Ding! Ding! Seconds away, round two! (EasyValue.com)

Member Name: andymcf

Product:	EasyValue.com
Date:	27/01/03 (1045 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: EasyValue: Accurate, but very slow, Skyscanner: Can be inaccraurate, but pretty quick

Disadvantages: EasyValue: slow, but thorough, Skyscanner: inaccurate, but very fast

I'm always on the lookout for cheap travel deals and, when looking for cheap flights within Europe, I've often been quite a fan of www.easyvalue.com. Part of Stelios' Easy-you-name-it empire, it's great for finding cheap flights within Europe and seems to be fairly impartial. The problem I've found with it, however, is that it can be very slow. I'm a patient man, but....

So that's the contender in the orange corner. In the rather bland beige corner, however, is a new contender. Don't be too put off, though, by the initial, somewhat dull background - there are some neat tricks up their sleeve... Welcome www.skyscanner.com, a new website, which also scans prices of tickets on budget European airlines impartially - and, I have to say, rather more quickly.

Which to choose?

Each has its pros and cons. EasyValue is slow, but accurate; it's well worth trying. Skyscanner is fast but not altogether accurate; it, too, is well worth a visit. EasyValue has a nice interface in a Steliosesque, orange kind of way. Skyscanner looks rather less appealing. To actually check Skyscanner's results and / or make bookings, you need to leave the website - and sometimes you'll find the quoted prices are inaccurate, since they tend to be slightly out of date and, as most people know, budget airline ticket prices can change very rapidly as tickets are bought and sold. That said, you ARE told the "age" of the quotation and can use that to estimate how accurate the price will actually be.

Each site will ask for your flight dates, departure airport and destination airport, although Skyscanner's somewhat unique features give it a kind of edge. EasyValue allows you to try a few tricks of the trade such as DIY connections etc. Skyscanner has a couple of nifty features up its sleeve as well, however: You can either specify the precise dates you wish to fly, or look for bargains on a specific (not necessaril
y dirty) weekend to a variety of destinations, or view an entire month's prices - with the results being presented in the form of a bar graph. Go on - give it a go; you know you want to!

EasyValue searches a wide variety of sources, including Expedia and British Airways (who appear to be becoming increasingly competitive) as well as the budget airlines such as Ryanair and EasyJet. On the other hand, Skyscanner is more restricted and only looks at budget airlines including Ryanair, EasyJet, Buzz, Bmibaby and Germanwings.

The word is that Skyscanner is due for an overhaul and will boast enhanced features (wider search capacity and more up-to-date information), by about March 2003 so EasyValue will be facing some strong competition. I've no doubt there'll be some kind of healthy response which can only benefit the consumer. That's you, by the way!

So - there are the facts. What's the conclusion? I'd certainly recommend that you take a look at both sites if you haven't done so already and make up your own mind. At the current state of play, Skyscanner is faster and better at giving an overview of what ought to be available. If you're toying around with the possibility of a break with non-specific dates, it's a hands-down winner. Its lack of accuracy renders it flawed, however, and I might then want to check with EasyValue to ensure I'd got the best deal. Things may well change, though, when Skyscanner's promised improvements are implemented!

I really hope you've found this review useful and that you're able to pick up a bargain!

Happy Hunting!

Andrew

Summary: