Google introduces money-saving feature to book cheaper flights

“For searches with reliable trend data, you’ll now see when prices have typically been lowest to book your chosen dates and destination,” Google said in the blog post. 

How does the Google Flights feature work? 

The new insights could tell you that the cheapest time to book similar trips is usually two months before departure, and currently, you are in that sweet spot. Or else, the traveler might learn that prices have usually dropped closer to takeoff so that he or she can decide to wait before booking, the blog post read. 

It says that price tracking can do most of the heavy lifting for travelers who want to wait for lower fares before booking. Once you enable price tracking, the traveler will be automatically notified if the flight prices drop significantly. 

“You can set up tracking for specific dates, like your best friend’s destination wedding in February. Or, if you’re more flexible, you can turn on “Any dates” price tracking to receive emails about deals anytime in the next three to six months. To enable this feature, make sure you’re logged into your Google account,” it said. 

On some flight results, travelers will see a colorful price guarantee badge which means that the fare they see today won’t get any lower before departure, it added.  

Google says that the best time to book flights for Christmas is around early October. “Average prices tend to be lowest 71 days before departure — a big change from our 2022 insights, which found that average prices were lowest just 22 days before departure. And the typical low price range is now 54-78 days before takeoff.”

The best time to book flights from the United States to Europe is 72 days or more before departure. 

“Average airfares from the U.S. to Europe only tend to increase over time, especially once you’re about 10 weeks from departure,” the post read.

Updated: 30 Aug 2023, 11:06 AM IST