We often talk about Google Flights and its features, mainly its powerful calendar. It’s very easy to find the best prices and dates for your trip, and I’ll tell you how to find your own vacation using this tool.
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To do your own search, head over to the Google Flights page to get started. The default options are: Roundtrip, 1 adult in economy. Simply enter the departure and destination airports and click “Search”. The magic begins!
A calendar is displayed. By default, the prices displayed are for a 7-day trip but the duration can be changed at the bottom.
So you can navigate the calendar to find the best dates for your trip.
The options available on this display are:
- One-way or round-trip flight
- For a round trip flight, the duration of the trip
As soon as a departure date is selected, prices are adjusted to select the return date (if the Round Trip option is selected)
After selecting a departure and return date, the date fields are filled in and we press “Search” again.
From now on we can have fun with all the available options.
How to select your departure and arrival airport(s)
Even after the search has started, it is possible to change the departure airport and/or destination. This is useful if you live between two or three potential airports and/or are hesitating between a few destinations.
Simply click in the departure or destination field and make changes. You can search by city, country or airport.
The results are updated automatically.
It is also possible to include more than one in the same search. Simply use the “+” to select more than one. It is possible to select up to five airports at a time.
You can see the best routes from the different selected airports.
How to book
Once you’ve decided on a trip, the search results you’ll see at the top are what Google Flights considers the best, with other more expensive or less convenient flights further down. To see the full details of each flight, click the arrow on the right to expand the details:
If you are happy with the outbound flight, click ‘Select Flight’ to continue and see options for the return flight (if applicable). Select again and a summary of your trip and price will be displayed.
From here there are a few options:
1. Book directly with the airline
To book with the airline, find it in the fare list at the bottom of the page and click the “Continue” button.
You will usually be redirected to the same flight details on the airline’s website. Follow the steps from there to complete your booking.
Booking directly with the airline may not always be the cheapest option, but if you think you might need to change your plans later, they usually offer the best customer service and lower fees.
2. Book with an online travel agent listed on Google Flights
Sometimes, Google Flights will show you fares from a selection of online travel agents. If you don’t want to make any changes, you can click “Continue” next to the fare to book with them.
3. Check Kiwi, Momondo, Skyscanner or Kayak to see if a lower price is available
These sites find fares from more online travel agents than Google Flights and often offer lower prices for the same flight.
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How to get a refund
Google Flights is just a search engine to find flights, although sometimes you have the option to book “on Google.” In those cases, the airline will provide customer service for the flight.
Any time you need assistance with a flight you book, you will need to contact the airline or travel agent you used to make your booking directly.
How to use filters on Google Flights
Google Flights filters make it easy to narrow your search to exactly what you’re looking for. They’re located below the search box:
You can filter by:
- Number of Stopovers – Hide routes with more stopovers
- Airline – Show only (or exclude) specific airlines
- Baggage – Show prices that already include cabin baggage. They are increasingly extra.
- Prices – Hide prices outside your budget
- Times – Determine departure and arrival times for your flights
- Emissions – Shows routes with the lowest carbon emissions
- Connecting Airports (including layover times) – Include (or exclude) connecting airports and/or filter by connection wait time
- Duration – Filter out routes that are too long and favor shorter ones
- Separate Tickets (Under ‘All Filters’) – Hide itineraries with tickets that must be purchased separately.
To apply the filter, simply click on the associated arrow and select your preferences.
Give the new results a few seconds to load, then you’ll only see trips that match your filters.
You can use as many filters as you want at once, but Google Flights will stop showing results if there are no more that match your preferences.
How to know if bags are included
Google Flights will often tell you what’s included in your fare and the cost of the upgrade on the summary page before you book. It will look something like this:
However, this doesn’t show up for all routes, so you may need to check the airline’s website. It’s not a bad idea to double-check anyway, as Google Flights baggage information isn’t always 100% accurate.
How to change your currency/country/language
Google usually sets the currency, country, and language automatically. Here’s how to change it if necessary.
At the bottom of the search page, after the list of flight options and prices (and sometimes below hotel suggestions), you’ll see this bar:
Click on the information you want to change (“Language,” “Location,” or “Currency”), and a menu will appear with options like this:
Select your language/location/currency, then click “OK” and you’re ready to go!
How to find cooler places to visit
I highly recommend trying out the Google Flights Explore feature if you’re looking for some travel inspiration.
To access it, click on the “Explore” button on the top menu of the search page.
Google Flights will take you to a world map where you can pan around to see destinations all over the world and how much it costs to get there.
Have a good trip!