# How to Find Cheap Flights Using Google Flights
**About Google Flights**

Google Flights is a flight booking search engine that allows you to buy airline tickets from third-party vendors. Following a takeover, Google debuted it in 2011. It is currently integrated into Google Travel.


One tool I always refer to when people ask me how to find travel deals is Google Flights. This easy-to-use website can help you find the best possible airfares (and even hotels). It’s one of the biggest weapons in our arsenal at The Points Guy to save you money on travel. While TPG offers transaction alerts, if you’re looking for a specific flight, destination, airline or route, Google Flights is the way to find personalized deals.

Google Flights is where I almost always start looking for new bookings, and I come back to it over and over again to book travel and see if prices drop and if I can get deals better no. Here’s everything you need to know to use and master Google Flights.

## What is Google Flights?
Google Flights is one of our favorite tools for finding flight deals. It’s an extremely powerful flight finder and the best part is it’s very easy to use. Google shows you almost all the flights available for a given search, but doesn’t force you to book with them.

Unlike Expedia, Orbitz, TripAdvisor or Kayak, it is not an online travel agency. Google just shows you what’s available. When you have found the flights you like, you “click” to book tickets. You can choose to book directly with the airline or through a third-party OTA, not Google itself.

One annoying caveat is that Google Flights doesn’t show Southwest Airlines flights, so keep that in mind when searching.

## The Fundamentals of Google Flights
### How to Conduct a Simple Flight Search
*You should start by going to google.com/flights.*

The toolbar has extras for travel, including things to do, hotels, vacation rentals, and a shortcut to a cool tool called “Explorer.” However, we will focus on using the tool to book flights for now.

All the fields and drop-down menus on this page are relatively easy to decipher:

* Place of departure (where you want to fly)
* Destination (where you want to fly)
* Travel day(s)
* Round trip, one way or multiple cities
* Number of passengers (here’s why you should look for single tickets, even if you’re traveling in groups)
## Ticket class:
Economy Class, Premium Economy Class, Business Class or First Class
If you know where you’re going and when you want to get there, all you have to do is enter that information and hit the blue search button.

It’s worth noting that Google automatically displays the best departing flights based on a variety of characteristics such as price, routing convenience, the number of stops, and travel time. Of course, they could be the greatest flights for you.


For this example, I chose to book an American Airlines flight during my overseas trip.

Sometimes, the cheapest option is to fly round-trip on another carrier. However, Google Flights makes it clear that these will be two tickets to be purchased separately.

Often Google will suggest using the same carrier for both legs. In this case, one of the flights was operated by US partner airline JetBlue.

Clicking this link will take me to the American Airlines website, with these flights and prices selected, where I can enter my frequent flyer and passenger details, select a seat Sit down and pay the fare.

All Elite benefits and other loyalty benefits are honored on flights booked directly on the airline’s website through Google Flights. However, if you book through a third-party website, this may not be the case. You should make sure to book your tickets directly with the airline if possible.

In this example, the cheapest option is a mixed ticket with multiple stops. Most people won’t want to make this option. This involves booking through a third-party website and tickets on various airlines with multiple flights and transits. No, thanks.

## Related:
9 things to consider when choosing to book through the gate instead of booking directly

Here’s an example of a handy Google Flights guide to historical prices so you can see if the fare you’ve found is low, high, or close to the average price of flights on that route.

I can see that these flights cost more than $600 a few months ago and my $442 fare is considered low, so I’m pretty happy with that, given that airfares are expensive these days how.


The options available at the bottom of each Google Flights page are also shown at the bottom of this screenshot, where you can select your chosen language from a drop-down menu and also customize your location and preferred currency for simple translation.

## Look for specific times of day
Assume you want to go away for the weekend. Both flights must depart after business hours but not too late in the evening, as you do not want to land in the middle of the night.

Google Flights is a helpful filter that we always use to ensure that the flights are exactly when we want them. No matter how cheap that 6 a.m. trip is, a 3:30 a.m. wake-up call is rarely worth it.

As a result, you can limit the search results to flights departing and arriving within the time frame you specify.


See how much luggage you can bring on board
In the same series of buttons below your Google Flight search, click the “Baggage” button to specify how much baggage you want to take with you.

This selection can significantly limit your search results — or increase your pricing options — so be prepared to change it if needed.


## Direct flight, transit or any flight?
Similarly, you can filter flights based on the number of stops along the way. If you’re adventurous, you’re probably dreaming of a flight that lasts more than 50 hours with multiple stops.

If you have deadlines, want to minimize the risk of delays or interruptions, or have a family rush, nonstop service is your friend. Are you going abroad? The usual compromise between price and comfort would be a flight with a stopover.

Search for flights from your favorite airline or alliance
If you don’t fly often, the operating airline may not matter as much as the price.

However, if you start accumulating miles and status with a particular carrier, sticking with that carrier and program can be addictive. The perks that come with elite status can be exciting, and there’s nothing more exciting than booking your first bonus flight, especially if you know you’ve won an incredible deal.

## Related:
### What is an airline alliance and who is part of them?
Google can help you stay motivated with filtered airline search results. Use the button below the search results to filter out unwanted airlines or select specific airline alliances you want to frequent. Or turn off the “Select all airlines” option and manually select the airlines you want to select.

Whether you book with cash or points, you may want to stick with a plan to maximize mileage earned or status. For example, since I’m trying to hit Diamonds on Delta, I’ll only be looking for Delta flights in this example.


## Flight connection
You can also decide if you want to fly non-stop, if you’re ready to connect, how many stops you’re willing to make. You can even choose the connecting airport.

Especially with international flights, some airports are better served than others. Helsinki Airport (HEL) is lovely. Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) can be difficult, even if you are an experienced traveler. Related:
What are the best European airports to connect to?

While you have many options for traveling from New York to Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci (FCO) Airport with your selection of transit airports, you can filter the results to show only the airports you arrive at or want to login.

## WIFI Schedule
Google Flights will also show whether Wi-Fi is scheduled to be offered on your flight (free or paid), whether the aircraft has a charging option, and if the flight offers a solution. location like live TV or streaming options on yours or not. personal device.

On a flight of more than five hours across the country, your devices may run out of battery, so again, you may want to choose the product that best suits your needs rather than choosing a flight based on your needs. on price or carrier.

## Know your emissions
As sustainability becomes an increasingly important topic in travel, Google Flights will show you the approximate carbon footprint of your flight based on route, aircraft type, and class of seat.

Below are the search results for flights from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Tokyo Narita International Airport (NRT). United Airlines operates a fuel-efficient Boeing 787 on this route, which is said to produce 734 kg of carbon dioxide below average.

However, the Singapore Airlines flight using a less fuel-efficient (and larger) Boeing 777 produced 1,163 kg of carbon dioxide, which is higher than average.

## Cheapest way to search by date
Let’s say I want to go from JFK to Los Angeles in September, but I’m not tied to any particular date. Google Flights was able to help me find the best possible price for this trip.

On the search page I can see the lowest price for that particular day if I click on the calendar icon. Prices shown in green represent the lowest available prices for all current dates, while dates highlighted in blue show the dates I currently have selected.


## How to find the best getaway
This function is similar to the previous tip, just focusing on a different aspect of your search. Start by clicking the “Discover” button on the toolbar.

If you know you want to go away on specific dates — like the second week of October — but you don’t have a specific destination in mind, use Google’s open search to find deals. good flight translation in your availability window.

In the example below, I chose a long weekend in October and set my hometown of New York as the departure airport. Instead of specifying a destination, I just leave it open — although you can give Google a hint by typing “Europe” or “Caribbean” to narrow your search results to a specific area.

## At the end of the line
Google Flights is an incredibly powerful tool that the TPG team uses every day to price flight tickets. It can help you quickly find the best flight for your trip, but it can also track prices and let you know if you’re getting a good deal. It can also help you plan trips, find hotels and activities.

It’s one of my favorite tools to find new deals and places to visit. Add it to your travel toolbox. I promise you it will also become one of your favorites.

**Related readings:**
* Key travel tips you need to know — whether you’re a first-time traveler or an expert
* Best travel credit cards
* 18 best places to travel in 2023
* 6 Possible Strategies You Can Use When Your Flight Is Canceled or Delayed
* 8 best credit cards for general travel purchases
* 13 must-have travel items that the TPG team can’t do without

**Conlusion**

One of our favourite tools for finding cheap flights is Google Flights. It’s a highly effective flight finder, and the greatest part is that it’s quite simple to use. Google displays nearly all of the flights available for a particular search, but does not compel you to book with them.