How to Use Google Flights to Save Money, According to a Google Employee

If you’re like us, you’re always on the hunt for a good flight deal. And when it comes to searching for flights, there’s perhaps no better tool than Google Flights. Powered by ITA Matrix, a search engine developed by MIT computer scientists, Google Flights makes it easy to search flights across airlines, airports, and dates, using its filters to narrow down by details like number of connections, departure and arrival times, and even emissions. Plus, you can track flight prices and see historic price data to help you decide when it’s time to book. Here’s what you need to know about using Google Flights to save money on airfare.

Google Flights Search Features

Google Flights has an extraordinary number of search features, yet it has a fairly intuitive interface that makes it easy to use.

Search

The basic search allows you to find flights by simply entering your departure and destination cities and travel dates. It then provides a list of available flights, which you can sort by characteristics like price, duration, and departure or arrival time.

Explore

If your travel plans are flexible and you’re looking to see where in the world (and when on the calendar) you can travel to score the best deal, use the Explore tool. “Just enter your home airport, which may already be filled in based on your location, and leave the destination blank,” Sophia Lin, director of product management at Google, tells Travel + Leisure. “Click on the Explore button and you’ll be taken to the Explore map.” You can filter by specific dates or choose the “flexible” option to see the cheapest flights.

Date Grid and Price Graph

These are two more tools that are helpful for determining the best time to travel, so long as your plans are flexible. “The date grid shows how prices change if you make slight adjustments to your departure or return dates — for example, depart on Thursday instead of Friday,” says Lin. “The price graph shows how prices change for an X-day long trip over several months. You can scroll side-to-side and see what today’s prices look like for a trip of your desired length.”

Insights

Google Flights provides insights into the price history of different routes, so long as sufficient data exists. “These insights will tell you if prices are low, typical, or high relative to what we’ve observed for similar trips in the past 12 months,” says Lin. Google Flights also provides insights into whether or not you should book now, based on historical data. “For example, these insights could tell you that the cheapest time to book similar trips is usually two months before departure, and you’re currently in that sweet spot. Or you might learn that prices have usually dropped closer to takeoff, so you decide to wait before booking,” says Lin. “Either way, you can make that decision with a greater sense of confidence.”

Price Alerts

Once you’ve set your sights on a specific route, you can set flight price alerts to monitor any changes over time. We’ll share more about price alerts below.

How to Search for Flights

If you’ve ever used regular Google, you should have no problem adjusting to using Google Flights — the interface is easy to navigate.

Start the flight search process by entering your departure city, destination, and travel dates. Google Flights will display a list of matching flights, and the initial results are usually sorted by a combination of factors — like price, duration, and number of stops — to show the best options first. But you can sort by those individual factors, too.

If you have specific preferences — say, certain airlines or even airline alliances — you can use the filters to narrow down the list of available flights. You can also set a price range here.

When it comes time to book, Google Flights directs you to various sites. Google Flights is a flight search engine, not an online travel agency, so you won’t actually book on Google Flights itself. “We aim to show as many options as we can, including direct booking with the airline, as well as other prices offered by third-party booking sites,” says Lin.

Exploring Alternate Airports and Routes

One of the best ways to save money on flights is by being flexible with your departure and/or arrival airports. Fortunately, Google Flights allows you to include multiple airports in a single search. “For major cities with multiple airports, like New York City or London, we’ll include flight options for in-market airports by default,” says Lin.

But you can manually include more airports in your search, too, expanding your options. For example, you might want to search for both Miami and Fort Lauderdale flights, since the airports aren’t too far apart. “Just enter your first airport in the search box, then hit the plus symbol to add additional airports as desired. That way you can mix and match airports to get the best deal,” says Lin.

Lin also notes that you can customize your search even more by choosing “multi-city” instead of “round-trip” in your search. This allows you to specify airports for each leg of your trip. “This could be helpful if you have flexibility on both sides of your itinerary,” she says.

How to Set Price Alerts and Track Flight Prices 

Google Flights makes it easy to keep tabs on flight prices, so you can book as soon as you see the price drop. You will need a Google account to use this feature.

“From the Google Flights results page, you can toggle on price tracking for your specific destination and travel dates, and you’ll get an email notification if flight prices drop significantly,” says Lin. You can track specific flights, too, rather than overall routes, and you can even track prices for routes without specifying your dates, allowing you to capitalize on the best deals throughout the year.

“You can view and manage your tracked flight prices by tapping on the menu on the top left of the page and selecting ‘Tracked Flight Prices,'” says Lin.

More Tips for Using Google Flights

To maximize your experience using Google Flights — and save the most money — consider these additional tips.

Keep your travel dates flexible.

If possible, travel during off-peak times, such as midweek dates or during the shoulder season for popular destinations (Google Flights provides such intel through its insights).

Know that Google Flights does show basic economy fares.

The cheapest fare automatically shown on Google Flights is likely a basic economy fare. We typically advise against booking basic economy, as it’s a highly restrictive fare class. Don’t be surprised if the price ends up being a little higher to book a standard economy fare. But don’t worry — you can filter for higher fare classes, too.

Check baggage fees.

Some airlines, particularly low-cost carriers, may offer cheaper flights but charge high fees for checked or even carry-on luggage. You might end up paying more than the displayed price because of baggage.

Take a look at your flight’s carbon emissions.

“For environmentally conscious travelers, Google Flights also shows the approximate carbon footprint for nearly every flight in the search results — right next to the price and duration of the flight,” says Lin. “So, when choosing flights at similar costs or times, you can also factor carbon emissions into your decision.” Google Flights will also let you know if those emissions are higher or lower than average for that route.

You can change the currency at the very bottom of the page.

If you’re traveling abroad while searching for flights, Google Flights defaults to the local currency. You can change this by scrolling all the way down to the bottom of the page and selecting a different currency.