online travel agent skyscanner

Best Online Travel Agencies

Booking.com is our top choice for making your trip arrangements

Ligaya Malones is an editor, blogger, and freelance writer specializing in food and travel. Ligaya's work has appeared in publications including Lonely Planet and BRIDES.

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Planning a trip can be easier through an online travel agency than if you handle each aspect of the planning separately. You can book hotels, air travel, rental cars, and more through a single site, and booking everything together sometimes results in discounts. By inputting a destination, a range of dates, and other preferences, you will see a list of options for each aspect of travel.

The best online travel agencies offer options from the largest number of airlines, hotels, car rental agencies, and more. Look for sites that offer discounts for combining reservations for different aspects of your trip. For example, the best sites will have lower rates if you book both plane tickets and a hotel through their services. The best sites also provide reviews from customers who actually have booked through the service. These are our top picks.

• Best Overall: Booking.com
• Best Budget: Skyscanner
• Best Price Predictor: Hopper
• Most Innovative: Kiwi.com
• Best for Eco-Conscious: Kind Traveler
• Best for Social Impact: I Like Local
• Best for Design-Forward Homestays: Plum Guide
• Our Top Picks
• Booking.com

Kind Traveler

I Like Local

• See More (4)

Final Verdict

Frequently asked questions, methodology, best overall : booking.com.

 Booking.com

This industry leader offers one of the most comprehensive trip planning platforms on the Internet.

Lots of options to choose from

Interface is easy to use

Numerous filters to customize your search

Tricky to tell whether changes/cancellations can be made with Booking.com or the vendor directly

Booking.com was founded in 1996 and has grown into an industry leader that stands out for being one of the most comprehensive trip planning platforms out there. From one website, you can compare and book accommodations, flights (including one-way and multi-city flights), sightseeing activities, and even airport taxis. The website lists more than 28 million accommodation options, from hotels, hostels, and B&Bs to vacation homes and luxury resorts—you can browse more choices per destination on Booking.com than other online travel agencies. The website also performs well on cost and typically returns lower-than-average prices for flights and hotels. 

Booking.com's interface is also easy to use. On the home page, search for a hotel by entering your chosen destination and dates. Then, use the extensive list of filters—such as price range and distance from the city center—to narrow the results down and find the best fit. You can also search for a specific hotel, or seek inspiration by clicking through options grouped by destination or property type or by topic such as the country’s best Michelin-starred hotel restaurants or the top cities for vegan travelers. The flights, car rental, and other tabs are just as intuitive. 

Best Budget : Skyscanner

 Skyscanner

You can compare prices across airlines, hotels, and car rentals.

Simple interface

Option to toggle searches between specific dates or by monthly calendars

Search Everywhere button is great for spontaneous planners

Extra clicks are required to make a final purchase

Must read fine print for changes/cancellations—may need to deal directly with the vendor

Ads on the sidebar can be distracting

Find deals on airfare, hotels, and car rentals with an aggregator site like Skyscanner , which uses a metasearch engine to compare prices from all online travel agencies and the airline, hotel, or car rental company in question. Run searches with fixed dates, opt to compare airfare prices month to month, or click “Cheapest Month.” Searches also include options for nearby airports or non-stop flights only. With hotel searches, you can choose to select only from properties with free cancellation, a cleanliness rating of 4.5/5 or higher, or 3- or 4-starred hotels only. Car rental searches include an option to select “return car to different location.”

Once you’ve found the best rate, click on the link to be redirected to the third-party site to make your booking. Feeling spontaneous? The Search Everywhere button on the homepage offers a list of the cheapest flight deals for destinations both locally and across the world—just plug in your departure airport first.

Best Price Predictor : Hopper

The company claims a 95 percent accuracy rate at predicting when flights and hotel rates will be cheapest.

Color-coded system makes it easy to determine cheapest days to buy

App is easy to use

Option to track flights and receive alerts when the best time to buy arises

Some have mentioned the app functions better as a research tool than a booking tool

Unclear whether Hopper will price match if you find a cheaper flight elsewhere

Hopper is a travel app available on iOS and Android that aims to help travelers save on airfare by usng historical data and their own algorithm to predict when flights will be cheapest. Just type in where and when you’d like to fly and Hopper will present you with a color-coded pricing calendar indicating how much tickets are likely to cost. (Green is the least expensive, then yellow, orange, and red for most expensive.) Hopper will also recommend you either buy now or wait, or you can choose to watch a trip and receive notifications on the best time to buy. In addition, the app has expanded to offer hotel and car rental price predictions, too.

Some newer features since the app’s inception in 2009 include an option to freeze a price for a limited time—for an extra fee—as well as exclusive app-only discounts. Hopper is free to download, and you can choose to book directly through the app, though some users mentioned they use Hopper as more of a research tool before booking directly with the airline or hotel. The company claims a 95 percent accuracy rate at predicting flight rates up to a year ahead.

Most Innovative : Kiwi.com

This metasearch engine scours the web to piece together the ideal itinerary using planes, trains, buses, and more.

Creative itineraries get you where you need to go, especially if you’ve got a multi-stop trip

Kiwi Guarantee offers rebooking or cancellation protections

Nomad option appeals to travelers with a lot of flexibility

Creative itineraries mean you may not fly out of the same airport you flew into

Kiwi Guarantee has an additional fee

Charges all-in-one fee for booking flights, trains, buses (though you can always purchase a la carte)

Travelers planning multi-city destinations and seeking a bargain, as well as those looking to take planes, trains, and automobiles to get there, might consider Kiwi . Kiwi is a metasearch engine that scours and pieces together itineraries from various airlines (even if they don’t have a codeshare agreement), considers multiple airports (even if your arrival airport is different from departure), and offers booking options, whether you’re looking at very specific dates or more general ones (up to 60 nights).

Some will find the ability to make multiple bookings for a particular trip more convenient than going at it manually several different times, though note that you must opt into the Kiwi Guarantee program to access rebooking and refund protections should your reservation change or be canceled. Kiwi’s Nomad option allows you to plug in a bunch of destinations you’d like to visit and the length of your intended stay, and the website will churn out the most affordable itineraries for review.

Best for Eco-Conscious : Kind Traveler

A give-and-get business model means booking accommodations with exclusive perks, a donation to environmental organizations, and more.

All participating hotels include a local give-back component

Exclusive savings and perks

Participating hotels are located in some of the most beautiful places in the world

Inventory is much smaller compared to other booking platforms

Some of the amenities mentioned are based on availability only

In 2022, Kind Traveler (an online trave agency focused on hotel bookings) announced an increase in environmentally and socially conscious hotels, charity donations, voluntourism opportunities, and additional perks like waived resort fees or a welcome amenity.

Unlock exclusive hotel rates and perks from participating Kind Traveler hotels with a minimum $10/night minimum donation to a local charity. For example, stay at the Six Senses Laamu in the Maldives and receive up to $33 off the nightly rate and perks such as a food and beverage credit and an Earth Lab or Alchemy Bar workshop when you make a donation to Manta Trust. The organization funds coastal research to protect the island nation’s large yet fragile population of reef mantas.

Select from more than 140 participating hotels from the Hawaiian Islands to Bozeman, Montana, and the Maldives. Charities include wildlife, human rights, arts, education, and environmental preservation organizations.

Best for Social Impact : I Like Local

Choose from a host of travel experiences with the peace of mind that 100 percent of the cost goes directly to local partners.

Social impact mission woven into organization’s business model

Immersive experiences led by local guides

Range of experiences offered

May not be best fit for those seeking upscale, luxury experiences and stays

Can’t sort experiences by a list of countries (though an interactive map is available)

No experiences outside of Africa and Asia

For an online travel agency with a booking platform designed to route dollars spent directly to the communities travelers intend to visit, consider I Like Local . Visit the website to browse a host of travel experiences in countries including Indonesia, Kenya, and Cambodia. Experiences include homestays and farmstays as well as wellness and culturally oriented experiences—from cooking and cycling tours to weaving classes.

To search for an experience, select from drop-down items like travel dates and experience categories, or view a global map and click on a country to view experiences that way.

The platform got its start in 2014 and has grown to 4,000 local hosts across nearly 20 countries. As a social impact organization, 100 percent of each booking fee goes to local hosts. To date, 16,000 travelers have booked with I Like Local.

Best for Design-Forward Homestays : Plum Guide

Browse and book seriously vetted, design-forward vacation homes.

Highly curated inventory of vacation rentals across the world

Design-forward

Thorough vetting process

Does not publish guest reviews

Other platforms have homes available across more destinations

When it comes to booking a vacation home, serviced apartment, or condo, travelers are spoiled for choice. Plum Guide is an online travel agency that specializes in accommodations—though not just any home makes its directory. The company claims that each potential home listed on its site must jump through 150 hoops to be included, from internet speed and mattress and pillow quality to the showers’ water pressure and the home’s proximity to dining, shopping, and attractions.

Search by a featured collection on the website such as “ pet-friendly homes ” or “one-of-a-kind homes in Palm Springs.” Scroll to the bottom of its homepage to view its top destinations, as well as a list of all destinations where Plum Guide homes are available, including Barbados, Mexico, Portugal, Switzerland, the U.S., and Turkey. Note: From the top right-hand corner of the site, use the dropdown menu to select currency of choice.

As long as you know what you value most out of your travel experience—such as affordability, social impact, or luxe accommodations—there’s an online travel agency to help plan your next trip. Be sure to read the fine print, as some agencies are third-party websites and not direct vendors. If you're not sure where to start, Booking.com is your best bet for a smooth user experience and hard-to-beat offers on flights, hotels, and other travel arrangements.

What Is the Biggest Travel Agency?

Our choice for best overall, Booking.com, is known as an industry leader with listings for all major hotels, airlines, car rental companies, and more. It boasts more choices for accommodations per destination than any other site, and we found its interface to be user-friendly.

Are Online Travel Agencies Worth It?

This depends on your needs and priorities. The best online travel agencies certainly can save time by booking everything all at once. However, if you're someone who is good at haggling and enjoys the details of planning a trip, you might be able to find better deals by reaching out to hotels or other destinations and speaking to someone personally.

Is It Cheaper to Book Online Than With a Travel Agent?

Not always. A travel agent you know and trust should have the experience and connections to find deals that can match or surpass what you'll find online. Additionally, if something goes wrong, travel agents provide you with an actual person you can use as an advocate to correct the problem . But if you don't have access to a good travel agent, online sites still provide plenty of ways to streamline planning and save money .

We considered dozens of online travel agencies and narrowed down the options based on user experience, volume and quality of inventory, unique offerings and specials, and customer reviews. We also assessed travel companies’ environmentally and socially conscious policies.

Catherine Falls Commercial / Getty Images

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Saving Money on Your Summer Vacation

Take your business to new heights 

Millions of people visit Skyscanner every day to find flights, hotels, cars and travel inspiration. We’ll connect you with them to drive growth for your brand.

Global, growing audience

Over 100m users from 180 countries visit Skyscanner every month. Our audience is highly engaged and growing year-on-year.

Cutting-edge solutions

Our best-in-class brand and performance ads deliver a big return on spend, using the latest innovation and traveller search data to connect with people in real time.

Collaborative partnership

Our dedicated account support and industry-leading insights are tailored to help you better understand the market and meet your business objectives.

Distribution

Reach more travellers

Increase the reach of your content to more high-intent travellers who are searching for their next trip. Showcase your products, increase brand awareness and grow your revenue and market share.

Advertising

Promote your brand, inspire action 

Advertise your destination or business during the dreaming, planning and booking stages so that when travellers are ready to choose, they choose you.

Monetise your audience

Earn commission on the traffic you send us who make a qualified action with one of our distribution partners.

Data insights

Get industry-leading insights

Our team of experts provide trusted traveller and market analysis to help your business better understand and leverage shifting trends and behaviour. 

Our partners

Getting you there, together..

As a Skyscanner partner, we’re here to help your business on its journey – wherever you want to go, whatever your goals.

Helping everyone explore our world effortlessly, for generations to come.

Traveller first

We simplify travel by building helpful, transparent products, so people can see the best possible prices for them, all in one place.

Sustainability

We’re committed to helping shape a more responsible future for travel in collaboration with our partners, so future generations can also enjoy exploring our planet.

Accessibility

We believe no one should be held back from travelling. That’s why accessibility is at the heart of everything we do.

Insights & case studies

Skyscanner at itb berlin 2024: summer travel & sustainability insights, a golden opportunity: helping visit california draw more uk travellers to the state, celebrating the x. awards 2023: recognising creativity & innovation in tourism, skyscanner horizons, making a splash: helping puerto rico attract more visitors | skyscanner partners, increasing working holiday visas for tourism australia | skyscanner partners, targeting airport passenger leakage using geo-location data | skyscanner partners, scotland is calling: helping visitscotland attract more travellers after covid-19, capa airline leader summit: airlines in transition 2022, helping tourism ireland smash its booking goals | skyscanner partners.

Is Skyscanner Legit? Here’s All The Info You Need

Found some really good deals on Skyscanner and you want to know if they’re legit before you book anything? This guide will tell you everything you need to know about Skyscanner!

The short answer is that yes, Skyscanner is absolutely legit and it’s used by millions of travelers to find the best deals for plane tickets and hotels .

Below, we cover how they operate, who owns them, and what other customers are saying about their experiences with Skyscanner.

So, keep reading to learn more about Skyscanner and see if they’re worth your time and effort!

Is Skyscanner Legit?

Yes, Skyscanner is a legit website that’s been around for more than two decades. During this time they have gained millions of new users. It’s estimated that this website is used by approximately 100 million users every month.

Skyscanner’s Trustpilot rating is very high. They’ve got 4.4 stars across more than 15,000 ratings, and more than 70% of all of their ratings are 5 stars.

You’ve got absolutely nothing to worry about when using Skyscanner, and I would honestly recommend it over any other similar platform.

Is Skyscanner Reliable?

Yes, Skyscanner is a reliable platform that millions of people use to search for and book flights, hotels, and car rentals. The website also has great customer service that can help if you have any questions about the deals and even helps people who have issues with their partners.

Lodging A Complaint

Skyscanner allows you to lodge complaints against their partners if you are unsatisfied with the experience, and they encourage all their users to rate the platforms they partner with. They’re transparent about everything they can be. They also encourage all their users to look for hidden fees and extra charges.

Is It Safe to Purchase Tickets on Skyscanner?

You can’t actually purchase tickets on Skyscanner. The platform is a search engine that looks for the best flight prices, but any purchases you complete are done directly through their partner and Skyscanner doesn’t have access to your booking.

That being said, they have excellent customer service that does everything in its power to try and help their customers, even if their partner online travel agencies don’t honor their deals.

One thing to note is that Skyscanner’s partners are highly reputable agencies, most of which have 4 and 5-star reviews from their customers. Their lowest-rated partner is Expedia, but that’s a pretty polarizing travel booking platform. Some people don’t like it at all, and others swear by it and use it to book all their travel accommodations and plane tickets.

In any case, just make sure to double-check the airline or travel agency you choose to book with through Skyscanner. If you notice that there are more negative reviews than you’re comfortable with and a different agency has a better rating and only slightly more expensive plane tickets, it’s usually better to spend more money to ensure a better experience.

Are There Hidden Fees on Skyscanner?

Nope. Skyscanner is completely free to use. They don’t charge any fees or commissions to their customers, and that’s an awesome thing about this website. However, that might not be the case with all of their partners.

So, when you find a flight ticket you like and want to purchase, be sure to check out the full details of the price to see how much you’re paying in fees and taxes.

Skyscanner even advises you to do this before you look at any partnering deals – in their “more information” section, they warn travelers that other online travel agencies and airlines may charge additional fees and that you should always check for these before completing any purchases.

Why Is Skyscanner So Cheap?

Skyscanner might seem like it’s cheaper than other websites, but that’s only because it compares the prices on dozens of other platforms and presents you with all your options. You get to see the deals from their partners that you otherwise wouldn’t have known about, and often times this will include a discount for new customers or a special promotion that the website is running.

But I wouldn’t call Skyscanner a cheap or affordable website because you can’t really purchase any tickets on their platform. They’re basically just a search engine, and any purchases you complete are done through their partners.

What Others Are Saying About Skyscanner

Skyscanner has a rating of 4.4 on Trustpilot across a total of more than 15,000 reviews. More than 70% of the website ratings are 5 stars, so people are mostly saying good things about them. Naturally, using the website wasn’t smooth sailing for everyone, and there are some people who left negative reviews.

However, it is important to note that Skyscanner support is replying to all the negative comments and trying to get in touch with unsatisfied customers.

The complaints from users are rarely aimed at Skyscanner, and it’s usually because the partnering online travel agency won’t refund or change their flight. There were also negative reviews from people who didn’t read the fine print before booking their tickets and didn’t realize that there were additional fees even though they had access to this information.

You can avoid having a negative experience with this website if you just pay attention to the fine print as Skyscanner instructs you to do. In my opinion, the people who are blaming Skyscanner for a long layover or expensive taxi fees are misdirecting their anger because it’s not the website’s fault they couldn’t be bothered to read the fine print.

You wouldn’t blame Booking for having to share a bathroom at your apartment after you’ve selected to book an apartment with a shared bathroom because it was the cheapest option.

Always read the fine print, check for any hidden fees and costs, and spend five minutes reading through the reviews of other travelers – that’s all it takes to avoid any nasty surprises when searching for deals on Skyscanner.

What is Skyscanner?

Skyscanner is an online platform for searching for cheap plane tickets. The website has an excellent search engine that compares the prices of plane tickets on all the other platforms and then presents you with all the options for a specific flight. This is great if you’re trying to save some money on plane tickets because Skyscanner will usually find you a deal that you most likely weren’t aware of.

However, you can’t actually complete a purchase on Skyscanner. They just show you the deals in the same way Google Flights does and redirect you to the website of their partner where you can complete your purchase.

Skyscanner isn’t responsible for anything that might go wrong with the booking because they are just the search engine, but they have been known to get in contact with unsatisfied customers and try to act as a mediator between them and the partnering agency that they’re unsatisfied with.

Who Owns Skyscanner?

Skyscanner is owned by Trip.com Group Limited, a multinational corporation headquartered in China that owns some of the most popular including Trip.com, Travix, MakeMyTrip, and a few other websites.

Although many of these websites are owned by the same umbrella corporation, they are headquartered in different countries and run by entirely different people.

Skyscanner is headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland , and they’ve got offices in 8 countries in Asia, Europe, and the United States.

How Does Skyscanner Work?

The Skyscanner website has a search engine that is very simple to use:

• you put in the location where you want to fly to
• add the dates and the number of adults traveling
• click search

Skyscanner will search across all their partner platforms, and present you with every option you have for the flights you selected.

The results are shown in a price ascending order, so you’re always presented with the cheapest flights at the top and the most expensive ones at the bottom. The thing I like the most is that you can also see the rating of every single one of their partners in their list. Sometimes, cheaper is not better, so it’s great to know who has the best reputation when booking a flight with Skyscanner too.

Skyscanner also lets you choose between direct and connecting flights, and you can also allow them to search for flights to all airports that are close to your destination. This feature alone can save you quite a bit of money, especially when it happens to include an airport that is serviced by budget airlines.

Skyscanner has another excellent feature, and it’s perfect for people who don’t really have a destination in mind. You can select that you want to fly “everywhere” and you can even tell the engine to search for flights during an entire month. That way, you’re getting the absolute best deals possible, and you can easily get plane tickets for very little money.

Tips on Using Skyscanner

If you’re just browsing around for amazing deals and you don’t really have a destination in mind, take advantage of their Everywhere feature. You can look for the cheapest flights from the airport closest to you, during any period. This is awesome for planning trips because you can get very cheap plane tickets.

Also, use all of their search tools. If you want to go on a longer trip and maybe travel to multiple destinations in one country, look for multi-city plane tickets that let you land in one city but depart from another. Check the direct flight box if you don’t want to waste time on layovers, but don’t check if you’re fine with going on multiple flights if that means you get the best flight deals.

If you’re looking at connecting flights, always check how long the layovers are. Do not buy any tickets that have a layover shorter than one hour, because it’s highly unlikely you’ll have enough time to catch your connecting flight, especially at bigger airports.

Can You Use Skyscanner on Your Phone?

You can absolutely use Skyscanner on your phone. They have dedicated apps for both iOS and Android devices, and the apps are highly rated (4.7+) on both platforms. The Skyscanner app is easy and intuitive to use, with all the same functionality as their desktop website. You can search flights, accommodation, and car hire, and you’re shown all the best deals from their partners.

The main difference is in the rating of the providers that are offered through the mobile app versus the website. On the mobile app, there wasn’t a star rating for most providers because there weren’t sufficient reviews. But for those exact same providers, I could see the star ratings when I looked on the website.

It’s also worth noting that I was shown slightly better prices on the mobile app, but the difference is so minimal it’s honestly not worth mentioning (up to 1 Euro cheaper per flight). I didn’t compare too many flights though, so it could be just a weird anomaly.

Are Flights Booked on Skyscanner Refundable?

That depends on quite a few factors since you can’t actually book a flight on Skyscanner. It mostly depends on the airline and travel agency that you’re booking the flight with, and you should have access to that information before you purchase the ticket.

Some will allow you to purchase travel insurance in addition to your ticket, which should cover refunds in case you have to cancel your trip. Other agencies and airlines may present you with two choices – a super-cheap non-refundable ticket, and a slightly more expensive refundable option.

Non-refundable plane tickets and hotel reservations are a good way to save money because they’re always the cheapest, but a nightmare to deal with if you end up having to cancel the trip. If you’re booking a trip in the near future (the next month or so), and you’re confident you’ll be going on the trip, it’s worth it to risk it and get non-refundable tickets.

But for trips in the more distant future, it’s usually smarter to pay extra money so you can get a refund if necessary because you never know what can happen in six months or more.

About the Author Roger Timbrook

Roger is a little obsessed with travel. He has been to over 40 countries, broken 3 suitcases and owned over 10 backpacks in 12 months. What he doesn't know about travel, ain't worth knowing!

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The 10 best online travel agencies in 2024

The top 10 online travel agencies.

• Booking.com
• Lastminute.com

Best online travel agencies for business travel

1. travelperk.

Main offerings and features:

• Industry-leading travel inventory
• Flexible booking with FlexiPerk
• Safety alerts with TravelCare
• Integrated travel policy & approval flows
• Centralized invoicing
• Easy & real-time expense reports
• Carbon offsetting with GreenPerk
• 24/7 fast customer support in target 15s
• VAT reclaim
• Integration with 3rd party tools , such as expense management or HR software like Expensify and BambooHR

Save time and money on your business travel with TravelPerk

2. sap concur.

• Works with some of the biggest brands
• Easy tracking and reporting of expenses for expense reports
• Many connected apps, such as Uber and Airbnb for cars and hotels
• One solution for a variety of business travel spending

Click below to compare both platforms’ features and benefits

• Ample integrations
• Award-winning mobile app
• Employee-centric travel management

Click below for a more detailed comparison between both platforms:

Best online travel agencies for leisure travel, 1. booking.com.

• Intuitive booking tool and website
• Flight + Hotel booking for easily planning trips with no cross-referencing travel websites
• Simple car rental options and taxi hire
• Available in over 40 different languages and offers over half a million properties across 207 countries
• You can book experiences in your destination city to entertain you on your travels
• Genius rewards program

• Simple interface and booking tool
• Deals when making more than one booking
• 38 different languages and offers a 24-hour, multilingual customer support service
• Free cancellation within 24 hours of booking
• Millions of reviews to help make your decision

3. Lastminute.com

• Filter hotels according to budgets, star ratings, guest ratings, board types, and more
• ATOL protection on flight + hotel bundles
• Flash sales for last-minute deals
• Payment plans to spread out the cost of travel
• Extra entertainment booking for your trips, like theatrical productions and day trips
• Gift cards for gifting travel

• Expedia rewards for hotels, cars, and more
• Experienced support
• Compare cruise lines
• Big savings when booking flights, hotels, and car rentals
• Operates in nearly 70 countries and in over 35 different languages
• Luxury travel options

• Book hotels, flights, cars, and bundles
• 24/7 support
• Lower prices on the app
• Great last-minute deals for spontaneous travel

6. Bookmundi

Best online travel agencies for flights

1. skyscanner.

• Super flexible booking filters
• Cheaper flights and hotels than other OTAs
• Price alerts for travel routes of interest
• Easy-to-use booking tool and UI
• Hundreds of location and currency options
• One-way, return, and multi-city travel options

2. Kiwi.com

• Simple flight booking tool
• Partnerships with Booking.com and Rentalcars.com
• Discover deals anywhere with the option to open up your search
• Easy-to-use app

How do online travel agencies work?

What are the advantages of booking through an online travel agency.

• Access to comparison tools
• Peer reviews to help you with your decisions
• Flexible cancellation policies
• All your travel in one place
• Local flights and deals

Rewards programs

Comparison tools, peer reviews, flexible cancellation.

Flexiperk: Cancel anytime, anywhere. Get a minimum of 80% of your money back.

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ABOUT JACKSFLIGHT CLUB

ABOUT JACKS FLIGHT CLUB

Reviewing the most popular online travel agencies

• Flight Hacking

Here at Jack’s Flight Club, we’re always on the lookout for awesome flight deals. Airline sales and Black Friday promos are great, but sometimes, it’s the discounts you get through online travel agencies (OTAs) on Skyscanner or Momondo that really get us excited. 

The thing is, JFC members often tell us that they’d rather pay more to book directly with an airline and avoid the risk of getting scammed. After all, how do we know that Skyscanner is legit ? Our article on OTA safety explains how these flight aggregators work and what you need to keep in mind when using them.

In short - Skyscanner and Momondo are genuine companies, and using them to find cheap fares won’t put you at risk. It’s actually the OTAs they redirect you to that you need to be savvy about. That’s where this article comes in. So, now we’re going to take a deep dive into how individual online travel agents stack up against each other. 

The OTAs listed here are a selection of the best-known names and the ones that appear most frequently in our deals. We’ll weigh in with stories from experienced JFC members and colleagues (watch out, eDreams), as well as taking a good look at consumer reviews and ratings on popular platforms like Trustpilot and TripAdvisor. 

But firstly, we’re going to examine how the OTA aggregators we use every day - Skyscanner and Momondo - rate the companies they advertise. So, is there actually any quality control, or do we have to rely on articles like this to tell us what’s up?

Quick reference

Do skyscanner and momondo rate their otas, how do other websites rate otas.

• Lastminute.com / Bravofly

CrystalTravel

Final thoughts.

In short - yes. Skyscanner reviews seem more transparent than Momondo’s, but both have a quality control system in place.

When someone makes a booking through Skyscanner, they’re invited to leave feedback and rate their booking. When you’re redirected to the OTA on Skyscanner, a short survey will appear asking you to give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on your experience.

The data collected here all goes towards the star ratings Skyscanner gives its OTAs - you’ll see them when you click on a Skyscanner search result. 

Skyscanner reviews the feedback weekly and only takes into account feedback from the last three months. On one hand, it’s good to know you’re seeing up-to-date information reflecting recent experiences. On the other, a load of complaints 4 months ago might still put you off if you knew about them.

Their rating is based on:

• accuracy of the prices you see in search results, 
• clarity about extra fees (for bags, insurance, etc.),
• how good the OTA’s customer service is, 
• how easy the booking process is,
• and any other feedback they receive.

One of the main issues we find with the Skyscanner rating system is that you can’t read the feedback or reviews left for individual OTAs. There’s also no way of searching through all the OTAs they work with to check for the Skyscanner rating, so it all depends on which ones show up for the route you search.

Momondo are even less up front with their ratings - in fact, they don’t really rate them at all. Well-reviewed OTAs get a little medal symbol next to their names on the results page, with a pop-up box showing the areas they’re particularly good in. 

Unfortunately, even that doesn’t happen across all domains - momondo.com displays very few approval medals for OTAs in comparison to the European domains. For the purposes of this article, we’ll use the approvals on momondo.co.uk.

Both Skyscanner and Momondo let you sort results by cheapest, fastest, and best. While Skyscanner’s “best” category is decided by a combination of price and flight time, Momondo reviews sometimes factor into what shows up under “Best”- and apparently, so might the commission they receive from sales via that OTA.

As part of a wider umbrella of companies that includes familiar names like booking.com, kayak and cheapflights.com, Momondo also uses ratings and reviews gathered from its partner sites. While that’s no biggie on the face of it, their little medal symbols may have been awarded based on a completely different booking experience.

Consumer review sites like Trustpilot let anyone leave a review of their experience with a company. All you have to do is give the business a star rating out of 5 and leave a comment in the box below. Trustpilot balances its ratings to ensure the fairest score possible, giving priority to the most recent experiences.

The downside of these sites is that it’s hard to know if reviews are genuine, plus people are far more likely to leave a review if they are unhappy. The best way to get an overall picture is to check sites similar to Trustpilot, like sitejabber, or consumer review sites like Which?. Otherwise, you may find yourself spending hours trawling travel forums on TripAdvisor or Quora. Good news is, we’ve done it for you!

And that brings us to the juicy bit - our online travel agency reviews.

What we’ve heard: Our members have a LOT to say about eDreams, and we keep hearing the same complaint over and over again - hidden fees.

One member told us that after making his booking, he noticed an extra charge from eDreams on his bank statement. After some back and forth with eDreams’ customer service, he discovered they’d subscribed him to their prime membership without his permission. As compensation, he was offered a €20 discount off his next booking with them, but they completely ignored his refund requests until he threatened to open a fraud case via his bank.

Another member had a similar situation, where eDreams claimed the extra cash they charged her was for luggage fees, and she too was refused a refund. Someone else had an even weirder issue, when the company booked them on the wrong flight with the airline and refused to fix it. They claimed that his booking was for the flight he’d selected, and he’d have to pay again to change to the flight he originally wanted.

These stories are no exception - TripAdvisor is full of threads dedicated to slating eDreams for poor customer service, extra fees, and unexplained cancellations. As one unsatisfied customer put it on Yelp, “One could get more service out of a bunch of penguin juggling monkeys than eDreams”.

What Skyscanner says: Skyscanner rates eDreams at 2/5 stars based on over 10.5k reviews. Since two of their main criteria are customer service and fees, we think we can work out why.

What Momondo says: Unexpectedly, Momondo gives eDreams the seal of approval . Either Momondo customers have been really lucky, or the search engine is just a bit out of touch, since they mention eDreams’ reliable pricing and good customer service.

What Trustpilot says: eDreams.com currently has a Trustpilot rating of 3.6/5 stars , though it’s worth noting that the majority of reviews there either leave a 5-star or 1-star rating. Another important point here is that many regional websites have a different rating, for example the Spanish website (where they’re based) only gets 2.1 stars, while Germany gets 3.5.

A common theme among the Trustpilot reviews is eDreams not refunding customers after their flight has been cancelled. Several people mention struggling to get through to customer service and waiting for months without any sign of getting their cash back. 

On the other hand, it is worth mentioning that there are more positive eDreams reviews on Trustpilot than negative. Several 5-star reviews say they got great customer service and had their problems resolved quickly.

Our verdict: Honestly, they wouldn’t be our first choice. Even when eDreams comes up cheapest, we’d hesitate due to the risk of being booked on the wrong flights or being hit with hidden fees like our members.

What we’ve heard: One Quora thread describes Kiwi.com as “legal scammers”, using loopholes and fine print to take advantage of customers. Multiple posters mention that they’ve been denied a refund for cancelled flights purchased through Kiwi, then being told by their customer service that buying a new flight is the only option.

We also came across stories of being issued fake tickets for cheap connecting flights. When the unsuspecting passenger arrived at the airport, they were told their name wasn’t even on the flight. Even if you put this down to human error on Kiwi’s side, you’d expect the passenger to have received a full refund instead of the 60% they actually got.

With that in mind, you can’t blame us for being a little sceptical when we read about Kiwi’s recent dispute with Ryanair, who accused them of issuing fake boarding passes . Kiwi claimed that there’s “no such thing as a fake boarding pass”, stating that Ryanair were just grumpy with them for selling their tickets for less than they cost on the Ryanair website. Either way, it’s not a good look.

Those are just the highlights. We found a lot more like that, including countless articles about families losing out on thousands of dollars due to Kiwi bookings falling through.

What Skyscanner says: With over 23.5k reviews on Skyscanner, the surprising 3.5/5-star rating is pretty decent. 

That means most people leaving a Kiwi.com review on Skyscanner find that the fares they’re quoted match what they end up paying, and any extra fees are clear. Customer service experiences may have been alright as well, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been problems - it just means that they’ve been resolved.

What Momondo says: Once again, we can’t really get more from Momondo than what you see in the image below. They’ve awarded Kiwi a medal , and state that their customers have confirmed reliable pricing and good customer service.

What Trustpilot says: At just 1.7 stars out of 5 , Kiwi reviews on Trustpilot look a lot more like what you’d expect after the horror stories we’ve seen.

The most common complaints are problems getting through to customer service agents (and not just a bot), and refunds taking ages - sometimes years - or not being honoured in full. 

You’ll also find more stories about the cancellation of a single flight in a multi-leg journey that ruined a whole trip. Because Kiwi is the airline’s customer, the airline contacts Kiwi to notify them of the change, rather than letting the passenger themselves know directly. 

Several people report that this information wasn’t passed on to them, and are then forced to pay excessive prices for a last-minute alternative. In the situations where they were notified about the cancellation, Kiwi had already requested a refund for that leg from the airline, instead of giving the customer the option to reschedule directly with the airline. That leaves the customer having no choice but to book a replacement flight (again, for crazy money) through Kiwi. 

On the other hand, like with eDreams, there are a few really positive reviews on there too. People who have genuinely had no problems and say they’re glad they didn’t read all the negative reviews before booking.

Our verdict: Generally speaking, people are much more likely to leave reviews when they’re angry than when things go well, which could explain the difference in rating between Trustpilot and Skyscanner. 

That said, you could be taking a chance by going with Kiwi - especially if you’re booking an expensive multi-leg trip for the whole family. This seems like a prime example of why paying more to book directly with the airline is worth it for security alone. 

What we’ve heard: Back in 2011, Opodo was bought out by eDreams, which kind of sets the tone for us. On top of that, Which? rates Opodo among the worst flight booking sites out there. 

News websites are full of headlines complaining about Opodo ignoring customers following flight cancellations, passengers being booked on the wrong flights, and huge fees to make changes or cancellations.

Like eDreams, we’ve heard of customers automatically being signed up for a Prime subscription without consent. Given that we rarely see Opodo coming up as the cheapest OTA, we can’t imagine choosing to tie yourself to their services would ever be worth it.

TripAdvisor’s forums are not so full of brutal Opodo reviews, though there are still enough to make you think twice. These mostly relate to long waiting periods for refunds after flights that were cancelled due to the pandemic, which shouldn’t be so surprising, really.

What Skyscanner says: Skyscanner gives Opodo a very average 3/5 stars . That figures, given that most complaints we’ve seen relate to airline cancellation issues and fees for reimbursement. What else can we really expect from a third-party company who makes money by doing the legwork for us (or not)? 

Based on many Opodo reviews that we found on Trustpilot (more on that below), we can actually believe that their customer service isn’t all bad. It seems likely that customer ratings here were either really positive or really negative, landing them firmly in the middle.

What Momondo says: Surprise, surprise, Momondo think Opodo are alright too, with another award for reliable pricing and good customer service. We kind of believe it this time, though!

There are very few average Opodo reviews, with most either leaving a damning one star or a congratulatory five stars. The most common complaints include charging customers for flights without sending confirmation emails, and applying large service fees when issuing refunds.

On the other hand, the numerous 5-star reviews sing the praises of customer service staff, saying problems were solved efficiently, and the agents were very friendly. It seems like once Opodo customers manage to reach a human instead of a bot, things often go okay.

Our verdict: In the unlikely event that Opodo comes up cheapest on Skyscanner or Momondo, we wouldn’t automatically discount them. Just know that if your flight is cancelled, it’ll take at least six months to get a refund - and that you will not be refunded the full amount. Reading the Ts & Cs of your booking will be well worth the time and effort, so you can make an informed decision.

We’d also suggest that when you’re going through the booking process, double check that no boxes are automatically checked to sign you up for their Prime membership. Uncheck everything and start again from the top, just to be sure!

What we’ve heard: This one is kinda fun for us, since our team has personal experience of a fairly common scam we’ve heard going around. Head Flight Finder Tristan booked a cheap flight from Mexico City to Orlando via trip.com. Luckily, he was still sitting by his computer when he got a message saying that the initial payment hadn’t gone through, and he had to call up to confirm his details within 15 minutes, otherwise the fare would increase.

This tale made us question whether trip.com is legit , but we couldn’t find other reports of this happening with trip.com. In fact, the greatest issue most people report with their bookings is confirmation emails containing incorrect dates or missing information. But since trip.com is a Chinese company, they have no obligation to offer 24-hour free cancellation like in the US and Europe. You’re then faced with no other choice but to pay a hefty change or cancellation fee.

A more unusual story that kept popping up actually happened once people had successfully received their ticket confirmation and airline booking reference. Upon logging into the airline portal to check all the flight details were in order, customers were able to see the names and credit card details of the people who booked the ticket on their behalf. 

In one instance, the trip.com agent had booked a passenger’s plane ticket using the name of a famous German tennis star (we just want to know which one!), a credit card with a name that didn’t match, and a fake email address. Thankfully, this didn’t cause any problems for the passenger, but had the card been reported as stolen, for example, they’d have been out of luck.

We also found out that trip.com and Skyscanner are actually owned by the same parent company. It would be naive to think that won’t have some impact on their ranking or position in the results.

What Skyscanner says: Trip.com gets lots of reviews on Skyscanner, despite being a fairly young company based in China - perhaps that’s down to their relationship with Skyscanner, perhaps they just know how to offer a good deal.

It’s another solidly average 3.5 stars , which reinforces the mixed bag of experiences out there. From what we’ve read, they don’t seem to go in for hidden fees, and the booking process seems easy enough (at first, at least). We reckon those lower ratings are probably down to weird experiences like Tristan’s, as well as unorthodox booking practices and unhelpful customer service.

What Momondo says: In the words of Ronan Keating, “You say it best when you say nothing at all”. Not only does Momondo not give trip.com a medal, it doesn’t even show up in any of the results we’ve seen - and that applies across all the domains we checked.

What’s the beef here? We need to know… Could it be that whole parent company/Skyscanner thing again?

What Trustpilot says: Trip.com does okay on Trustpilot, with 3.5/5 stars . Sifting through the reviews reveals a pleasant mixture of positive 5-star ratings and angry 1-star ratings, stating that they would have given it 0 stars if that were even possible.

The common thread in most one-star trip.com reviews is poor customer service. But when you look a little closer, that’s often coupled with customer errors - forgetting to include middle names during booking, choosing trips with layovers that are really short - and there’s very little the customer service agents can do other than charge fees to change them.

There are still plenty of mentions of familiar complaints as well, though, like trip.com issuing tickets for the incorrect flights, delayed email responses, and genuine surprise that OTAs don’t offer the flexibility you might get from an airline.

We also found one review with a similar story to Tristan’s. This person didn’t receive a booking confirmation within 24 hours, so when they followed up, trip.com denied that the booking existed and requested an extra $165 from them. When the customer checked the airline website, fares had increased by $100 since they tried booking, so they knew trip.com had messed up and wanted someone else to pay for it.

Our verdict: We don’t love the tricks they try to pull - they don’t seem to happen frequently, but once is enough to leave a sour taste. Otherwise, trip.com seems okay around 50% of the time. It’s a gamble, but if the price is right...

What we’ve heard: GotoGate frequently show up with nice OTA discounts, so we’re quite relieved to say we haven’t heard too much on the negative side. In fact, we’ve had way more positive GotoGate reviews from JFCers booking deals than we have negative.

The most common complaint we’ve had from our members involves delayed refunds on tickets affected by COVID cancellations, and this seems to be the case across travel forums like TripAdvisor as well. 

Understandably, nobody wants to wait 6+ months for a refund, or argue that they’re due their money back. This is definitely a situation where you need to be up to speed with the Ts & Cs of your booking.

Their customer service team does take a beating online, with several posts questioning whether they even exist. Customers who do manage to get through have apparently had waiting times of upwards of one hour - that definitely doesn’t sound appealing.

What Skyscanner says: Oh dear, it seems like most passengers booking via Skyscanner haven’t been so lucky, since GotoGate are rated at a measly 2.5/5 stars .

We’re confident this comes down to poor customer service and the issues many people have faced when trying to get a refund. There’s nothing to suggest that GotoGate fail on Skyscanner’s other criteria, like hidden fees and ease of booking, at least.

What Momondo says: As we’ve seen with other OTAs, it doesn’t take much to get a slice of the Momondo medal pie. That’s maybe why GotoGate get Momondo approval , along with a little highlight for reliable pricing and good customer service.

Maybe customers booking through Momondo have just been really lucky?

What Trustpilot says: GotoGate is another one with multiple Trustpilot listings depending on your domain, but most of them seem to agree that it’s not a winner. Gotogate.com gets 2/5 stars , while gotogate.co.uk gets 2.4/5 stars . Looks like you’ll have to book via gotogate.pt if you want a decent experience.

The comments say exactly what we’d expect after reading other forums - refunds haven’t been paid out to customers, despite the airlines refunding the OTA. You’ll also find several people slating them for charging lots for changes and extras, but this is fairly standard for OTAs. 

A little more worryingly, there are a few reports of people buying their COVID insurance package to cover flight cancellations and still having these issues. One customer had to pay extra for the refund to be processed and then waited 6 months to receive their cash.

Our verdict: Don’t rule them out, despite the negative reviews. If they’re offering a great discount off the airline price, it’s worth booking your flights with them. Just do yourself a favour and check that all your information (names, birthdays, etc.) is entered correctly, and choose a route with feasible layovers. 

What we’ve heard: Somehow, Expedia seem to have avoided major scandal when it comes to flight sales (though they might have made a few mistakes on their hotel side…). They are the biggest travel agency in the world and also own a few other familiar names, including Trivago, Hotels.com, CheapTickets and Vrbo, so they probably know what they’re doing by this point.

Where we have seen complaints, they’re all surrounding cancelled flights and problems contacting customer service. A familiar story at this point. Many people on forums said they used to use Expedia religiously but never would again, so things may be going downhill here. 

What Skyscanner says: Skyscanner reviews of Expedia clearly reflect the recent trend, leaving them with only 2/5 stars . This rating seems very poor to only be the result of customer service issues and old COVID-related cancellation problems, so there must be some lasting issues.

What Momondo says: Expedia does show up on Momondo, however they don’t get any medal of approval. This could be down to the poor customer reviews, or it could be down to Momondo being owned by Expedia’s biggest rival, Booking.com. 

We love a bit of drama, so we’ll assume it’s the latter.

What Trustpilot says: Wow, we didn’t quite expect it to be this bad - Expedia scores just 1.1/5 stars in the US and 1.2 in the UK on Trustpilot.

Every recent review we saw gave them one star and said to avoid due to cancellation problems. These were likely down to the post-pandemic flight chaos and not Expedia's fault, but most flight-related complaints make it seem impossible to get a refund from them. Or where people managed to change their itinerary, they generally had to pay a big fee. 

One passenger mentioned that they were told they’d be charged £250 (approx. $290) to adjust their flights. Instead, they were charged the full fare again and had to wait 8 weeks for the difference to be refunded. Not exactly ideal if you don’t have the spare cash just lying around in your account. 

It’s worth mentioning that since Expedia are also one of the largest hotel booking sites, there are several complaints relating to problems with accommodation reservations too. Usually we’d say this could skew the results, but we’ve not seen much evidence to back that up.

Our verdict: It just goes to show that digging a bit deeper is always worth it - Expedia may not have the bad headlines, but they sure know how to anger their customers. In short, we’d be cautious about booking with Expedia wherever possible unless you have some back-up cash. 

Lastminute.com/Bravofly

What we’ve heard: Latminute.com has been on the scene for a long time, and in some ways we thought of them less like an OTA and more like TUI or another travel agent. But recently we’ve heard some complaints that make us see them in a different light. We also learned that another OTA, Bravofly, acquired the lastminute brand in 2015, so if you’re buying from one, you’re buying from them both - sneaky.

In 2021, Which? Travel published an article saying lastminute.com should be your last resort. The major complaints they cited were failing to refund customers within the legal timeframe, as well as charging a £25 fee for carrying out said refunds.

Pandemic cancellations definitely caused flight chaos, so we checked to see how reviews were looking these days - spoiler alert: it ain’t great. Continued cancellation chaos and un-refunded flights get frequent mentions like other OTAs, but there was also one particularly weird story we found.

A customer made her booking through lastminute.com, but when she looked at the payment on her bank statement, it said lastminute.kiwi.com. It turns out that at some point during the payment process, she’d been redirected to a domain giving away the fact that lastminute and kiwi are in cahoots. 

To be fair, they don’t try to keep it secret - if you go to lastminute.kiwi.com, it’s there in plain sight. It’s pretty unclear whether they’re lastminute or kiwi or both, or if this is some weird scam, but it all makes us want to avoid them even more.

What Skyscanner says: Skyscanner reviews make lastminute.com seem much less scary. There are a lot of them, and with 3.5 stars , it feels like there’s a good chance you won’t lose all your money. The same goes for Bravofly, who get 3/5 stars .

According to Skyscanner’s rating process, you’d expect most people found the fees and booking process fairly clear. And if we had to guess what let them down, we’d assume it’s the curse of the OTA customer service. What we read on Trustpilot only backed that up…

What Momondo says: Momondo gives lastminute.com one of their medals and the standard reliable pricing and good customer service shout-outs. Strangely, Bravofly doesn’t get the same recognition despite them being one and the same.

What Trustpilot says: It’s not great for lastminute over on Trustpilot, at 2/5 stars . There are several complaints calling their customer service unprofessional, while others say they just never receive a reply to their emails. On top of that, many are finding it virtually impossible to get a refund for their cancelled flights.

If that doesn’t put you off, these stories will. One customer says that they bought their luggage upgrade along with their flights through lastminute, who then cancelled the bags but not the flight. The customer was then left with flights they couldn’t take because they needed their luggage too.

Another person reports paying extra for priority boarding and seat selection, only to discover when their boarding passes arrived that their group had been given randomly allocated seats anyway. Of course, they then had to pay extra to the airline at the check-in desk to make sure they could sit together.

Unfortunately for Bravofly , the story is much the same, with 2.3/5 stars . We found more reports of customers buying extras that didn’t pay off, like one who purchased the “flex package” so they could change their flights without a fee. Despite requesting a change, they never got any confirmation until Bravofly said they’d tried calling about the change and couldn’t reach them. The customer then called up and was told it would cost more than double what they’d originally paid to change their booking.

There are some positive reviews there to balance things up, though. Easy booking experiences, timely check-in info and boarding card delivery, and smooth transfers are all mentioned, so perhaps they’re not all bad?

Our verdict: We’ll pass on lastminute.com and Bravofly. From the weird kiwi payment story to ignoring the overpriced extras people have purchased from them, they just don’t feel like the good guys. 

What we’ve heard: We’ve only heard suspiciously good things about TravelUp. We say suspicious because at this point, we just can’t believe there’s an OTA that doesn’t have at least some complaints. Everything we found on the TripAdvisor forum was pretty dated and always regarding cancellations or change fees. No surprises there.

We checked out consumer review page sitejabber to see what the angry mob had to say there, and instead we found people singing the praises of customer service agents and complimenting the website’s ease of use and “calming background colors”. It all sounds pretty great, to be honest.

That is, until we stumbled upon some (unfortunately private) Facebook groups with names along the lines of ‘TravelUp Unfair Fees’ and ‘Travelup ripoff’. One of the groups has 1.4k members and has been active for the last two years, so it’s clearly not all sunshine and roses. 

And the Yelp reviews agree. There aren’t many, but they all say to steer clear of TravelUp. As well as the expected complaints about change and cancellation fees, there were some reports of the company changing flight itineraries without passengers’ permission, which had a knock-on effect for entry visas into certain countries. Not cool, TravelUp.

What Skyscanner says: Travelup reviews on Skyscanner echo the more positive vibes with 3.5/5 stars . It’s not all singing and dancing, so there clearly are some less-than-happy customers out there. But when the rating is based on nearly 22k pieces of feedback, we’d say that’s pretty good going.

What Momondo says: We’re not shocked to see Momondo giving the seal of approval , either. It would be more surprising if they didn’t, honestly. We kind of believe the reliable pricing and good customer service shout-outs this time, mostly because we don’t think they have a “good colour scheme” option.

What Trustpilot says: It’s really something to see a company rated ‘Great’ with 4/5 stars on Trustpilot. There are lots of reviews posted there to back this up, too, saying how fast and efficient the booking process is and how helpful the customer service agents were. 

Many of those posts included the words “so far”, or mentioned that they’d not yet taken their flights. We only hope that there actually is one for them to take when they arrive at the airport, unlike one incredibly unimpressed customer reported in her one-star rating.

Scrolling down, we found some more negative reviews. There were familiar stories, including changing itineraries and huge cancellation fees, as well as complaints about long waiting times to reach their call centre. That said, the percentage of 1-star and 2-star reviews they receive is still much lower than the number of 5-star reviews. 

Our verdict: Weighing everything up, it really seems like TravelUp are fairly reliable. The vast majority of reviews are positive, and where there are complaints, it’s often to do with change fees. There are a few causes for concern, but that certainly doesn’t seem to be the norm here. We’d use them - but only after reading the cancellation policy thoroughly, and we’d make sure to check for any itinerary changes regularly.

What we’ve heard: CrystalTravel seems kind of like a tale of two extremes. We’ve seen them offer really nice prices and read positive comments about booking experiences, but we’ve also seen the wrath of angry customers plastered all over forums and review sites.

There are multiple posts on TripAdvisor and sitejabber that report “ghost fare” tactics - that’s when you’re offered a price that doesn’t really exist. It might go up when you click through to the booking page, or they might contact you once you think the deal is done and dusted to let you know that the price is no longer available. That’s usually when they’ll try and up-sell whatever more expensive fares are still going.

Lots of people also complain that they’ve not received any booking confirmation, even months after booking. The question is, have CrystalTravel even booked the flights with the airline, or are they playing roulette and waiting to make a bit of extra cash when fares go down?

And to add insult to injury, it seems that they don’t answer their phones or emails either.   

What Skyscanner says: We couldn’t actually find CrystalTravel on any Skyscanner results, which seemed pretty unusual. So we contacted CrystalTravel through their website chat to ask them if they advertise through Skyscanner.

The customer service agent got back to us very quickly (nice work) to say that they were sorry, Skyscanner is not one of their business partners. They then very quickly followed up with, “If you want to make a booking cheaper, I can do that for you”. 

5/5 stars from us on that offer, but unfortunately we weren’t in the market for any holidays at the time of writing.

What Momondo says: Good news, Momondo likes them ! We don’t feel like it means much, though, especially when we see so many reviews elsewhere reporting shady behaviour.

What Trustpilot says: Unbelievable to the point of real suspicion, CrystalTravel score 4.8/5 stars on Trustpilot. We’re not sure how they did it, but the reviews are glowing. Everyone says how quick and easy the website is and how great the communication was with the customer service agent. 

Interestingly, lots of the reviewers seem to know the full name of the person they spoke to in customer service, and most of them have the surname Smith. We’re not sure whether we’ve ever had a customer service agent give us their full name before, but it does make the following point seem more plausible.

When you sift through to find the negative reviews, there are lots of accusations claiming the positive reviews are fake and that they are scammers. Most complaints again include ghost fares and itinerary changes that were apparently not initiated by the airlines.

Our verdict: The shiny reviews make it look good, but we have a couple of big questions. Why aren’t they on Skyscanner? And why are they changing customer bookings when the airlines haven’t changed anything? 

We wouldn’t want to entertain the idea of fake reviews on Trustpilot, but we’re just not sure what the truth is here… One thing we would say in their defence is that their webchat communication was really fast, so if you’re just looking for a chat and potential holiday discounts, go for it. 

After diving deep into the world of OTAs, it’s fair to say that we’ve been left a little jaded. You can never have full confidence in any third-party booking site, especially when even the highest-rated online travel agencies still manage to get slated so hard.

Seeing all the details Skyscanner considers when awarding a rating, we find their star ratings much more believable than Momondo's medals. As we've seen here, there's no customisation to tell you what the individual OTA is great at, and you can't actually see how positive or negative customer feedback has been.

However, there are a few OTAs in there that we think are worth giving a go, no matter whether you get there via Skyscanner or Momondo. TravelUp and Gotogate in particular have a fair balance of good and bad reviews, which we find much more realistic than ratings that seem too good to be true. 

Most of the negative feedback for all the OTAs we've looked here at comes as a result of human error - typos in names, wrong dates of birth, incorrect flight dates - or cancellation issues. So long as you actually read the Ts & Cs and cancellation policy (and can stomach the amount you’ll have to pay if you do need to make a change), you should be alright.

Just don’t get lured in by any of their extras, and make sure to uncheck every box and recheck only the things you need before paying - especially if you find yourself on eDreams.

Katy is a seasoned budget traveller living in Scotland with her husband and two cats. She has already been to every country in the EU and is now working on grand plans to conquer the rest of the world. When she’s not writing up travel inspo for The Detour, she’s usually researching her next trip.

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Travel | orange deputies arrest ‘potential serial killer’ in slayings of two women, things to do, travel | travel troubleshooter: expedia said it would refund my tickets four years ago. help.

DEAR TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER: I need help getting a refund from Expedia. I booked two round-trip Air Transat tickets from Toronto to Paris through Expedia back in 2020. I had to cancel the flights, and under the refund rules during the pandemic, Expedia said I could get my money back. Expedia said it would process the refund in a matter of weeks.

I waited a few months, but the refund never showed up on my credit card. I contacted Expedia in early 2022, and they told me to contact Air Transat for my refund. I did, and an Air Transat representative said the airline had already sent my refund to Expedia.

I’ve contacted both Expedia and Air Transat on numerous occasions since then, and I’ve also asked my credit card company for help. It says that there’s no record of a refund from Expedia or Air Transat.I would love to get my refund. Can you help me?

— Keith Dawe, Toronto

ANSWER: Expedia should have refunded your money four years ago. I believe this is a new record for the longest airline refund case. (Congratulations, Expedia!)

Air Transat is a relatively small charter airline, so that might explain the initial delay. But at some point, Expedia should have taken ownership of this problem and helped you get a refund. Instead, it looks as if you bounced between Expedia, Air Transat and your credit card company for years. Literally, years. You must be exhausted.

What happened? It looks as if Air Transat refunded part of your purchase with a check, which appears to only cover taxes and fees. This left an outstanding balance of about $1,002. Air Transat claims it sent the money to Expedia, but Expedia said it never received the money.

Here’s the thing: When you buy an airline ticket through an online travel agency, it is responsible for the refund. It doesn’t matter if the airline refunds it or not. So, if Expedia says that you’re entitled to a refund, and it promises to process a refund in a few weeks, it’s on Expedia.

You were way too patient with your airline and online agency. You should have received the promised refund promptly, and if you didn’t, you should have filed a credit card dispute to recover your funds.

I list the names, numbers and email addresses of the Expedia executives on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org . A brief but firm email to one of them might have motivated Expedia to find your missing money.

I contacted Expedia on your behalf. In response, the company apologized and admitted that there was “an error with the refund.””The refund has been processed,” a representative said. Expedia also added $200 worth of points to your loyalty account as an apology for the delay.

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy , a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at [email protected] or get help by contacting him at elliottadvocacy.org/help/ . (c) 2024 Christopher Elliott Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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