Top 10 Flight Comparison Sites

Finding a flight can be daunting with various factors to consider: dates, times, price, fare class, airline, and more. Even with specific preferences, where do you find the best price and what are the best flight ticket flight comparison sites? There are many international flight ticket flight comparison sites to consider.

Momondo

Similar to Kayak, Momondo has a user-friendly interface with a simple homepage and search box. Its standout feature is the visually appealing display of flight price trends, helping travellers quickly find the best fares.

Pros and Cons:

Pros: Momondo is a great site for price comparison and the search for the best deals.

Cons: While Momondo is good in many areas, Mix & Match fares may need users to make two separate bookings, which differs from other platforms.

Essential Tips and Tricks:

• Momondo acts as your all-in-one travel hub, gathering prices from various booking sites for flights, hotels, and vacation packages.
• Finding flights on Momondo is simple, requiring basic details like departure city, destination, and travel dates.
• You can use Momondo's Flight Insights for essential travel information, including optimal travel times, cheapest airlines/routes, and ideal ticket purchase timing.
• You can find cheap hotel options alongside flights through Momondo's extensive search functionality.

Photo by Aleksei Zaitcev via Unsplash

Kayak

Kayak, a travel search engine, displays prices from various sites for multiple options in one place. It combines one-way flights from airlines into a single itinerary, providing deals. It features Flight Tracker, Guides, and Kayak Trips for travel planning on one platform.

Pros and Cons:

Pros: Kayak merges one-way flights into a single itinerary & offers Price Alerts for changing flight prices.

Cons: Kayak is good for flexible travellers seeking deals but may be limited to those with specific flight preferences.

Essential Tips and Tricks:

• The Kayak homepage gives personalized recommendations & highlights popular destinations based on location, providing valuable insights upfront.
• You can use the Fee Assistant to factor baggage fees for airline searches.
• Search accommodations easily on Kayak, select "Hotels," input preferences, and find the perfect lodging.
• Customise flight recommendations by changing the origin city for diverse travel choices.

Expedia

Since the 1990s, Expedia has been a trusted OTA, offering flight booking services. Today, it is a leading player in online travel, providing various services beyond flights and a rewards program, One Key, with exclusive pricing and points-earning opportunities across travel categories.

Pros and Cons:

Pros: Expedia's One Key program lets members earn and redeem points for various travel bookings.

Cons: Expedia bookings may affect elite status miles and upgrades.

Essential Tips and Insights:

• Expedia offers free cancellation within 24 hours of booking, giving travellers peace of mind.
• Booking flights on Expedia is effortless, requiring basic details like cities, dates, and passenger count.
• Expedia has various lodging options like vacation rentals, B&Bs, and condos.
• Expedia offers hotel booking protection for insurance coverage.
• Joining Expedia unlocks exclusive member pricing for extra savings.
• Expedia offers cruise searches by destination and departure month.

Skyscanner

Skyscanner, a metasearch engine for flights and hotels, utilizes a vast database to find top choices, connecting users to airlines or OTAs for bookings, and is popular among flexible travellers for features like "Explore everywhere" to find the cheapest destinations for selected dates.

Pros and Cons:

Pros: Skyscanner has "Explore everywhere" and multi-city search, language and currency changes, and price alerts.

Cons: Skyscanner does not offer a rewards program for frequent users, unlike some competitors.

Essential Tips and Insights:

• Skyscanner's homepage features tabs for flights and hotels, allowing easy navigation for finding deals.
• You can enter departure and destination cities, or opt for "Everywhere" to explore flexible destinations based on dates.
• Flex searches prioritize economy tickets. Specify dates and destinations for premium options.
• You can get flight price change updates by setting alerts on the search results page.
• You can search for hotels on Skyscanner. Prices per night displayed, excl. taxes & fees.

Photo by Suriya via Unsplash

Google Flights

Google Flights, a metasearch engine, directs users to airline websites or OTAs for booking, using the ITA Matrix to show price trends, track route prices, and optimize plans. Its price guarantee feature ensures refunds for price drops on select flights.

Pros and Cons:

Pros: Google Flights shows pricing trends with graphs, offers price alerts, and provides price guarantees on some flights.

Cons: Google Flights has many options that can be overwhelming for new travellers wanting a simple search process.

Essential Tips and Insights:

• Google Flights has a robust search engine with features like Search Multiple Cities and Search Multiple Dates for tailored options.
• Watch out for the multi-coloured Google badge for price stability and automatic refunds with Google Pay for increases.
• Filters for interests, trip duration, airlines, and more can be adjusted for personalized search results.
• Stay updated on flight prices with Google Flights' price tracking, and get email alerts for changes.
• Popular destinations, travel insights in Explore, or tailored results by entering a destination in the search tab.
• Explore flights, hotels, and packages on Google Flights for comprehensive travel planning.

CheapOair

CheapOair serves as a one-stop destination for booking various travel services, catering to the needs of convenience-seeking travellers, although its affordability may not always meet expectations due to booking and cancellation fees.

Pros and Cons:

Pros: CheapOair refunds difference if a lower price is found on the same itinerary within 24 hours on select major OTAs.

Cons: Hefty fees for changes/cancellations may offset savings, Price Match Promise is limited to specific OTAs, not all competitors.

Essential Tips and Insights:

• Exploring CheapOair's interface, you find robust search options like Search Multiple Cities and Dates, but it lacks flashy appeal.
• CheapOair's calendar helps book cheap flights with varying availability.
• CheapOair matches and refunds price differences within 24 hours on major OTAs.
• Be careful with monthly payments as they can be similar to loans.
• Be careful of CheapOair's fees, which can raise total costs compared to other sites.
• You can make hotel searches on CheapOair, noting fees & cancellation policies may differ.
• You can use promo codes when booking to save more.

Orbitz

Orbitz offers Orbitz Rewards to earn Orbucks that can be redeemed for hotel bookings, increasing the value for travellers. Despite its rewards programme, Orbitz charges a fee for booking flights, which can offset savings for budget-conscious travellers.

Pros and Cons:

Pros: Earn Orbucks through bookings, 24-hour cancellation policy, and Low-Price Guarantee for flights.

Cons: Flight booking fees may impact savings, reducing Orbitz's appeal for budget travellers.

Essential Tips and Insights:

• Orbitz discounts hotels for members, saving up to 10% or more.
• Booking flights on Orbitz follows standard OTA procedure, accessed through the Flights tab on the homepage.
• Orbitz refunds the price difference if a lower fare is found on another site within 24 hours of booking.

Priceline

Priceline, a renowned online travel agency (OTA), offers a diverse range of travel options, including flights, hotels, cruises, and more. Priceline offers opportunities for significant discounts but with some trade-offs in transparency.

Pros and Cons:

Pros: Express Deal flights provide discounts for flexible travellers with a user-friendly calendar & Price Match Guarantee enhancing the booking experience.

Cons: Lack of rewards program and Express Deal flights possibly more expensive than standard bookings could deter travelers.

Essential Tips and Insights:

• Priceline simplifies hotel bookings, users input preferences and select options, but consider extra fees like taxes not included initially.

Photo by John Thomas via Unsplash

Hotwire

Hotwire's homepage has a simple search box for travel details, streamlining booking. The platform offers package deals with flights and hotels, leading to savings compared to separate bookings.

Pros and Cons:

Pros: Hotwire offers budget-friendly package deals, a 24-hour cancellation policy, and a Low Price Guarantee.

Cons: Booking fees and member rate limits from hotels may impact Hotwire's value.

Essential Tips and Insights:

• Search more efficiently with dropdown filters for price range, star rating, amenities, and popularity.
• Hotwire may not provide member rates from big hotels, potentially missing savings.
• Start flight search on the "flights" tab, checking return options and extra fees.
• Stay alert about price breakdowns, as Hotwire could have fees affecting your comparisons.
• Benefit from Hotwire's 24-hour cancellation policy for most bookings, and check flight policies to avoid non-refundable charges.

Travelocity

Travelocity's user-friendly interface makes booking flights, hotels, and vacation packages effortless, while its extensive inventory and customizable filters ensure users find tailored travel deals.

Pros and Cons:

Pros: Travelocity Price Guarantee & free flight cancellation within 24 hours = peace of mind & confidence in best deals.

Cons: Fluctuating prices and fees can make it hard for travellers to know the total cost.

Essential Tips and Insights:

• Be cautious of Travelocity booking fees. Check the trip summary before confirming the purchase to catch extra fees.
• Note that Travelocity doesn't have Southwest Airlines flights. Book on Southwest's website for these options.
• For hotel bookings, provide destination, travel dates, and accommodation preferences. Price includes all in a package, like taxes and fees, for transparency.
• When searching for vacation deals, note that the displayed price is per person and covers essentials such as lodging and airfare.