Up to now, airfare search results on Google Flights have prioritized a combination of price and convenience over cost alone. This means you might be missing the cheapest options and spending more than you need to.
Via an update to its online tool rolling out gradually over the next couple of weeks, Google is finally making it easier to surface the best-priced airfares for your journey, though you may be sacrificing a bit of convenience if you opt for one of them.
“For example, there could be a third-party booking site offering a lower price than the airline itself,” Google explained in a blog post announcing the update. “Or you might be able to save by flying back to a different airport that’s in the same city you departed from — like flying out of New York’s LaGuardia and returning to JFK.”
The update puts a new “Cheapest” tab on Google Flights’ search page, while the most convenient options (according to Google Flights, at least) will appear beside it under the “Best” tab.
For sure, you might find some of the options under the “Cheapest” tab showing longer layovers, self-transfers, or a requirement to purchase different legs of the trip through multiple airlines or booking sites. But as Google points out in its post, “For those times when cost matters more than convenience, the new tab gives you an easy way to see the lowest prices available,” leaving you to decide which option works best for you.
Google has been gradually improving its Flights tool since launching it in 2011. In a more recent update, the tech giant added a feature that suggests the best time to book a cheap flight. Google Flights also offers price tracking, which, once set up, automatically alerts you if a fare for your route sees a notable fall.