What are Cookies?

A cookie is a small text file which is placed on your device, via your web browser, at the request of the websites you visit or applications you use and which stores information on your device for a limited period of time.

Some of the cookies we use are removed as soon you leave our site or app, because we don’t need to store this information between visits. By contrast, ‘persistent’ cookies enable our services or tags to recognise you when you make return visits to us, and automatically expire when they reach a specified expiry date unless you delete them earlier. Persistent cookies placed on your device by Skyscanner will never be stored for longer than 2 years from the date of your last visit. There are tools available to check the expiry date on cookies, and this functionality may be provided by your browser.

We also use similar technologies referred to as ‘tags’. Tags are implemented on our services and are often used together with text cookies to enable information to be stored on, or transmitted to and from, the device you use to access Skyscanner. Tags are often referred to as ‘tracking pixels’ or ‘code snippets’.

In this policy we’ll collectively refer to all of these technologies as “Cookies”.

Who controls these Cookies?

The cookies and similar technologies on our services are controlled either by us directly or by third parties acting on our behalf. There are also some Cookies which we’ve implemented for advertising purposes that are controlled by independent third parties. You can find out more about these third parties and how to opt-out of their Cookies in the How can I withdraw my consent to the use of Cookies? section of this policy.

When do we use Cookies?

Where they are essential in order to deliver our services

These Cookies are essential to the proper functioning of our services. Without them, Skyscanner wouldn’t work. For example, we use tags to record whether or not you go on to complete a booking with a travel supplier that you redirect from Skyscanner to complete a booking with, which is essential in order to enable us to ensure that the links between our platforms are working correctly and to identify and rectify any problems or errors. Cookies allow us to remember information that is essential to determining how your search results are displayed, such as your language and currency preferences. They also enable us to remember your search criteria – such as routes, dates and the number of travellers – as you move between pages and to pass this information to the travel suppliers that you redirect to from Skyscanner.

To optimise and personalise the delivery of our services

These Cookies are used to optimise and personalise your experience of the Skyscanner Services. Without them, Skyscanner would feel a lot less easy to use. For example, we use Cookies to recognise whether you are a first-time visitor or a return visitor and to tailor the presentation of the Skyscanner Services, such as by recalling your language and currency preferences or your most recent searches. These kind of Cookies are also used to recognise you when you access Skyscanner from different devices, to provide you with a consistent experience.

To analyse and better understand our services

We use Cookies to monitor, test, and understand more about how our services are used and accessed. This enables us to make important decisions about how best to develop or deliver our product to meet your needs.

To deliver advertising

We use Cookies to enable us and the third party advertising solution providers we partner with to deliver personalised ads to you. You can find out more about the advertising you experience on Skyscanner in the How is your information used for advertising? section of the Privacy Policy.

Withdrawing consent using your browser or device settings

The easiest way to withdraw your consent to Cookies is via the settings of the browser or device you are using to access our services. Internet browsers such as Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera and Edge have settings that allow you to control the way your information is collected and shared. Typically, these browsers allow you to view all the cookies they are storing on your device, delete your cache of cookies, and adjust your preferences for future collection. Guides on how to access and use such functionality are available at https://www.aboutcookies.org.

The downside of using browser or device settings to withdraw your consent is that it will have the effect of disabling many of the Cookies that are essential to enabling our services to function – the impact of this is that some or all of the features and functionality we offer may stop working. Because of this, we would recommend taking a more targeted approach to withdrawing your consent. For example, if you wanted stop Cookies being used for the purposes of serving you interest-based advertisements, then instead of blocking all cookies, you could instead opt-out of these on a case-by-case basis following the steps set out below.

Opting out of Cookies being used for Advertising

Although there is currently no ‘one size fits all’ button that enables you to universally block the use of all Cookies for advertising purposes, if you click on How to opt-out of third party advertising via Cookies below you can find out how to stop your information being used for these purposes by each one of the third party advertising solution providers we’ve partnered with (let’s call them “Third Party Ad Solutions”) on a case-by-case basis or via the advertising standards bodies linked to below. When you opt-out of or block interest-based advertising that’s delivered by Third Party Ad Solutions, you’ll no longer receive advertisements from those Third Party Ad solutions on Skyscanner or on other websites as you move around web. However, you’ll continue to receive interest-based advertising that’s delivered by us when you’re on our services, for example if you search for a flight from London to New York we may serve you with ads for Hotels in New York.

Many browsers and other third parties provide specialised ad-blocking software, ‘extensions’ or tools that enable you to block the use of all cookies for advertising purposes. If you access our services from an iOS or Android device, you can also control how your information is used for advertising purposes in your device settings.

You can find some helpful information about how to manage and limit your exposure to online interest-based advertising more generally at http://optout.aboutads.info, http://optout.networkadvertising.org and http://youronlinechoices.eu. You can use these services to opt-out of the majority of interest-based advertising on our services. If you would prefer to opt-out on a provider-by-provider basis you can do that by following the instructions by clicking on the expandable layer below.

Opt-out of third party advertising via Cookies