6
Winning travelers with comparison
shopping
Shopping for travel is becoming more complex than
ever. Nevertheless, travelers want to effortlessly
explore options, easily compare every offer available
and receive relevant recommendations. So, there has
been a significant evolution in the role and perception
of metasearch.
Travelers no longer go to Skyscanner to look
solely for the "lowest fare" – they are increasingly
looking for value. Thanks to the advancements in
comparative shopping and user experience, shoppers
trust metasearch to deliver true offer transparency
as they compare options. With that, there has been
a conscious and natural shift to look for the "best
offer." Metasearch engines like Skyscanner are doing
a great job at bringing digital retailing innovation in
that aspect. Skyscanner's flight ranking model now
defaults to "best" rather than "cheapest," leveraging a
machine learning algorithm that is using cohort-based
personalization (i.e., people in this market at this time
of year tend to have a certain type of behavior). In
addition, to streamline the user experience and easily
narrow down and compare flight options, the meta
offers customers multiple filters based on things like
flight connections, departure time, airline, or airport.
As the NDC standard keeps evolving toward maturity,
an enormous opportunity emerges for airlines to do
more meaningful retailing, with full control of their
offers. To do that successfully and effectively, airlines
need to distribute directly to their metasearch
partners.
"Skyscanner was the fastest growing flight meta globally in 2022 and in 2023 gained more market share
than any other metasearch engine. We are searching 80 billion prices daily and today 56% of travelers are
coming to Skyscanner for travel inspiration."
- Hugh Aitken, VP Strategic Relations and Development Skyscanner
Skyscanner flight search filters
