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How To Use Google Flights To Find Cheap Prices, Discover Destinations (& More)

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Michael McHugh

Michael McHugh

Former Content Contributor

Countries Visited: 15U.S. States Visited: 32

Michael fell in love with points and miles back in 2014 and since then has built up a vast knowledge of award programs and has striven to show readers how to receive the maximum value when using their...
Edited by: Keri Stooksbury

Keri Stooksbury

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Countries Visited: 39U.S. States Visited: 28

With years of experience in corporate marketing and as the Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Qatar, Keri is now Editor-in-Chief at UP, overseeing daily content operations and r...

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Before the Google Flights platform launched in 2011, the process to search for all of your travel needs across a variety of websites was extremely cumbersome. Today, Google Flights has everything you need in 1 place to easily plan travel — it’s a robust website that helps you evaluate all of your Trip, Flight, Hotel, and Travel Package options.

In true Google fashion, the Google Flights platform is once again pushing the envelope with its price guarantee function, which we dive into below. In addition to its price guarantee function, Google added a feature that allows you to see your travel itinerary/itineraries on google.com/travel when logged into your Google account. Additional features include hotels, restaurants, and things to do recommendations from Google based on your destination.

New Features for Google Flights

Track Travel Advisories and Restrictions

View and track travel advisories with Google Flights. Image Credit: Google

The newest feature of Google Flights that is especially helpful in today’s climate is the ability to view and track any COVID-19 travel advisories or restrictions for the destination you’re searching for. This will include details like whether you’ll need to quarantine upon arrival or provide proof of test results or immunization records.

Better yet, you can also track these advisories and receive updates straight to your inbox. So if restrictions are added, lifted, or reduced, you will know about it right away and can make adjustments to your travels as necessary.

New and Improved Explore Feature

Those who have been using Google Flights for a while know that the Google Explore feature used to just show flight prices to a variety of major destinations from your home airport.

But now, you’ll see significantly more destinations on the map, including smaller cities and national parks, hotel rates, info on tours, activities, and attractions. You can also filter destinations that appear based on your interests (outdoors, beaches, skiing), the duration of the trip, the airlines that fly there, and more.

How Google Flights Can Save You Money

The first thing you might notice is that Google Flights isn’t quite as flashy as some of the online travel agencies like Expedia, Priceline, or Orbitz. Have no fear — it’s still a powerful search engine with lots of options!

Search Multiple Cities

Google Flights multi-city search. Image Credit: Google

Start by entering your basic search criteria, just as you would on any other site. Google Flights allows you to do multiple searches at once — up to 7 departures and 7 destinations in the search box! — saving you tons of time when you are doing a flexible search.

As an example, let’s say you want to fly from New York City to Europe but without a specific city in mind. In the departure box you can enter New York City, which will search all of the New York airports (LGA, JFK, EWR) — or you can select the airports individually, including other nearby airports like Islip, Long Island (ISP) or Philadelphia (PHL).

For your destination city, start typing in cities you are interested in visiting like Paris (CDG), Barcelona (BCN), Berlin (BER), etc. Google Flights will search for the best options all at once, instead of looking up the price of each route individually!

Your results list will display options including all of the cities added to your search. In the example below, we can see the cheapest flight is a nonstop flight from New York (JFK) to Paris (CDG).

Use Google Flights to search for the best flight options. Image Credit: Google

Bottom Line: If you have some flexibility in your travel plans or don’t know exactly where you want to go, Google Flights can save tons of time by combining multiple searches into 1. You can input up to 7 departure cities and 7 destination cities all in 1 search to see, quickly and easily, what the cheapest option will be. 

Search Multiple Dates

Use the flexible dates calendar to find the cheapest flight options. Image Credit: Google

You now know you can search multiple departure and arrival cities, but how can you find out the cheapest dates to fly?

After inputting your departure and arrival cities, look at the dates to the right side of the search box. Clicking the calendar icon will display a calendar view showing prices for the whole month. Days that offer lower prices will be shown in green. As you can see, the majority of dates for this route in September and October have pricing for business class in green.

Hot Tip: You can adjust the duration of your trip by using the arrows at each side of the calendar box.

Flight Insights

Dive into more of your flight details using the Insights function. Image Credit: Google

Google Flights has updated its Flight Insights section, found on the right side above your flight search results. A new Prices section is shown below your search results. With this new format, you’ll only see the Prices section when searching between 2 city pairs and not when searching for multiple destinations.

Hot Tip: We always use a rewards card that earns bonus points on travel purchases. For example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card earns you 2 points for every $1 that you spend with the card on travel or dining purchases. If you’re a business owner, we’d strongly recommend using a rewarding business credit card (we recommend Chase business credit cards) when making a travel purchase, otherwise, you’re missing out on points, miles, or cash-back!

Date Grid

The Date Grid shows you what dates are the cheapest to fly on. Image Credit: Google

For deeper insight on the cheapest days to fly, click on the Date Grid. This will open up a grid showing the cheapest days to fly in green and the most expensive days to fly in red.

You can see even more pricing details by using the Departure and Return arrows on the top and right side of the Date Grid section respectively. For those with flexible travel dates, this can be a great way to save some cash!

Price Graph

The Price graph shows you a bar chart of what pricing is for the flights within a 2-month time frame. Image Credit: Google

The Price graph shows 2 months’ worth of prices in a visual graph form to easily see price trends by day. Scroll further in the future with the arrow to the right of the graph or change the duration of your trip using the -/+ buttons by your selected dates.

How To Use Google Flights

Although this tool lets you search for, compare, and purchase flights, it’s not technically an online travel agency like Travelocity or Priceline. Rather, it’s a highly effective metasearch engine that saves you the step of searching each airline and website individually.

How To Book a Flight

Google Flights is the go-to source to find the best flights to book. Image Credit: Google

Scroll through the Best Departing Flights results and click on a flight that interests you. Flights listed in the Other Departing Flights section will typically be more expensive and/or include less than ideal layovers.

When you find the flight you want, you’re prompted to choose your outbound flight first, followed by your return flight (assuming you’re booking a round-trip flight). Keep in mind that the price shown on the initial results screen is the lowest possible price for that itinerary. The return flight you pick could alter the cost, so make sure to pay attention to the prices of each return flight.

When you’ve chosen your flights, Google offers a few options for booking — generally, these are the cheapest options it can find. You’re given the option to book directly with the airline operating the flight (often cheapest), through the airline’s partners, or with whichever online travel agencies offer the best deals.

Click the Select button next to the price of your flight and you’ll be redirected to that website to book your flight. The travel details are already set, so all you need to do is confirm them, enter your personal information, and pay.

Bottom Line: While the other features that Google Flights offers are useful, its basic flight search functionality is the heart and soul of this tool. It’s not quite perfect and doesn’t have full access to every airline — for example, it can’t access prices for Southwest Airlines — but otherwise, it’s the best way there is to search for flights.

Tracking Prices

Image Credit: Google

Google has a tool that lets you track flight prices — once set, you’ll receive an email if prices increase or decrease. To set an alert, look above the booking sites after you’ve chosen an itinerary and click the Track Prices button. If you’re logged in to Google, the alerts will be sent to your Gmail; otherwise, enter an email address.

You can access any flight price alert set by clicking on the 3-line menu icon in the upper-left corner of Google Flights and clicking Tracked Flight Prices. You can also see a graph with price changes from the day you set the price alert going forward.

Track the cost of the flight you want to book using price tracking. Image Credit: Google

Sharing

Send your itinerary to yourself or share it with family and friends. Image Credit: Google

Google also has an option to share a chosen itinerary before actually booking the flight. This tool can be extremely helpful when searching for flights for someone else or making group travel plans.

The Share button is directly above the Total Price of your flight with 2 options for sharing — 1) email the itinerary to yourself, or 2) share the itinerary with another person.

To email the itinerary to yourself, click the Send To Yourself button on the left. Similar to the Track Prices feature, the itinerary will be sent to your Gmail if you’re logged into your account, otherwise, you’ll need to enter your email address for the itinerary to be emailed to you.

To share the itinerary with another person, click the Share button on the right. A window pops up with options to share via Email, Facebook, Twitter, or Copy Link.

Bottom Line: Google Flights is one of the most effective ways to search for flights. The platform has powerful tools to help make the flight search process easier than it otherwise would be. 

Explore Destinations

Use the Destinations function to find travel inspiration. Image Credit: Google

On the Google Flights homepage, you’ll notice an Explore Destinations button directly below the area where you select the dates of your travel. This tool is very interesting because it’s the perfect way to find some travel inspiration! There are 3 main ways you can search: Place, Date, and Price.

Explore Destinations With Places

Let Google Flights find destinations by using the Places search function. Image Credit: Google

The Explore Destinations Places section lets you input a place that you’d like to travel, and then populates a map on the right side of the page with markers showing the different places that you can go. You can scroll through the search list under the Price section or search destinations directly on the map.

Explore Destinations With Dates

Narrow down your search results using Dates. Image Credit: Google

Another way that you can use Explore Destinations is to search for potential trips by Date. Enter Specific Dates or Flexible Dates and the Explore Destinations map will update the results based on these filters. Similar to Places, when the search results are populated, you can scroll through the list of destinations on the left side or click the destination directly on the map.

Explore Destinations With Price

Using the Price function can be a great way to book flights based on your budget. Image Credit: Google

If Price is your filter of choice, slide the blue Price circle to the left or right to see what destinations populate based on your price parameters. Once you select the maximum price you are willing to pay, the map and list below the Price section will populate.

Selecting the Flight

Image Credit: Google

When you select the flight for your trip, a new section on the right side appears showing you the cost of your different flight options. By clicking View Flight, you will be directed back to the main Google Flights homepage where you can book the flight.

Best Ways To Use Explore Destinations

We have found that the best way to use the Explore Destinations tool is when you want to take a trip and have a general idea of when you can travel, but you don’t know exactly where you want to go. In our experience, results have been more helpful when you keep the search criteria more general — for example, picking a month and duration rather than specific dates.

Explore

The Explore tab helps you to find popular destinations based on where you want to go. Image Credit: Google

Not to be confused with Explore Destinations in the Flights section, Google Flights has a section titled Explore with recommendations of popular destinations. You can also enter a destination in the search tab directly below the word Explore.

When you click on a destination, Google Flights will take you to the travel guide for that city. For example, if you click Austin in the picture above, you will be directed to the Austin travel guide. Once here, you will find Things To Do, Suggested Day Plans, Plan A Trip, When To Visit, Travel Articles, Travel Videos, See More While You’re There, and Other Places To Explore sections.

Travel

Image Credit: Google

The Travel section of Google Flights is another interesting area to check out. When you enter a flight, hotel, or destination, Google Flights will direct you to the Explore, Flights, Hotels, or Packages section of the platform.

Directly below the search area of Travel, Google Flights lists your Upcoming Trips pulled from your Gmail, Potential Trips that you can take, Popular Destinations, and Past Trips that you’ve taken (also pulled from your Gmail).

Bottom Line: The Trips section helps to direct you to the area of Google Flights that fits your search criteria. 

Hotels

One of the best new features of Google Flights is the addition of the Hotels section. Image Credit: Google

To book a hotel, start your search with the Hotels section of Google Flights. Simply enter your destination in the Where To? section and your dates in the dates section and you will see both a list and map of hotels for your destination. Narrow down your results using filters such as Number of Guests, Price, Hotel or Vacation Rental, Guest Rating, Amenities, and/or Brands.

Similar to Flights, you can set price alerts to track hotel prices. By setting an alert and entering your email, you will be sent price alerts and travel tips directly to your email.

Vacation Rentals

Image Credit: Google

The Vacation Rentals feature is a great tool for those who want to book a vacation rental instead of a hotel, based on a few criteria, and want to view all of their options across multiple vacation rental platforms.

You can enter your Destination, Date, Budget, Rating, and/or Number of Travelers, and Google Flights will populate the top options based on the criteria entered.

Special Features

Google’s been improving the Flights tool since it launched in 2011 by making it faster, adding new functionalities, and adding airlines and options. Price tracking is just one of those newer features.

Google Flights Price Guarantee

Image Credit: Google

As we’ll cover in more detail below, Google Flights will show you whether the price of the flight you’re looking to book is high, low, or typical. This is extremely helpful to ensure that you get the best flight deal.

Google is testing this new feature with a trial period, which is only available on certain flights. You can search for flights on Google Flights to see if your route happens to be one of the routes Google is using during this trial period. As an example of how the new function works, if you book a flight during the trial period, Google will guarantee the price will not drop. If it does, Google pays you the difference. How could you not love that?

As mentioned, the price guarantee function is not fully rolled out just yet. During the roll-out phase, the feature is only available on select flights originating in the U.S.

Google Travel Itineraries

Image Credit: Google

An additional feature Google Flights has added focuses on your trip itinerary. If your trip confirmation (i.e. flight) is delivered to your Gmail account, Google will show that trip itinerary in your google.com/travel list in a timeline format, similar to what you’ll see with TripIt. It’s an easy-to-read list that shows you everything that you have booked.

Google Travel Recommendations

Image Credit: Google

After your flight is booked, Google will help you with your next set of travel needs.

When you click on an itinerary shown in your Google Trip list, you’ll see options for hotels, flights, restaurants, and things to do. For example, when you click on Search hotels in XX city for, Google will redirect you to its Google Hotels page. From there, everything you need to know to book a hotel will be at your fingertips.

With respect to restaurants, when you click the Top restaurants in XX city tab, Google will redirect you to Google Maps. On this page, you’ll see the top-rated restaurants in that city.

But wait, there’s more! When you click on a restaurant, the restaurant’s Google Maps page pulls up. You’ll then be able to click Reserve A Table to book a reservation. How could it get any easier?

Flight Delay Notification and Prediction

Google Flights will also predict delays to inform your purchase decision. In your search results, Google Flights will provide a note indicating flights that are often delayed.

Overhead Bin Access

Google Flights has a flight results filter to show which options include access to an overhead bin for a carry-on bag.

Enhanced by Legroom (Google Chrome Extension)

Know exactly how much legroom you’ll have by using the Enhanced by Legroom extension. Image Credit: Google

Google Flights has a free extension for the Google Chrome web browser that adds information about seats to your search results. When you search for an economy class ticket, you’ll see the particular flight’s pitch (distance from the back of one seat to the back of the next seat) on the right-hand side of each result.

Flights with a smaller pitch are highlighted in red, while flights with a more generous pitch are in green. If you search for a premium cabin, you’ll see the type of seat on the flight — for example, a recliner, angled-flat, or lie-flat seat.

This is a fantastically helpful tool! As airlines are still working to make their fleets uniform following mergers over the past few years, it’s helpful to know exactly what kind of seat you’re paying for, especially since it can vary based on which plane is being flown on the route.

Bottom Line: New features continue to be brought into the software tool — whether officially through Google or through third parties.

ITA Matrix

Google Flights is built on software that Google acquired when it bought ITA Software in 2011. That software still powers Google Flights, and if you want complete control over your search — from routing and fare code to the tiniest detail — you can access this software’s advanced interface.

ITA Matrix can be quite complicated, but the tradeoff is that you can search with much more control. If you’re interested in learning more, check out this complete guide to ITA Matrix.

Final Thoughts

Google Flights is a first stop anytime when looking for flights. It includes most airlines, features great prices, and searches various online travel agencies and airline websites to save you time. Even if you plan to book through an online travel agency (OTA), you should always search Google Flights first.

There’s just one catch to be aware of: Google doesn’t have access to pricing for Southwest Airlines flights. Whenever Southwest operates a route, it’ll appear at the bottom of the flight search results, but you’ll have to click it to visit Southwest’s site and see the price for yourself.

For additional information on other OTAs and metasearch engines, you can check out this article on which websites are best for booking flights at the cheapest prices.

Frequently Asked Questions

About Michael McHugh

Born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, Michael took his first international trip in 2013 with friends to the Bahamas. Although he didn’t travel much in his younger years, on that trip, he caught the travel bug and has been hooked ever since.

Michael first caught wind of the points and miles game in 2014 while at a bar in Washington, DC where the conversation amongst friends was quickly derailed because of an alert on a friend’s phone about a mistake fare.  That’s where the love affair with points and miles began.

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37 comments

Dave Hofeldt

May 06, 2018

What currency is used for overseas flights purchased from US browser location? For example, you want to book a flight from Sydney to Cairns, Australia — do you see prices in US dollars, or Australian dollars?

Alex Miller

May 06, 2018

I’m pretty sure you can pay in either US or Aussie $’s, my preference would be to pay in USD.

Ines Ligron

June 02, 2018

Hello, I bought tickets online (Norwegian/Easyjet)

I called the airlines and was told that I must make the change with my travel agent, that I cannot do it directly with them. In this case, it is Google Flights as my ticket was bought using their service as a travel agency.

But I can not find any way to contact Google Flights to change my reservation.
Do you have any suggestion please?

Ines

Erin Miller

June 05, 2018

Hi Ines – Google Flights does not directly book any fares. This is likely why you can’t find a phone number to call and address your booking.

Google Flights is a big metasearch engine which means it aggregates tons of information to give you all of the options you’re looking for. When you select your desired flights and are given a price, Google Flights then directs you either to the airline itself, or an OTA (online travel agency) that is advertising said fare.

Google Flights has made this a pretty seamless process, so it’s likely you were redirected to an OTA and didn’t quite pick up on that. It happens to a lot of people!

We suggest taking another look at your official confirmation e-mail for your flights, then contacting the OTA which sent you the e-mail.

Hope this helps! 🙂

David Earl

June 08, 2018

What has happened to https://www.google.com/flights/explore ? I am not seeing it as of today June 8. I would use this tool to judge places to go in a region and the best time to go. I hope google did not end that page.

Michael McHugh

June 08, 2018

Hi David

Google recently integrated a new Google Flights platform. Here’s the link to the old platform https://www.google.com/flights/?f=0

Hunter

July 12, 2018

Are you still able to access the old interface. I tried your link and it sent me to the new site.
I can’t seem to locate the map with prices to every airport in the new interface. Thanks

Christine Krzyszton

July 12, 2018

Hunter, the map with prices can be accessed on the new interface by clicking on the menu which is represented by three short horizontal lines in the upper left-hand corner next to “Google Flights” in the blue bar at the top of the page. There are options such as : Flights, Explore, and Tracked Prices. You will need to eliminate the destination in order for the map to appear. Or, you can type in an area such as “Europe”, “South America”, etc. and the map will appear. (This answer was edited to include the information to remove the destination>) Hope this helps.

Steve Miller

November 08, 2018

As soon as you select Explore Map, the destination airport disappears. If you enter a destination on map view, the map disappears.

Bummer.

Heather Salber

June 19, 2018

Hello, While I can appreciate the new google flights I believe the older one that used to be accessed through the running man to be more user friendly when searching for other airports and other features. I would love to be able to use that one as well but the option seems to have disappeared. There were other links for awhile but those are gone as well. Can you help? Thanks

Charla Green

June 29, 2018

Ashamed to confess I have never used Google Flights before. Having read this post, I’ve immediately tried out this tool myself. And here you go—Naples, France will be my first destination chosen with Google Flights. Thanks for a great insight.

Bic

July 10, 2018

Strange error in pricing: I’ve been monitoring a multi-city flight from LAX to Abu Dhabi, via Istanbul on Turkish, one way, then Cairo to LAX, via Istanbul on the return. Google Flights says it’s $6371 on business class, but when I click on the price it then says “from $4971” – it sends me to Turkish airlines with several other options, but the one I wanted on their site is $4971. Not sure why G. Flights is giving me $6371.

Paul

July 28, 2018

I loved the feature of just typing two cities or airport codes in the search bar and get connections between the two cities with schedule. Somehow it doesn’t work since a couple of days….

Paul

August 07, 2018

So here is the thing.

I used to type in the Google search bar two airport codes or even two cities sometimes and I would get the timetable of the nonstop and other connections. I loved it because I could quickly see what nonstop existed and what airlines would otherwise fly the quickest, although you wouldn’t see anything else. This feature was tremendously useful.

Since about three weeks it doesn’t work and instead I get the prices directly. But I don’t want that.

Christine Krzyszton

August 15, 2018

Thanks for your comment, Paul. I’ve actually had the occasion to need this lately and just used the non-stop filter to give me the flights I wanted to see but unfortunately no actual timetables.

Saman

September 11, 2018

We prefer to have Sri Lankan rupee LKR in your currency list. otherwise, we have to open a separate google currency convert window and needs to check each time to calculate our cost and that is a pain.

Erin Miller

September 11, 2018

Hi Saman, please note that we are not Google or Google Flights, so we cannot address this request. We are Upgraded Points, a points & miles based website who publishes information related to points, miles, credit cards, travel, etc.

Laura Cohn

October 15, 2018

I’m trying to book a ticket for my son to return from Portugal. Google flights tells me there’s a flight through Air Europa for $464 and to call the airline to book. When I call the airline, the price with them (and on their website) is >$3,000, not a small difference. I understand that Google Flights is a search tool but in this case, I’m curious where they’re getting the price from that it’s so vastly different.

Henry Collins

October 19, 2018

Thanks for the review. It is very complete and extensive and perfectly summarizes the pros and cons of using the app.

Walter Campbell

November 06, 2018

I use Google Flights frequently. The fare for my date selected used to appear in U S dollars now it is in Mexican pesos. I prefer the US dollars. How can I change from pesos to U S dollars?
Thanks,
Walter

Christine Krzyszton

November 06, 2018

Hi Walter. That’s a great question because I’m sure others have experienced the same. In the upper left hand corner of the Google Flights page you’ll see 3 straight bars next to “Google Flights”. This is a menu. When you click on the 3 bars menu, you will see “Search flights,Explore map,Tracked prices,Change language,Change country,and Change currency. You can change the currency there. Hope this helps.

korbel

December 05, 2018

I’ve always used Google Flights for my International Travel. Most airlines’ booking sites are so complicated, it is almost impossible to use for what I want. Google flights can filter anything for you as the article has said. Then once directed to the airline website, it is purchase time.

Alex Miller

December 05, 2018

Hey Korbel – thank you for the comment and yes, we’re big fans of Google Flights too!

Robert

February 26, 2019

I’m considering a two-leg flight I found on Google Flights that shows Condor as the airline for the first leg and Lufthansa for the second. When I finish selecting the flights and go to book it, it shows me paying the full amount specifically to Condor. Can anyone shed light on how the booking process is supposed to work for trips using multiple airlines? Should I be paying just part of it to Condor, and then the rest separately to Lufthansa? Thanks.

Christine Krzyszton

February 26, 2019

Hi Robert. In this situation, your ticket is marketed and issued by Condor so you would be paying them for the entire ticket. The Lufthansa operated flight is what is called a codeshare flight meaning the airlines have a business arrangement to market and issue each other’s tickets. It is very common and legitimate. Here is some additional information regarding Condor codeshare flights: https://www.condor.com/us/flight-preparation/baggage-and-animals/regulations-for-flights-operated-by-other-airlines.jsp

Robert

February 26, 2019

Thanks so much for the quick reply and clear explanation, Christine. I really appreciate it.

Christine Krzyszton

February 26, 2019

My pleasure, Robert. Thanks for visiting and for your comment.

Cynthia

June 29, 2019

Hi Christine,
When you search Google flights and see a flight with 2 connections using different airlines to get to your destination – is there any sort of guarantee if first flight is delayed or cancelled?? As opposed to booking yourself on 2 different airlines and flights to get to your destination – then i fully understand the risk is all on me.
I understand that Google flights is not the booking agent – but wondering if when they search they pair airlines that work together in offering the flyer more security when dealing with connecting flights using different airlines.

Christine Krzyszton

June 29, 2019

Hi Cynthia. When you purchase the ticket you’re describing, there is one marketing carrier (airline). There may be more than one operating carrier, for example a flight on United and a flight on Lufthansa. The ticket may be marketed by either United or Lufthansa (or yet another airline). Airlines can share the responsibility (depending on the disruption) to get you to/from your destination if you should have trouble during your journey. If your United flight is delayed and you miss your Lufthansa connection, for example, United could book you on another Lufthansa flight. So yes, your ticket is more secure when all the flights are on one ticket (even if more than one operating carrier) than purchasing separate tickets using different airlines. Thank you for your question.

Debra

July 14, 2019

I’m using Google Flights to book a trip on United. I want to track the price for the flight but there’s no “Track Prices” button as you describe. Any idea why that button doesn’t show? Thanks!

Michael McHugh

July 15, 2019

Hi Debra!

You’ll need to select the flights that you want to book and then click the “track prices” radio button directly below the “total from price” shown for your flight.

Marc Benz

November 07, 2019

I love Google Flights and use it for all my travel planning. But for an upcoming trip in Sept. until Oct. 2020, the calendar stops at Oct. 2, 2020 and I cannot get any prices for return flights after that.

First I thought it is because many airlines only allow booking up to 11 months ahead, but then prices should at least be available until Oct. 8 because today
is Nov. 8, 2019.

Any ideas?

Christine Krzyszton

November 09, 2019

Hi Marc. It’s actually 330 days out. 330 days from November 8, 2019 is October 3, 2020. Here’s a handy calculator: https://www.timeanddate.com/date/dateadded.html?m1=11&d1=8&y1=2019&type=add&ay=&am=&aw=&ad=330&rec=

glen

November 08, 2019

It appears to me that google shares the search information back with the airlines themselves. For example, if you spend a decent amount of time (and the number of unique entries) searching an exact itinerary, and then come back and look at it the next day, the prices will go up. As if Google is telling them that people are interested in that flight, so you should increase the price (supply and demand). Have others noticed this?
Also, if so, if you use the track prices feature (to get notified when the price goes down) would that also trigger the alert to airlines that they might not want to lower it since people are looking at it?

Jarrod West

November 11, 2019

Hi Glen,

Airlines use a dynamic pricing model, so prices for flights can change dramatically day by day, even hour by hour, due to a wide variety of factors. Currently, there is zero evidence that browser cookies cause an increase in flight prices. Using a flight tracking feature will not cause the prices to rise either. Furthermore, searching for flights incognito will not help you find cheaper prices.

Sabrina

January 24, 2020

I’ve been trying to look for the right price on an itinerary for a couple of months from now. The first time I reviewed google flights price and compare it to the airline’s site, the price was exactly the same shown at google flights.
Today I received an alert for lower prices and when I tried to book at the airline web page from google flights, the prices were higher than the price shown on google. Is that normal? I don’t know if they’re outdated. At first, I thought maybe I wasn’t considering taxes but that wasn’t the case. I tried refreshing google flights page but the prices were still the same, lower than at the airline page (cheaper rate).

Jarrod West

January 28, 2020

Hi Sabrina,

That can happen at times. Google flights pulls its flight price data from airline websites directly and, sometimes, when a recent price change is made, it can take a bit for Google Flights to update to the new price.

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