Skyscanner

Is Skyscanner safe to use?

Yes, for searching: Skyscanner is one of the lower-risk travel apps, because it never takes your money. It compares fares and hotel rates, then hands you to an airline or agent to pay. We found no reported breach of Skyscanner accounts, and the company has paid outside researchers to find security bugs since 2018. The weaker points are advertising, which follows you across apps, and the quality of the agents behind the cheapest prices. We score it 63/100.

Who you actually book with

Every price on Skyscanner belongs to someone else. Sometimes that is the airline. Often, for the lowest fares, it is an online travel agent you may never have heard of. Once you click through, that agent's terms, fees and customer service apply. Skyscanner's own help pages say plainly that changes and cancellations are a matter for the provider you booked with.

That is where most complaints come from: a final price higher than the one shown, a booking cancelled for "technical reasons", or a refund that drags on. Skyscanner tries to steer you. Its "Recommended Provider" badge goes only to agents that meet thresholds on traveller feedback, on how closely their final price matches the Skyscanner price and on how often people complete a booking. Skyscanner says partners cannot pay for it, the checks run monthly, and the badge disappears automatically if an agent slips.

Self-transfer itineraries deserve extra care. These combine separate tickets, so a delay on the first flight can leave you to buy a new ticket for the second. Skyscanner labels them and explains the risk, including re-checking bags and passing immigration, which can mean you need a visa just to change planes.

Disclosure rules have caught Skyscanner before. In April 2014 the US Department of Transportation found that it had not shown which airline actually operated code-share flights or warned that baggage fees might apply. It fined the company US$40,000, half of it suspended. That order is more than 10 years old, so it does not lower today's score.

What the app collects

Apple's privacy label is broad for a search tool. User ID, device ID and advertising data are listed as used to track you across other companies' apps and websites. Linked to your identity are precise and coarse location, email address, purchase history, how you use the app and crash data, for purposes that include Skyscanner's own marketing and analytics.

The privacy policy fills in the picture. Skyscanner combines what it collects to draw inferences about your interests. It uses ad partners to put you in "custom audiences" and to find people similar to you for its ads. Companies that advertise on Skyscanner may collect data for their own purposes. It also shares travel-trend insights with airlines and other partners. Location is used to guess your home airport, and the app asks before reading the precise location of your phone.

Ownership matters too. Skyscanner Limited is British, but Trip.com Group has controlled it since December 2016. The policy says data is shared with group companies in Brazil, China, India, Japan, Singapore, Spain, the UK and the US for services, fraud prevention and internal reporting. Skyscanner names its servers in Ireland, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Canada and Singapore. For a sense of the parent's own app, see Trip.com, which scores lower on privacy.

Accounts, security and scams in Skyscanner's name

You do not need an account to search. If you create one, there is no password: you sign in with Apple, Google or Facebook, or with a four-digit code sent by email. That removes the risk of a reused password, though anyone who controls your email inbox controls your Skyscanner account. Since November 2018 Skyscanner has run a bug bounty on Bugcrowd, paying US$100 to US$8,000 per valid report.

The scams that use Skyscanner's name happen outside the app. Its help centre warns of fake job offers on Telegram and WhatsApp that ask people to "complete tasks" for commission and then demand payment. It also warns of fraudsters who pose as Skyscanner to sell non-existent flights. Skyscanner says it never calls, emails or messages anyone to complete a booking or ask for payment, and that its real sites always carry "skyscanner" followed by a country domain.

How to book through Skyscanner more safely

1. Before you click through, check whether the seller is the airline or an agent; for an agent, prefer one with the Recommended Provider badge.
2. Compare the final price on the agent's site with the Skyscanner price, and walk away if extras appear at the last step.
3. Pay by credit card so you have a chargeback route if a booking is cancelled.
4. Avoid self-transfer itineraries on tight connections or where you would need a transit visa.
5. Turn off "Allow Apps to Request to Track" in iPhone settings, and give the app location access only while you use it.
6. Ignore any message offering a Skyscanner booking or job by WhatsApp, Telegram or phone.

How we scored it

Privacy (45) is the weakest factor: the app tracks you for advertising, links location and purchases to you, and allows sharing across a group with companies in China. Regulatory record (85) is the strongest, with no fine in the last 10 years, and security (72) benefits from a paid bug bounty and password-free sign-in. Scams and harmful content (64) reflect the mixed quality of third-party agents rather than anything in the app itself. Booking.com scores 47 and Agoda 52.