UK-based metasearch engine Skyscanner has integrated its standalone hotel and car rental mobile apps into its existing flight app on Android and iOS to make booking travel easier for travellers.
Hotels and car hire are now automatically synchronised with flights search so travellers do not have to re-input check in times, destinations, pick up locations, and more.
This move ups the ante for the search engine in the metasearch battle for users, as the 3-in-1 app now automatically pairs hotel and car hire searches with flights.
According to the search engine, the integration was also in line with the fast growth in searching and booking travel on mobile in recent years. It claims its mobile app has been downloaded 40 million times worldwide.
Hotels and car hire are automatically synchronised with flights search.
“We’ve incorporated all of the learnings and user feedback from our standalone hotels and car hire apps into this new, upgraded offering, making it the ultimate app to serve all your travel needs,” said Balint Orosz, Skyscanner head of app product.
The new features in its all-in-app were designed “to save travellers time and money”, according to Skyscanner.
These include summer holiday deals, city breaks, and everywhere for those with set travel dates but flexible on destination.
Other features in the app:
- Timeline view: Allows travellers who have searched for a specific destination in the Explore Top Deals section to find the best flight options.
- Revamped hotels booking view: Quick snapshots of all the key information (images, reviews, price) for hotel results
- Instant flight search: Search results are instantly refreshed; updated search parameters, new results are automatically loaded in the background reducing waiting time.
- Ratings: Rate searches out of a score of 10, which is reflected in a colour coded smiling/frowning face.
