Google Flights, just like any of the other online travel agencies such as Skyscanner, Kayak, Orbitz and Expedia just to name a few, has changed the game of the travel industry with more people opting online agencies compared to brick-and-mortar ones.
Google Flights, however, has some valuable tricks worth knowing that can help anyone save on flight tickets. From getting the best deals to giving options on which dates it's best to travel, Google Flights can live up to its promise to "find cheap flights in seconds, (and) explore destinations on a map."
Here are some of them:
1. Sign up for alerts and get updates on fare changes
By signing up on alerts on Google Flights, a user can get notifications on fare changes such as, on which dates the fare might change, the best dates to buy tickets for specific travel dates, and predictions on how much fares might change on the coming days.
2. Travel based on geography-specific flight prices
With so many countries to choose from in all travelable continents-Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, and South America-it can be difficult to figure out on which country it's best to arrive at price-wise. With Google Flights, a user can click on the Flights Tab and check on a continent, say, "Asia," then a map with all countries with flight prices will be displayed based on departure country and date choices. It then gets easier to choose which country is the "cheapest" and "most expensive" to arrive at and depart from.
3. The "I'm feeling lucky" feature extends to Google Flights
Google has made the "I'm feeling lucky" feature popular, and this has also made its way to Google Flights. A user would have to choose a departure country and date of choice, then click "I'm feeling lucky." A destination will come up based on the user's search and browsing history. It's an interesting feature where Google basically maps out a "dream trip" for anyone.
4. A "Cheapest Month" feature
Skyscanner has been popular with its "Cheapest Month" feature, where it maps out day-specific prices of the cheapest month in a given year. Google Flights also has this feature, marking on green the cheapest days of the month. There is also a bar graph that gives an overview of price differences in a given month. A user can then play around with the cheapest day for departure and arrival based on the given day-specific prices.
The Huffington Post has also released a similar article featuring Google Flights tricks and tips.
