Google Flights is an excellent tool for locating affordable airline tickets. Unfortunately, most individuals still do not fully understand how to use it, so they lose out on opportunities for significant cost savings. In this piece, we’ll give you a crash course in the fundamentals and show you how to get the most out of your next flight search.
Inputting your desired departure and arrival cities and dates will get results for flights between A and B. The vast majority of travelers do this, but if you’re looking for a good deal or a relaxing journey, you may tweak several parameters to narrow your search. First, let’s imagine we’re booking a ticket from Miami to London. A typical search engine’s input fields include the number of travelers, the number of cities they want to visit, the fare class, and whether or not they need a passport to enter the country. Currently, remember that certain airline search results for Economy rates may display airlines providing Basic Economy flights.
If you’re looking for the lowest tickets possible but have some leeway in your travel dates, you may do so by entering those dates and clicking the corresponding box. You may experiment with different dates and times in the calendar view, but the Date Grid option directly below the date boxes provides a more straightforward matrix presentation of the cheapest flight options. There is a graphic display on the second page to help you understand the pricing differences, and you can quickly move back and forth to determine whatever combination of days works out to be the cheapest. The drop-down calendar is more convenient since I can experiment with different beginning dates and then look up pricing information.
Create Fare Alerts and Keep an Eye on the Market
Google Flights can show you the historical and current pricing trends for your desired route, letting you know whether you’re paying too much or getting a good deal. The Google Flights app lets you set price drop and rise notifications through email, or you can just have the app notify you when it discovers a good ticket for the cities you’re looking to visit together. The “Track Prices” drop-down menu is situated just under the address entries.
To avoid the hassle of airport searches, try looking for your destination directly (Or Multiple Airports)
There are usually many airport options if you’re traveling by plane between big cities. While your first inclination may be to depart from the city’s main airport, you should keep in mind that lesser airports may offer better deals. One possible scenario is that taking a Spirit flight from LaGuardia is less expensive than taking an American flight from JFK. If you were on a strict budget and needed to go to Florida, you could take the train to New Haven and then a cheap flight with Avelo. According to the picture below, the most cost-effective route to London is through Arlanda in Sweden, which connects to Heathrow; but, if your destination is closer to Gatwick, you may want to consider paying a little more.
Increased Stops Could Lower Ticket Costs
Including a layover in your itinerary might drastically reduce your ticket price, so long as your travel plans are flexible. It may cost several hundred to several thousand dollars less to fly from New York to London than to make a stop in Portugal or Istanbul, depending on the type of service you choose. Unless a two-stop ticket is cheap, I like to stick to one-stop when possible.
