Mastering Google Flights: Secrets to Snagging Cheap Airfare
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Why is Google Flights the go-to search engine for families trying to find affordable airfare, you ask? Its many useful features, easy to use search function and nearly all airline carrier options, make it stand out from the crowd.
While no single platform always offers the cheapest flights, Google Flights comes pretty darn close. Which is why we’ve created a step-by-step guide on how to use google flights to find cheap flights.
Google flights is a tool that my own family uses to find cheaper flights around the world. It’s always my first stop in researching any destination, as flights can be a significant part of your family’s travel budget.
This introduction will guide you through the best tips and tricks to find the most affordable flights via Google Flights. Perfect for families travelling on a budget.
Ready to find the best deals? Let’s go.
But how is Google Flights different from search engines like Expedia, or Kayak you ask? Many of those platforms are online travel agencies (OTAs), where you buy your tickets, hotels etc, through them.
Unlike some other platforms, Google Flights allows you to book directly with airlines and offers a “Price Guarantee” feature, ensuring you get the best deal possible.
They also have robust filters and tools that help you pinpoint the cheapest times to book your flight, as well as help you explore cheaper destinations around the world through their “explore” map.
Making your trip planning & finding cheap flights much easier, by adding searching google flights to your pre-travel checklist.
But before we get into the how to use google flights guide, I want to quickly go over some pros and cons of using Google Flights. So you know what to expect.
Pros of Google Flights
Google Flights is a search engine. It searches for airlines & flights, then sends you to book directly with the airline. Personally I like booking my Family’s flights through the air carrier itself, as there’s less hassle if I need to change a flight or deal with delays etc.
Here are a few of our favorite features & reasons to use Google flights:
- Flexible Dates Feature: You can easily see how prices change over different dates, helping you find the cheapest time to fly.
- Calendar View: The calendar makes it easy to see the lowest prices for each month for up to a year ahead.
- Price History: Google shows you when airfares are expected to be the cheapest for booking your chosen dates & if the current price is high, low or medium in comparison. This helps you figure out if you should buy your ticket right away or wait a bit longer, so you can maximum savings.
- Search Multiple Airports: It allows you to search multiple airports at once, to find the cheapest fares. This is especially helpful for international destinations.
- Direct Booking Links: It provides direct links to book with airlines, reducing the risk of extra fees from third-party sites.
- Explore Option: For those open to inspiration, the ‘Explore’ feature suggests destinations based on the best available deals. I’ve found a few of our family vacation destinations this way.
- Price Tracking: Google Flights allows you to track prices for specific routes and will notify you of price changes by email.
- Price Guarantee: For eligible flights, Google Flights offers a price guarantee, potentially refunding the difference if prices drop after you book.
Cons of Google Flights
No flight search is perfect, and here are a few things to watch out for when using Google Flights.
- Not Always the Cheapest: Sometimes, cheaper deals can be found on budget airline websites or through the online travel agencies who have deals directly with carriers. So I always double check my preferred airlines directly afterwards, to make sure it’s the best deal.
- Prices May be Out of Date: Prices can change rapidly, and some cheap flight info may be out of date on occasion.
- Doesn’t Include every Airline: Google Flights doesn’t include every airline, such as Southwest Airlines. You may have to search some budget airlines separately.
- No Package Deals: It focuses solely on flights, so you’ll have to look elsewhere for Flight and hotel / rental car package deals.
- Can Be Biased: The default sorting is by ‘Best flights,’ a combination of price & duration, which might not always match your personal preference for the cheapest or fastest option.
Regardless, we think Google Flights is one of the best flight search options out there, and where you should start your search.
Then you can always look through Expedia & Momondo, Skyscanner etc. to see if there’s a cheaper option that may be worth it for you.
PRO TIP: ⭐️ Don’t have a lot of time? We recommend & use Going’s cheap flight newsletter to get flight deals right in your inbox.
HOW TO FIND CHEAP FLIGHTS WITH GOOGLE FLIGHTS
The Basics: How to Use Google Flights
First up, let’s head over to Google Flights. Just type “Google Flights” in the search bar, or https://www.google.com/travel/flights and it should pop up.
Click on it, and welcome to the starting point of your next adventure! You’ll see a search box waiting for your plans to take shape.
Watch our Walk Through
Menu: Changing Currency, Location & Language
Before we get into all the cool features, I’m going to quickly show you how to use the menu.
Here you’ll find shortcuts to Search Flights, Google Flights Explore, and Tracked Prices (more on this later).
As well as a way to change your currency, location and language. This is helpful if you’re looking for flights from a place you aren’t in currently. For example, for this article I changed my currency & location to the USA from Yellowknife, Canada where I currently reside. So all info is in USD.
Flight Search Box
Now, let’s get down to business. You’ll see some boxes where you need to fill in your travel info. Here’s what you do:
- Where you’re flying from: Type in your departure city or airport in the “From” box. You can add up to 7 origin cities or airports. Just click the + button in the right hand corner.
- Where you’re headed: Put your destination in the “To” box.
- Dates: Choose your departure and return dates. If your dates are flexible, Google Flights can help you find the best options. More on this later.
- # of Travelers: Don’t forget to let it know how many people are flying.
- Seat Class: Options include economy, premium economy, business, first
That’s it! With just a few clicks, you’re on your way to finding flights. One less thing to check off your travel planning checklists.
PRO TIP: Use the city, rather than airport to find more options, as it will give you flights from all the airports near that city. See below.
Searching by Multiple Origin Cities or Airports
You can add up to 7 origin cities or airports by clicking on the Where from? box, then clicking the + in the right hand. That way you can find the cheapest airport to leave from near you.
Basic Google Flights Search
If you know where you want to go & the dates, all you have to do is put that info in and click the blue search button.
For this example I chose an economy round trip flight from New York to London for one person, the first week in June. I used cities to give us an idea of cost of flights for all airports around New York & London.
They list the top 3 best choices, as well as hundreds of other different flights you can choose from in the other departing flights section.
- Review your options and click on the departing flight & return flight that works best for you or your family.
- Or look at alternative dates if you aren’t happy with the price / flight details. (Use Date Grid or Calendar View of dates. More info on that below).
Once you’ve made your selections it takes you to a page where you can choose which airline or company you want to book your ticket through.
Just click through your preferred choice, and it will take you to the airline’s or online travel agencies website to complete the booking. I like that they tell you which one’s are the airline directly.
A few important things to consider:
- Best Departing Flights: Google shows you the flights it thinks are the best based on things like how much they cost, how easy the trip is, how many stops there are, and how long it takes to get there. But this may not be the best for you.
- Price history: The price history in this example shows flights are cheaper than usual, so this may be a good time to buy. Click the down arrow for more info. In the chart below you can see average costs are usually $760 to $1050 USD.
- Hidden Fees: Check what the ticket does or doesn’t include, as hidden fees may make the ticket a more expensive option.
In this case the cheapest ticket didn’t include overhead bin access, which may mean you’d have to pay more for that (see screenshot below).
Something to consider, as the next best flight is on the lower end of the average price range for this ticket.
- Cheapest Flight Option: You’ll often find the cheapest flight isn’t necessarily the most convenient route for your family, or may not include baggage or have less ideal seats & less leg room. It may also be a non-refundable. So keep that in mind when looking at all the options & be sure to click the arrow on the right for more flight info.
PRO TIP: Search One Ticket at a time: If you’re searching multiple tickets at a time, your search will default to the ticket price that’s available for all passengers. This won’t necessarily be the cheapest tickets if there’s only 1 or 2 left at a cheaper price. You can always link your tickets together by calling into the airline afterwards.
Flexible Dates: Playing around with dates for the best deals
While there’s no definitive best month, or time period to find the best flight deals, there are some general rules.
- Flexible Dates: To get the best price on flights, it’s much easier if you have flexible dates. This is key, especially if you can avoid peak season travel.
- Book midweek – cheapest fares tend to be midweek for both domestic and international travel.
- Domestic flights – at least 1-2 months ahead
- International flights – 3 to 6 months ahead
That said deals happen all the time. The two other ways I personally use to monitor cheap flights and recommend are Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights) & . They send me amazing deals by email daily.
PRO TIP: I also like to say, the best deals are the one’s you can afford for the time you want to go.
The two easiest ways to search for cheaper dates on Google Flights are to either use the Calendar View or Date Grid view.
Calendar View
The Calendar View pops up when you click on the departure date rectangle.
It shows a two month range. Click on the forward and back arrows to search different months until you find better prices.
Using our example above, I used the calendar view to find cheaper flight options from New York to London in September.
Even the lowest price with carry on baggage was $536, which was lower than usual & would save around $200 per ticket if we chose to leave September 1st instead of June 1st.
This method is also how I found cheaper flights for our trip to Vietnam. I just played around with the dates calendar to see when the best time to go was, and set a price tracker (more on that later).
Date Grid
To continue our example above, I didn’t like that there was only one cheap flight with no carry-on baggage allowance once I had already chosen my June dates. So I clicked on the Date Grid Icon.
Below I’ve circled a couple of dates in the date grid that look interesting still in June. You can also click on the arrows next to the departure or return dates to move the dates forward or backward.
Setting Flight Alerts
Setting flight alerts will send info on your chosen flights & price changes directly to your email. It can be for certain dates, or any time.
I’ve found this to be especially helpful if you have specific dates in mind, or have to travel during a certain time period.
If you’d rather just watch your flights for any time, just use the Track Prices “Any dates” button instead.
In fact I got an email this morning using the “Any dates” option, with some great prices for a week long trip in April from Newark, New York to London.
Of course you still have to click through to see if these prices are still active.
When I did this, these prices weren’t still showing on google flights, they were double the price, so I went directly to the Aer Lingus site. They still had some cheap tickets in these price ranges for the dates in the email.
PRO TIP: If google flights isn’t still showing the cheap prices sent to you by their tracker emails, check directly with the airline for flights on those days. Sometimes you can still grab those deals directly.
Digging Deeper: Using Filters Like a Pro
Alright, now that you’ve got the basics of searching Google Flights down, it’s time to really get into filters.
As a parent, there’s no way I want to spend an extra 16 hours in various airports dragging my kids around to save an extra $200 if I don’t have to.
Which is why these filters are your secret weapon to customize your search and get exactly what you want.
- Filters will show up once you’ve entered your initial dates and destinations and click through. Using these options will narrow down your flight choices.
- One thing to keep in mind is that changing the filters will decrease your options and potentially increase the price of your tickets.
So you may have to play around with the filters to find a gem in there that still meets all your needs & is a great price.
Filter by Number of Stops
No one loves layovers, but sometimes they can save you a bunch of money. Google Flights lets you choose how many stops you’re okay with.
Direct flights are great when possible, but if you don’t mind an extra stop or two, you might find a better deal.
Search by Specific Airlines
Got a favorite airline or two? Or maybe there’s one you’d rather avoid? The airline filter lets you pick either the airlines or alliances you want to fly with.
Stick with what you love or explore all options. Helpful if you like to collect points, or are trying to reach elite status or have special benefits through a certain airline.
Check for Flights with Baggage Included
This is a biggie. Checking bags can add a lot of extra cost to your flight.
Use the filter to find flights that include baggage fees in the price. That way, you know exactly what you’re paying upfront, no surprises.
This option may limit your options & increase the price, so you may need to adjust. In the example above adding a checked bag increased the lowest price by almost $200.
Check out our tips for what to do if your luggage is delayed or lost to be prepared.
PRO TIP: If you have baggage benefits through your credit card for example, I recommend not clicking baggage included to give you more options, and better prices. You’ll be taken to the airlines website anyway to book, pay & use any benefits you may have.
Filter By Departure & Arrival Times
Not a morning person? Or maybe you want to avoid overnight flights with young kids? The times filter lets you pick when you fly out and when you land.
It’s perfect for tailoring your flight to your schedule. Because sometimes that 3 am wake up call for a 6:30am flight is just not worth it. Especially with young cranky kids (or spouse) in tow.
Choose Your Connecting Airports
Filter by the connecting airports you prefer to fly through and the layover duration.
Sometimes we prefer a longer delay if we’re worried about making a connection, or want to stay overnight in between with kids. Because spending hours overnight in the airport is not the most fun.
Some airports are also super stressful, known for regular delays & not worth the hassle if you can avoid it.
I have to agree with Visa Guide’s report naming London’s Gatwick Airport the most stressful. Last time I was there it was a s*#t show! Although Munich’s Airport takes a close send with delays 49% of the time.
Pick The Duration of Flights
Filter by the length of flight(s) you’re willing to endure. It won’t let you enter a flight time less than the quickest flight anyway.
Now we will move onto one of my favourite features of google flights, which is the explore feature.
Exploring Destinations: Using The ‘Explore’ Feature for Inspiration
Ever get that itch to just go somewhere but can’t decide where? Or just want a cheap warm destination anywhere, preferably as soon as possible?
Google Flights has got your back with its ‘Explore’ feature, perfect for when you’re feeling adventurous but need a little inspiration. The Explore and map features are where it’s at.
It has all the search parameters & filters as the google flight search page, but with more flexible date options & a map you can move around & click on destinations to find flights worldwide.
Getting to ‘Explore’
- Head over to Google Flights (or use https://www.google.com/travel/explore directly)
- Look for the “Explore” option, found under the search boxes and in the menu. Click on the “explore” button to start your journey.
Setting Your Parameters
Just like the search page, you can set all your preferred search parameters & filters.
- You need to enter at least the departure city or airport, and it usually defaults to a one week trip in six months.
One of the drawbacks of the more flexible explore option is you can’t look for flights more than 6 months out. However you could just play around with specific dates if you’re looking for trip ideas beyond 6 months.
PRO TIP: For the most flexible search options pick your departure city & length of trip in next six months (they have a weekend, 1 week or 2 week options).
Dive Deeper with the Map
For this example I chose a one week trip anytime in the next 6 months from New York. I moved the map around to find a destination that looked interesting, in this case Aruba.
When you click on a place on the map, info pops up (on the left on desktop – see video above).
Which gives you a list of activities to do, Flight options & price history, recommendations for where to stay, when to visit, and people also ask questions as you scroll through. Which is super helpful when first researching a destination.
In this case it gave all that info about Aruba.
Tips for diving deeper into the Map:
- Zoom in & out on the Map: Move around the map to “explore” potential destinations or regions you want to focus on. I love doing this, and have found a couple of our more last minute vacation destinations this way, including our last Cuba trip.
- Discover New Places: Click on any price tag on the map to get more details about flights & activities in that destination.
- Adjust On the Fly: Change your dates, travel budget, or departure point directly from the Explore page to refine your search.
- Combine with Other Features: Use ‘Explore’ in tandem with price tracking and flexible dates, plus hotel & popular activity recommendations & people also ask questions, for an unbeatable strategy to find the best deals & vacation ideas.
I also really like that the cities / destinations google recommends change as you move around the map.
Google Flight Price Guarantee
Google’s Price Guarantee is a relatively new addition. When you see this option, it means Google is fairly confident the flight’s price is at its lowest.
Here’s how to use it to your advantage:
- Look for the Guarantee icon: Not all flights have it
- Google will automatically check flight prices for you and notify you if there’s money to be refunded.
- Confirm that you actually booked the flight & you’ll get the difference back in Google Pay after takeoff
- This feature gives you the confidence to book early, knowing you won’t miss out on a better deal later.
Conclusion: Your Journey to Cheap Flights With Google Flights
Now your ready to become your own Google Flights Master.
From playing with flexible dates to setting up price alerts and exploring unknown destinations, you’ve learned the ins and outs of this powerful tool.
Now, it’s your turn to put these tips to the test. Happy exploring!
Related Travel Planning posts:
- All our family friendly destinations here
- Tips to maximize summer vacation fun while saving money
- Best places to buy online tour & attraction tickets
- Printable Road Trip Planner
- Find out if & how you can bring water bottles, or tennis rackets or magnets on a plane?
