Summary

  • Google Flights offers lightning-fast searches for hundreds of flights, showcasing the cheapest fares throughout the year.
  • The site provides an "anywhere search" for travelers without a set destination, displaying map-based options for affordable flights.
  • Users have control over constraints like destination type and budget, plus compare multiple airports and view carbon footprints.

Hundreds of third-party travel sites claim to provide the cheapest fares for destinations worldwide. While some common travel sites are known to people, where do you find the others? Google Flights provides an efficient and comprehensive way to search for flights to hundreds of destinations worldwide.

One of Google’s primary features, Google Flight, allows customers to specify their desired origin, destination, and travel dates. It also allows people to narrow their search to their favorite destinations, price ranges, and other interests. Part of Google Travel, Google Flights facilitates the purchase of tickets through third-party suppliers.

British Airways & Ryanair Aircraft parked on the apron At Manchester Airport.
Photo: Manchester Airport

Simple Flying highlights some of the attributes of Google Flights to explain how it provides the most comprehensive flight search for cheap airfares, as described in Going.

Google Flights

Despite not being a one-stop shop for airline tickets like other travel sites, Google Flight combines many search benefits of various sites. It works with lightning speed to search for hundreds of flights to the searched destination. The site displays months' worth of airfares in a fraction of a second. Google’s impressive search engine powers the site.

An aerial view of New York JFK airport.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace I Simple Flying

Google Flights shows the flight search results in an intuitive calendar form, revealing the cheapest fares throughout the year. Potential travelers can change their dates by a day or two (or more) to get the cheapest fare. The site also shows the most affordable fares across multiple airports in the area. For example, searching for a flight in the New York City (NYC) area will show the cheapest fares to JFK, Laguardia (LGA), and Newark (EWR) airports.

Those who plan to get out somewhere without knowing the specific destination can also benefit from Google Flights. It offers a map-based search for the cheapest places to fly from the traveler's origin. The site also shows if the viewed fare is the most affordable, expensive, or the average price.

Southwest MAX 8
Related
Southwest Takes Legal Action Over Flight Search Engines

Travelers get enough control over their search by selecting certain constraints for their travel, including the types of destinations, geographical location, and budget range. That way, passengers can manage their trip while exploring hundreds of destinations that they may not be aware of. Google has also included the environmental aspect of air travel by showing the carbon footprint for each flight.

Comparison to other search engines.

In most search engines, one must input the origin and destination airport and dates with some flexibility, such as +/- 3 days. The search engine will find the cheapest fares on the selected date and flexible dates. Some search engines may show a cheaper fare at an alternate airport.

A Qatar Airways Boeing 777-200LR taking off.
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock

Google Flights allows people to select up to seven origin and destination airports. Google Flights will search across all origins and destinations simultaneously and show the cheapest flights throughout the year.

What are your thoughts on the Google Flights feature? Have you used the Google Flight search engine to find your flights? Share your experience in the comments section.