GoCompare has been as rated Britain’s worst travel comparison site, with customers panning it for poor functionality and selling high-priced holidays.
The Newport-based financial services comparison website came bottom among more than 2,200 holidaymakers who were asked to rate their experiences using holiday comparison sites over the last two years in a range of categories, including user-friendliness, price and market coverage.
GoCompare – which uses third parties for its flight and hotel searches – came bottom of the survey with a poor customer score of only 45 per cent, according to data by consumer body Which?. Users also criticised the site for its poor market coverage and whether users were shown prices for all major booking sites.
Edinburgh-based Skyscanner was rated the best comparison site for flights, with a score of 69 per cent. It scored highly for value for money trips it highlighted in an industry which sees UK holidaymakers spend over £4bn a year on foreign getaways.
‘Pinch of salt’
US-owned Tripadvisor came second overall and was top of the list for hotel comparison.
Customers said they liked being able to compare prices for a hotel and read customer reviews side by side.
However, in September Which? warned holidaymakers to take these reviews with “a pinch of salt” after finding evidence that Tripadvisor failed to stop “suspicious reviews from artificially raising the profile of some of the highest-rated hotels on the site”.
In a separate travel probe, Which? pitted the seven most used flight comparison sites against each other to see which consistently found the best price.
Cheap flights
Skyscanner produced the cheapest price six out of 10 times. Google Flights, however, found the cheapest fare just once. It also found the most expensive ticket three times.
For a last-minute return flight to Krakow – voted as the consumer body’s best destination for a city break – Skyscanner was at least £60 cheaper than any of the competitors it checked.
When it came to hotel comparison sites, US-based Kayak sourced the cheapest deal in six out of 10 hotel searches, although the savings were relatively small in most cases.
London-based TravelSupermarket came second, finding the lowest price on four out of 10 occasions – although it also had the most expensive rates on four occasions.
‘First port of call’
Which? Travel editor Rory Boland said: “Holidaymakers are known to spend hours and sometimes days looking for the best hotel rates and the best airfares, so for many of us, travel comparison sites are the first port of call.
“There are really only one or two sites you should consider using though if you want to save yourself both money and time.”
