How to use Google Flights to Save Money
Finding flights can be a hassle and even a stressful process. There are too many airlines to check, third-party websites with the “best deals”, and it’s impossible to know if you’re getting a reasonable price. In my experience, the easiest way to save money on flights is to use Google Flights.
To be completely honest with you, I check Google Flights every week just to explore and see where I can fly on a budget. This little obsession has helped me find great prices on flights. Not to worry though, you don’t have to be obsessive like me to save money using Google Flights. This blog will walk you through how to use Google Flights most effectively to save money on your next flight!
Searching Dates
My absolute favorite feature of Google Flights is the ability to look up any airport and use the calendar to check the dates and prices without choosing them. If a date is in green, that indicates it’s inexpensive for those tickets. No more searching every combination of dates to see which is the cheapest!
Track Prices
One of the best features of Google Flights is the ability to “save” flights and track prices. Not only that, you’ll receive emails when the price has changed. Forget about checking flights daily. Google will do the work for you!
Price History
Google Flights automatically tracks the price history for flights and is able to share if a price is below average, typical, or high for your flight. However, it only displays prices up to 60 days before the current date.
From my experience, the best way to save on flights is to start your search early. If you can, start looking about 6 months before the trip and track the prices. Prices fluctuate often but you will get a sense of what you can expect to pay for the flight. As flights are one of the highest expenses of traveling, it is nice to know how much you can expect to spend.
Explore
If you are feeling adventurous, use the explore tool to search for cheap intercontinental or international flights. You can choose specific dates or let Google tell you cheap dates for specific destinations. Once I used this tool to decide where to go for a spontaneous weekend adventure.
Pro tip: Google Flights will give you multiple websites to buy a ticket from once you choose your flights. I always buy my flights from the airline instead of going through a third-party site. It is easier to deal with the airline directly if there is an issue instead of going through a third-party site, which won't always have the best customer service. I once used a third-party site and, trust me, it wasn't worth the "great" deal. I’m sure other people have had good luck with those sites, but I personally prefer to stick with the airlines.
To see other websites I find useful for planning trips, check out my article, Top 5 Websites I use for Travel Planning
