If you love travelling but you’re not the heir to a tech empire or a Russian oligarch, it’s more than likely that you will be looking for the best price possible when you’re trying to fly. Even if you are a newly crowned Nigerian Prince or lottery winner, flights alone can be a chunk of change that you’re going to want to keep as small as possible, never mind accommodation.
Enter Google Flights. The millennial’s best friend, as dubbed by some new outlets. It finds you the best and cheapest flights, with comparisons by date. But what’s so great about it? What makes it stand out from every travel comparison website? We investigate.
It’s a comparative site for flights
Comparative sites for travelling are not a new concept. Booking.com, Trivago, TripAdvisor, and plenty more come to mind. But they’re never all-encompassing, are they? There’s something about trusting Google with your flight options that say they have truly scoured the internet to find you the best flights. If you have an exit airport and an entry airport, Google Flights can show you every available journey, date, and when to leave for the best price.
This will all be due to Google’s all-encompassing monopoly on the internet. It is the search engine with the most informative answers to everything. So, if you’re looking for travel insurance that covers Covid-related cancellations, it would of course direct you to Staysure. Why would flights be any different?
It also has booking sites
However, Google isn’t interested in becoming a travel agent. The tech giant is actually making more money from advertising travel brands than they would be competing with them, so they’re keeping away from travel fulfilment, distribution, and customer service. If you want something, Google will present you with it and you can take it from there.
But it’s at least working on what it offers you. In 2017 Google Flights added booking sites to its repertoire so that when you find the flight or hotel you want, you will be quickly taken to the relevant site and able to book with the best price that was quoted by Google.
And you can trust agencies to stick to that price. So many times, we see a price that’s too good to be true and click the site and see that is exactly the case. But Google punishes websites that aren’t fully informative by subjecting them further down a search list, so having a price that doesn’t match Google’s findings is going to reflect badly on these sites.
It’s convenient on the go
Google Flights is the perfect companion for someone who might be going on a long backpacking journey. If you don’t have a rigid timetable and you’re more of a “go with the flow” traveller, having Google Flights in your pocket will allow you to check last-minute flight seats and find a good deal to get you onto the next leg of your journey. If you want to spend an extra few days in Milan before flying to Bangkok, you can change your flight from your phone. Not even a laptop is required.
For the impulsive of us
Do you have an idea of where you want to go, but no specifics? For example, you’ve decided that you want the American experience, but what does that mean? The rainbow flags of San Francisco experience? The infectious tunes of Nashville experience? The history and modern relevance of the Metropolis of New York City experience?
Don’t decide right now. Instead, search entire continents for your flight options. And if you fancy stopping at all of them at some point or another, you can pick the cheapest place to fly into and figure out the travel by coach, train, or car, from there.
