you towards succeeding in your business aims and objectives.
Skyscanner Hotel Integrations
Flight Integration
Showcase your ancillary products and reach a large market using Skyscanner Flight Integrations. By allowing customers to compare prices for flights on the site, you’ll be able to increase your exposure and get more conversions, and benefit from new up sell opportunities. Skyscanner has a highly optimized referral mechanism that ensures customers are sent directly to brands they work with.
Appear in Skyscanner search results
Send a message through the Skyscanner Contact Us page to request that your business products appear in Skyscanner search results. Select ‘Commercial Enquiry’ in the ‘What is your message about?’ section.
Skyscanner statistics
- Over 60 million users per month
- More than 1200 travel partners
- Available in 30+ languages
- Over 65 markets with at least $10 million Total Transaction Value
- Over 2 million flights booked per month
Benefits of using Skyscanner
Partnering with Skyscanner gives you access to the millions of users that visit the site each month. This will increase your brand exposure and allow you to get more conversions. The Direct Booking service will enable you to keep your customers and give them a streamlined booking experience while maintaining customer details. Your hotel and flight listings will appear on the Skyscanner site when customers search for relevant search terms. This way, interested customers are more likely to come across your products and services. The sales managers provided by Skyscanner to assist their partners will enable you to plan for business success and growth, using advice from true experts in the travel industry.
Other booking engines
Interested in learning about other booking engines? Read our articles on Kayak, Expedia, and Booking.com.
