Trip.com vs Skyscanner: Which Fits You, and Where Is Cashback Paid?
Trip.com vs Skyscanner: if cashback is the goal, book on Trip.com. Skyscanner only searches and hands you over to an airline or agent, and it is not one of our shops. Fares on both change daily, so this page is about the route to cashback, not about a price winner. Status October 2026.
The route to cashback in six steps
- Open the Trip.com shop page (German-language page). Look at the line for the product you want, because hotels, flights, trains, car hire and attraction tickets are listed separately.
- Switch off your ad blocker and close any other comparison or voucher tabs. Then press the button on the shop page; Trip.com opens in a new window.
- Search and book as you normally would. The price you pay on Trip.com stays the same.
- Your booking shows up in your free daily cashback account as pending.
- Travel. Trip.com looks at the booking after the stay or the travel date.
- After Trip.com signs the booking off, the money can be paid out and you can request it.
Between steps four and six can lie a long time. A flight booked in spring for an autumn trip stays pending all summer, and that is normal. Keep the booking confirmation from Trip.com until the amount shows as payable, so you can follow up if an entry is missing.
Available here with cashback
When the cashback lapses
- Cancellation: changes, cancellations, refunds and no-shows can affect eligibility, and cancelled stays are left out of the calculation.
- Booking started on Skyscanner: Skyscanner sends you to the provider and the contract is made there, so the sale does not pass through our Trip.com button.
- A detour in between: if you click through a voucher or comparison site after leaving our shop page, the tracking can be replaced.
- Ad blocker on: it can stop the click from being recorded, so the booking never appears as pending.
- A second session: leave the window to think it over for days, then book from an old tab, and the link may be gone.
A simple habit protects most bookings: decide first, then open the shop page, then book in one go. Searching on Skyscanner beforehand does no harm, as long as the purchase itself starts from our Trip.com button.
What the rate is based on
The percentage is not applied to the number on your ticket. According to our shop page, what counts is what the finished booking is worth, leaving out taxes, local tourism levies, resort charges and cancelled stays. Trip.com shows flight prices with tax included, so for flights the base is clearly smaller than the headline fare.
Each product group has its own line on the shop page, and the rate shown there is the one that counts for your booking. We do not quote a figure here because it is checked and changed on the page itself. Trip Coins are something else: they are Trip.com credit for a later booking, while our cashback is paid out from your account.
Our shop page adds that Trip.com rarely works with voucher codes. The saving it describes is a deal or member price shown on the Trip.com site, with cashback on top, calculated on the price you actually pay. If you book flight, hotel and train for one trip, do each booking from the shop page and check that every one appears as pending.
Trip.com or Skyscanner: the differences
- Trip.com sells the trip itself. Its flights page promises that taxes and fees are included, it has support around the clock and lets you earn airline miles and Trip Coins. Hotels come with a price match paid in Trip Coins, trains are advertised without booking fees.
- Skyscanner is a search engine. It searches more than 1,200 providers, costs nothing to use and is paid a small fee by the provider when you book. The price is refreshed during the redirect, and extras such as luggage can still change the total at the checkout.
- Changes are handled differently. At Skyscanner, changing or cancelling depends on the airline or agent and the ticket type; name changes go to them too. Trip.com shows the fare conditions while you book, and it offers price alerts for routes you are watching.
- Our pick for cashback is Trip.com. Use Skyscanner as a second look at the fare range, and then repeat the same route and dates on Trip.com.
| Trip.com | Skyscanner | |
|---|---|---|
| Shop at daily cashback | yes | not part of our shops |
| You buy from | Trip.com | the provider you pick |
| Cashback confirmed | after stay or travel date | not applicable |
Available here with cashback