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As I outlined in Part 1 – Skyscanner can be a powerful tool to help you find the best option for your trip where you have fixed dates and destination, whether that be based on price or convenience.

I covered the most basic functions in Part 1, so in this instalment – I’ll be looking at how Skyscanner can help you with some inspiration for a destination if you have decided when, but not where your next trip will take you.

It’s a big world, where to go?

So you’ve booked your annual leave, arranged the kennels for the dog, and cancelled the milk (Does ANYONE still have a milkman?) – but you’ve no idea where to go.

Alternatively, you fancy a spontaneous last minute weekend away – but where to go!?

Overwhelmed by the choice the rapid expansion in low cost air travel and internet travel agencies has brought over the past few years – it’s a common dilemma. Never fear, Skyscanner’s “Everywhere” feature is here!

Enter your starting airport – you can either choose your preferred airport, or if you’re really looking for a bargain/fancy an adventure; you can enter “UK”.

Unless you are extremely flexible in your travel plans however – this might be one to avoid as it complicates things and adds expense if you need to factor in positioning within the UK, even before you start your journey – but it can give you some fun ideas!

Nearby Airports Explained

Always click “Add Nearby Airports”.

Unless you live on the doorstep of a particular airport; you can sometimes save a fair chunk of cash by opting for an alternative airport. Skyscanner will then include results from any airports within a reasonable distance of your primary one. For example, Manchester will include Liverpool; Birmingham will include East Midlands; London Heathrow will include City, Gatwick and Luton.

Another interesting feature this will offer is an “open jaw” return; flying out of one airport and back into another. If you aren’t driving to the airport, this can be another good option to save some cash.

Once in your results – you can always turn these off using the handy sidebar options – but always better to have the options up front!

Example – Christmas and New Year from London

In this example, I’ll be looking at 2 adults wanting to get away over Christmas and New Year from London. Naturally the top results are going to be in Europe, as results are sorted by cheapest first – but you can keep scrolling to see results that cost more and are usually further away:

The cheapest results are Denmark, Norway or Germany. These prices are based on the lowest ones found in the last 15 days; so they may change slightly when you actually click through but they give you a good idea.

Clicking the arrow shows you the specific cities and the respective prices. You can expand multiple countries to compare, for example Oslo in Norway is cheaper than the 2nd option in Denmark – Billund.

Clicking through to Copenhagen, the prices have gone up slightly but not too much – and we see the example of an open jaw return. The airport is highlighted in Red to show you are returning to a different airport and it shows under “Select” that two bookings are required. In this example, I could save £7 each by flying out of Stansted, and back to Luton with our favourite BA alternative: Ryanair.

After this – you can use the same sliders and options to refine the results as I outlined in Part 1.

Conclusion

The ‘Everywhere’ feature can lead to some great adventures. Whether it’s a last minute get away, or you’re looking for inspiration whilst planning; Skyscanner’s ‘Everywhere’ feature is a really quick way to see some options you might not have considered.

I actually used this feature myself last year which resulted in my first blog post for InsideFlyer UK! I knew we would be near Stansted for a week in July and fancied a trip away to use my Hilton Barclaycard free night – Skyscanner sent us to Berlin on Ryanair, which was a city I hadn’t really considered before, but we had a great time!

Give it a try!