Booking a trip in the days before the internet was a hassle. You would have to contact a travel agent with your desired destination, dates and budget and wait for them to craft an itinerary. There was often no way to verify whether the prices you were being offered were the best ones available, or that there could be cheaper alternatives you could consider. Today, there are plenty of guides and articles online about getting the most out of using flight comparison websites. Google is the leading web browser in the world so it’s a given that people will use its Google Flights website to track tickets and find destinations to travel to.
Whether you’re a newbie to using Google Flights or a veteran user on the lookout for more tips and tricks, here are four things you can do to level up your flight comparison game.
The “Explore” feature is perfect if you don’t have a specific destination in mind. Just enter your home airport and leave the destination blank. Then, click on the “Explore” icon and you’ll be taken to a map showing flight prices based on your starting airport, plus several filters to adjust your results based on factors like budget, trip length, flight duration and more. Keep in mind that the more flexible your plans are, the more ways you can save.
If you know where you want to go but your travel dates are flexible, you can use the date grid and price graph to quickly see how prices change depending on when you fly. The date grid shows how prices change if you make slight adjustments to your departure or return dates, while the price graph shows how airfares change for a trip of whatever duration you're considering over several months.
If your priority is getting the lowest price, the “cheapest time to book” insights can help. Just search for your preferred dates and destination and with enough historical data, Google Flights will be able to show you when prices are expected to be lowest for your trip.
You can also track ticket changes by turning on “track prices.” When you track “Any dates,” you will get an email when the route’s minimum price drops significantly over a month. If there isn’t a large enough price drop, you get a regular email with the best available flight prices.
You can also go a step further by selecting your specific flights, enabling price tracking for that exact itinerary and booking a refundable fare. That way, you’ll know if prices drop for the flight you’ve already booked, giving you the option to cancel and rebook to get an even better deal. Be sure to confirm with your airline or booking provider before doing so.
For major cities with multiple airports, Google Flights includes flight options for nearby airports by default, like HND and NRT for Tokyo. If you’re open to arriving at different cities, say Rome or Milan in Italy, then you can search across all these options by adding multiple cities to either your origin or destination. Enter your first airport in the search box and then click on the plus icon to add additional airports as desired. That way you can mix and match airports to get the best deal.