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How our travel team gets the best deals on comparison sites
With Which? experts’ tips, you can squeeze more savings on flights and hotels from sites like Skyscanner, Kayak, Google Flights and Trivago
Using reputable comparison sites that aggregate prices is a great first step in finding cheap holiday deals — and will also save you time. But knowing how to get the most out of these websites and apps can help you make even bigger savings on your next trip.
Read on to learn about the lesser-known features, handy tools and insider insights that the Which? Travel team put to use when searching for flights and hotels on comparison sites — plus the pitfalls to be wary of when scoping out a deal.
Let comparison sites help you decide whether to book – or hold off for a lower price
Sites like Google Flights/Hotels and Kayak now display handy info boxes in their results that let you know whether it’s a cheap time to lock in a price, or best to wait until a later date. These insights are based on vast amounts of price data, and are often helpfully specific.
Kayak, for example, told us that prices for a flight to Tokyo were expected to rise £68 in the next 45 days. And when searching for a hotel, it told us that one property was 28% cheaper than forecasted, meaning it would probably become more expensive if we held off on booking.
Similarly, Google Hotels has a feature that indicates when prices drop for your hotel or destination.
Google Flights also shows whether prices are currently higher, lower, or typical compared to usual, and you can click this box and expand it to view a graph with pricing data for the past 60 days.
Lauren, senior researcher and content editor
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Use built-in tools to find the cheapest week to travel
This one’s best if you’re planning ahead for a trip in 2026 and want to know when to lock in the booking.
Simply open Skyscanner’s savings generator tool and type where you’ll depart from, the month you’ll be travelling and your dream destination. Then Skyscanner’s custom tool will calculate the average price to expect and how far in advance you should book, down to the week.
It will also show you other destinations to consider that are cheaper to visit during your chosen travel month. Just be aware that this is based on the previous year’s data, and – while it’s a good guide – flight pricing is dynamic and won’t follow the exact same patterns year after year.
Amy, senior researcher/writer
Use ‘everywhere’ or ‘explore’ tools to find the cheapest deals
Sometimes you’ve got annual leave to spare and need inspiration for bargain flights and hotels. To help you find the cheapest options, many comparison sites let you leave the location open. On Google Flights, click ‘anywhere’, and on Skyscanner it’s ‘explore’.
On Momondo choose ‘Can’t decide where to go?’, or try its map tool, which allows you to toggle across a map of the whole world to find prices based on real-time data. You can even select flight durations or different types of stays, like ‘outdoorsy’, ‘beach’ or ‘skiing’.
Kate, senior writer
Bringing luggage? Use ‘checked bag’ filters to compare prices like-for-like
Flights can seem cheap upfront, but adding luggage before checkout can inflate what seemed like a good deal.
To get around this problem, Kayak, Skyscanner and Momondo enable you to filter results according to your preferred luggage options, and Google Flights lets you filter out results without checked bags included.
Trevor, senior researcher/writer
Always make sure you sort results by ‘cheapest’ — not ‘best’
When displaying your results, comparison sites often show you what they consider are the ‘best’ options — sometimes a combination of price, convenient departure date and most comfortable layover times.
But what the website considers to be best might not suit your priorities, and could bury cheap deals you’d otherwise be interested in. To get around this, filter all your dealbreakers (such as setting the earliest departure you’ll accept, ticking ‘direct’, or selecting your preferred airports), and then filter the results by ‘cheapest’.
Doing this means you find the absolute cheapest option that still matches your needs. Just watch out for pricier sponsored links — these may appear above the cheapest hotels or flights, even when you order by lowest price.
Naomi, deputy editor
Try the comparison site on your phone
Some booking sites offer ‘mobile-only prices’ — cheaper rates that encourage you to book through your smartphone, either in the phone’s web browser or on an app. These discounts won’t appear on your laptop.
We found that Trivago and Kayak show these mobile discounts in their results, so try to search using your phone whenever possible for the cheapest deals. Those mobile-exclusive prices are also sometimes layered over other loyalty schemes, flash sales and other discounts, meaning you can get a great bargain.
Jo, senior researcher/writer
Use price graph tools to help you spot the cheapest dates to travel
If you’re slightly flexible with travel dates, Google Flights’ price graph makes it easy to spot the cheapest days to travel. To find it, search the approximate dates you’re interested in, then on the results page scroll down and click ‘price graph’. The tool lets you lengthen or shorten your trip while clicking on different dates, to experiment with the price. It’s much easier and quicker than searching different dates and noting down the best prices.
Kate, senior writer
Remember to compare comparison sites
Even price aggregators can sometimes show different results. If you’ve found a cheap deal on one site, make sure to check the same flights or hotel stay on a different comparison site to make sure you’ve got the best deal out there. You might find the same option for less — or in the case of hotel stays, you might even find something better for the same price.
Amy, senior researcher/writer
Always check the price direct
Comparison sites are useful for narrowing down hotel options and finding the best price, but we also recommend contacting the hotel directly. Sometimes, hotels are able to offer a cheaper rate to incentivise you to book directly, or will throw in free breakfast or other freebies.
For flights, we recommend using a comparison site to whittle down options, but ideally you’ll go on to book directly with an airline, rather than a third-party booking site.It’s the least hassle if you later need to change your booking, or if something goes wrong, as you can cut out the middleman.
Jo, senior researcher/writer
