Sometimes the hardest part of planning a holiday is not deciding where to go. It is figuring out where you can realistically go with the dates, budget and amount of leave you actually have.
That is especially true when you are flexible. You may know that you want to get away in October, for example, without having a particular city in mind. Or perhaps you have five days free and want to see what destinations make sense rather than choosing one first and then trying to make the flights work.
This is where some of Skyscanner’s search features can change the way you approach the planning process. Instead of using a flight search only to check the price of a trip you have already planned, you can use it earlier, when you are still deciding what the trip should look like.
Search an Entire Month Instead of One Date
If your dates are flexible, searching one specific departure date can give you a fairly narrow view of what is possible.
Skyscanner’s Whole Month search lets you look across an entire month and see how fares vary by day. That can be useful when you have a rough travel window rather than fixed dates, particularly if moving your trip by a few days is possible.
You do not necessarily have to plan your holiday around the lowest fare you see. The more useful part is seeing the wider pattern. You might discover that the weekend you had originally chosen is considerably different from the days around it, or that shifting your trip slightly gives you more options.
See Where You Could Go With Everywhere
Sometimes the destination comes before the flight. Sometimes it is the other way around.
Skyscanner’s Everywhere search is designed for the second situation. You can enter your departure point without committing to one destination and browse destinations based on available flight options.
That can be particularly useful when you know you want to travel but have not yet decided where. Instead of repeatedly searching individual cities, you can get a broader picture of what is available from your airport.
It can also change the nature of the planning conversation. Rather than asking, “How much does it cost to fly to this particular place?”, you can start with, “What destinations could work for this trip?”
Compare Airports Before You Commit
Airport choice can have a surprisingly large effect on a trip, particularly if you live within reach of more than one airport.
Skyscanner allows you to search multiple airports, which can make it easier to compare the options rather than checking each airport separately. For some travellers, that can reveal routes or timings they would otherwise have missed.
There is a practical side to this, too. A flight that looks attractive on a search screen may not make sense if getting to the airport involves a long journey or an inconvenient connection. Comparing the options is useful, but the airport still needs to fit into the trip as a whole.
Use Price Alerts When You’re Not Ready to Book
Not every flight search needs to end with a booking.
If you have dates or even a destination in mind but are still deciding, Skyscanner’s Price Alerts can help you keep an eye on any sorts of changes. Rather than repeatedly searching the same route yourself, you can receive an alert when the price changes.
That can make sense when your travel plans are fairly clear but you are not ready to commit immediately. It also removes some of the temptation to keep checking the same flight several times a day simply because you are worried that the price might have moved.
Of course, a price alert is information rather than a guarantee that a fare will eventually fall. Flight prices can change in either direction, so it is still up to you to decide when the overall trip makes sense.
Search With Your Trip in Mind, Not Just the Fare
One of the useful things about having these features in the same search experience is that they can be used at different stages of planning.
You might begin with Everywhere because you are open to ideas. Once you find a few destinations that look interesting, you can check them across a Whole Month search to see how the dates compare. If you are waiting before booking, you can then set a Price Alert for the route you are considering.
That is a different approach from picking a destination first, choosing dates at random and only then checking what the flights cost.
The Search Can Be Part of the Holiday Planning
Flight search is often treated as the final practical step before booking. It can be more useful earlier than that.
The combination of flexible dates, destination discovery, airport comparison and price tracking gives you a way to explore what kind of trip is possible before you have made all the decisions. You can start with your available time, see what destinations fit, and then shape the rest of the holiday around the options that actually work.
That does not mean letting a flight search dictate your holiday. It simply gives you more information before you make the bigger decisions.
Sometimes you start planning with a destination firmly in mind and end up booking exactly what you expected. Other times, a wider search shows you an option you had not considered at all. That is perhaps where these Skyscanner features are most useful: not just helping you find a flight, but giving you a better sense of what kind of trip your dates can accommodate.
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