How to Find Great Deals with Google Flights

When you want to save money on flights or travel, using services like Google Flights can help you find great deals on flights or craft the perfect itinerary. Being a part of Google Travel, Google Flights has become a powerful flights search engine. You don’t have to be a genius to use it and you are not forced to book with it either. You simply search for available options and if you find flights you like, you simply book it directly with the airline or via a third-party online travel agency.

While Google Flights is easy to use, still you could use some tips and Google Flight features to find a great deal and save money.

Look for Insights on the Cheapest Time to Book

Google Flights has always shown you whether the fares for suggested dates and flight itinerary are high, typical or low. But there’s more. You can see whether it is better to book now or wait for lower prices. Google offers insights that will tell you that “the cheapest time to book is usually earlier” or later, or you are currently in the sweet spot with the cheapest prices and can book now.

Google can even suggest alternative dates you can book the flight to save a few bucks based on price history. The example above shows that if you booked in advance, you could save $22 or even more. Unfortunately, the feature does not predict how prices will change in the future. However, you can enable price tracking to automatically track prices and receive alerts when the price changes (more about it below).

Use Alerts to Track Price Changes

If you are not ready to book your flight now, or want to wait for lower prices, Google has you covered.

Google Flights has a “Track prices” feature that tracks the price for a specific route or flight based on your origin, destination, and dates. You can track prices for specific dates or, if you are more flexible, you can turn on “Any dates” price tracking. Whatever toggle you switch, you will automatically receive notifications if the flight prices drop significantly or if there are great deals available.

Apply Filters to Make Results Fit Your Travel Needs

Google Flights offers multiple ways to filter your search results when any flight won’t do. Here are all filters you can use to set search results to show you more relevant flights:

– Stops: this is a standard filter that allows you to select the number of stops you are willing to make during your trip or see only nonstop flights.

– Airlines: since Google Flights will show you all possible airlines, you can use this filter to select airlines you are loyal to, see flights for airlines from specific airlines alliances (Oneworld, SkyTeam, Star Alliance), or select lowcoster airlines only. The choice is yours.

– Bags: this filter will allow you to see flight prices that include the cost of checked bags or carry-on bags, which is quite convenient as not all carriers offer free carry-on bags in basic economy.

– Price: you can set the maximum price you are willing to pay for a flight.

– Times: when you don’t want to fly at night or need to arrive by a certain time, use this filter to set departure and/or arrival times that work for you.

– Emissions: those who practice green living and care about nature can use this filter to see flights with fewer carbon emissions.

– Connecting airports: this filter allows you to choose airports you want to connect through and even set the maximum layover duration.

– Duration: don’t want your flight to be longer than necessary? Then use this filter to set the maximum length you are willing to be on a plane.

– Separate tickets: sometimes it’s cheaper to buy tickets from different airlines (for example, flying out with one airline and returning on another). Use this filter to hide or show separate tickets.

Spot Flights with Automatic Price Guarantee

If you see a colorful price badge (price guarantee) next to the flight price, that means Google is especially confident the fare you see won’t get any lower before departure. If you book a flight with a price guarantee badge, Google will monitor prices for that flight every day, and if the price goes down, you will be paid the difference.

To qualify for a refund, the price difference must be at least $5 U.S. dollars. When Google detects the drop by at least $5, you will receive an email or notification with the appropriate reimbursement amount. Even if the price goes up later, you will still receive your refund.

Here are some other details for booking flights with price guarantee:

– Price guarantee only applies to flights that depart from the U.S.

– You can receive up to $500 U.S. dollars back per calendar year

– You can have up to three price-guaranteed bookings open at a time

– You must have Google Pay to claim your refund.

Price guarantee is available for select Book on Google itineraries departing from the U.S. If you choose to book with an airline or online travel agency, you should make sure that flight has a Price Guarantee badge next to the Continue button.

Bottom Line

Google Flights is a powerful service that has great tools to help you find the best flights for your travel. You can see when it’s the cheapest time to book or use price tracking to receive alerts when the price goes down. If you spot a flight with a price guarantee badge and book it, you may even get reimbursed when the price goes down. With Google Flights, you will always know you are getting a good deal.