Flights are often one of the biggest expenses when travelling as a family.
When you’re booking for four people instead of one, saving even £50 per ticket can make a noticeable difference. On a long-haul route, that saving can quickly turn into hundreds of pounds that could be spent on accommodation, activities, or simply extending your trip.
That’s why tools like Google Flights and Skyscanner are so popular.
We’ve used both extensively while planning long-term family travel through Latin America, comparing routes between countries, monitoring prices, and trying to avoid paying more than we need to.
At first glance they seem very similar. Both help you find flights. Both compare prices. Both offer flexible search tools.
But after using them for months, we’ve found they each excel at different things.
If you’re wondering whether Google Flights is better than Skyscanner, which one is cheaper, which one is safer, whether you should book directly through the airline, or which works best for families, here’s our honest experience.
Don’t have time to read? Start here:
If you’re simply looking for the best flight search tool, here’s our short answer:
🏆 Cheapest flights: Aviasales
🏆 Best for families: Google Flights
🏆 Best for flexibility: Skyscanner
🏆 Our recommendation: Use all three
We usually start with Aviasales to find the cheapest routes, compare dates on Google Flights, then check Skyscanner before booking. It takes a few extra minutes but has saved us money more than once.
👉 Check flights on Aviasales (We use this one)
Quick Answer: Google Flights vs Skyscanner
If you’re short on time, here’s our verdict.
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| Best for speed | Google Flights |
| Best for flexibility | Skyscanner |
| Best for families | Google Flights |
| Best for exploring destinations | Skyscanner |
| Best for price tracking | Google Flights |
| Best overall strategy | Use both |
The reality is that neither platform is always cheaper.
Our family travel planning process almost always starts with Google Flights and ends with a quick check on Skyscanner before booking.
That combination consistently gives us the best results.
What Is Google Flights?
Google Flights is Google’s flight search engine.
Rather than acting as a traditional travel agency, it pulls flight information from airlines and booking partners and presents it in a clean, easy-to-understand format.
What we like most is how quickly it lets us compare options.
When we’re planning family travel, we’re rarely looking at just one date. School holidays, accommodation availability, and onward travel all influence our decisions.
Google Flights makes this easy with:
Flexible date grids
Calendar pricing
Price tracking
Destination exploration tools
Clear airline comparisons
Fast loading results
The platform feels built around helping people make decisions quickly.
For busy parents juggling work, kids, budgets, and trip planning, that’s a bigger advantage than many people realise.
What Is Skyscanner?
Skyscanner is one of the most popular flight comparison websites in the world.
Instead of focusing primarily on airline pricing, it searches airlines and online travel agencies to find a wider range of booking options.
This often means you’ll see:
Direct airline prices
Online travel agency deals
Alternative routing options
Flexible destination ideas
Multi-city combinations
One of Skyscanner’s standout features is the “Everywhere” search.
If you’re flexible about where you travel, you can search an entire country, region, or simply select “Everywhere” to discover destinations based on price.
For travellers who start with “Where can we afford to go?” rather than “We want to go here?”, it’s incredibly useful.
Which Finds Cheaper Flights?
This is the question most people are really asking.
Which is cheaper: Google Flights or Skyscanner?
The honest answer is neither.
We’ve found routes where Google Flights showed the cheapest option.
We’ve found routes where Skyscanner came in cheaper.
We’ve also found routes where both platforms showed exactly the same price.
Google Flights often highlights direct airline pricing, while Skyscanner sometimes surfaces cheaper third-party agencies and alternative booking providers.
This is why flight prices can look different even when you’re searching the same route.
For anyone searching for the cheapest site to book flights, the reality is that there isn’t one platform that wins every time.
That’s why we compare both.
Why Are Prices Different?
A common question we see is:
Why don’t Google Flights and Skyscanner show the same prices?
Usually it’s because:
Prices update in real time
Airlines adjust availability constantly
Fare classes sell out
Different booking providers are being shown
Third-party agencies update prices at different speeds
Flight pricing changes quickly.
The fare you see in the morning can genuinely be different a few hours later.
It’s frustrating, but it’s normal.
Search Flexibility
Winner: Skyscanner
This is where Skyscanner stands out.
Its flexible search tools are excellent.
Features like:
Everywhere search
Whole-month searches
Flexible destination planning
Inspiration-style browsing
make it one of the best flight booking sites for travellers who haven’t fully decided where they want to go.
When we were planning our long-term route through Latin America, Skyscanner helped us compare countries and destinations before we’d committed to a final itinerary.
If you’re in the early stages of family travel planning, this flexibility can be incredibly useful.
Ease of Use
Winner: Google Flights
Google Flights feels cleaner.
Faster.
Less cluttered.
More intuitive.
When you’re booking flights for a family of four, you’re already thinking about:
Baggage allowances
Connection times
Child-friendly schedules
Airport transfers
Arrival times
The last thing you need is another layer of complexity.
Google Flights makes comparing routes incredibly straightforward.
For us, it’s the easiest flight search tool to use.
Coverage and Results
Both platforms cover global routes well.
However, we’ve noticed slight differences.
Google Flights tends to excel when comparing major airlines and direct airline pricing.
Skyscanner can sometimes surface smaller carriers, budget airlines, and alternative routing options that don’t always appear elsewhere.
This can be particularly useful when travelling through Latin America, where regional carriers sometimes create cheaper combinations.
Neither platform has perfect coverage.
Again, this is why we check both.
Mobile Experience
Most people search for flights on their phone.
Both Google Flights and Skyscanner perform well on mobile, but Google Flights feels slightly smoother and faster.
The interface is simple and easy to navigate, even when you’re comparing multiple dates and destinations.
Skyscanner is still excellent, but Google’s design makes it easier to process information quickly.
Which Is Better for Families?
Winner: Google Flights
This is where our opinion differs from many travel bloggers.
When you’re travelling with children, the cheapest flight isn’t always the best flight.
We’re balancing:
Cost
Convenience
Baggage
Layovers
Arrival times
Child energy levels
A flight that’s £40 cheaper but involves two long layovers may not be worth it.
Google Flights makes these comparisons easier.
The clean interface helps us quickly identify routes that work for our family without spending hours digging through options.
Skyscanner is fantastic for inspiration and flexibility.
Google Flights is usually better when it’s time to make a decision.
Pros and Cons
Google Flights
Pros
Fast
Clean interface
Excellent date tools
Great price tracking
Easy comparisons
Strong for family travel
Cons
Doesn’t always show every booking provider
Can miss some third-party deals
Less flexible destination inspiration
Skyscanner
Pros
Flexible search tools
Excellent Everywhere feature
Great travel inspiration
Sometimes finds cheaper routes
Strong international coverage
Cons
More clicks before booking
Can surface unfamiliar booking agencies
Slightly more cluttered experience
Our Recommendation
If we’re booking flights for our family, we usually start with Google Flights.
It’s quicker, easier to compare dates, and generally gives us the clearest picture of what flights actually cost.
Once we’ve found a route we like, we’ll often check Skyscanner to see whether there are cheaper alternatives hiding elsewhere.
When ready to book we usually use AviaSales if and when cheaper but if we find cheaper on Skyscanner we will use that.
Check out AviaSales here to see prices.
If we’re still in the dreaming and planning stage, we’ll often use Skyscanner first because its flexible search tools are excellent.
But if we’re actually spending money today?
Google Flights usually gets the first click.
Tips for Finding Cheap Flights
We have really researched and found ways we can spend less on flights. Here some of our most popular articles on this to help you out and for you to add to your reading list:
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Google Flights better than Skyscanner?
For family travel, we generally prefer Google Flights. It’s faster, cleaner, and easier to compare options. Skyscanner is stronger for flexibility and destination inspiration.
Which is the best site to book flights?
There isn’t one perfect platform. We use Google Flights, Skyscanner, and Aviasales together.
Why is it cheaper to book through Google Flights?
Usually it isn’t Google Flights itself that’s cheaper. It’s simply showing different airline pricing and booking options.
Is it better to book directly or through Skyscanner?
If the price difference is small, we generally prefer booking directly with the airline.
What is the safest site to book flight tickets?
Both Google Flights and Skyscanner are safe. The more important question is whether the final booking provider is reputable.
Can you trust Skyscanner?
Yes. Skyscanner is one of the most trusted flight comparison platforms available.
Why do flight prices change after clicking through?
Prices update constantly based on availability, demand, and fare inventory.
Does Google Flights always show the cheapest flights?
No. Sometimes Skyscanner or Aviasales will uncover cheaper alternatives.
Final Thoughts
Neither Google Flights nor Skyscanner is perfect.
Neither is always cheaper.
Neither guarantees the best deal every time.
For our family, Google Flights usually wins because it’s faster, cleaner, and easier to use when comparing flights for four people.
But we still check Skyscanner before booking.
And if we’re purely hunting for the lowest possible fare, we’ll often run a search through Aviasales too.
Use Google Flights to find options.
Use Skyscanner to verify pricing.
Use Aviasales to check for hidden deals.
That combination has consistently worked best for us and has become part of our family travel planning process before every trip.
