If you are planning to book flights around Diwali, Christmas, New Year or a cousin's wedding, Google Flights will help you find best deals ranked based on price and convenience as well as track the price.
Google stated, “If you want to save money on flights this holiday season, or any time of year, a little bit of planning can go a long way. Most of the time, it’s better to book on the early side, especially when your plans aren’t very flexible. But flight prices do change frequently, and there are often low fares to be found with the right tools (and some perseverance).”
Here are three ways you can find great deals using Google Flights.
Upgraded insights
Google Flights will now provide upgraded insights to help you decide whether to book your flight now or wait for ticket prices to come down. These insights will let you know if the best time to book your is a month or two before your journey or if the fares could come down just before takeoff.
Price tracking
If you plan to wait for ticket prices to drop before booking, turning on the price tracking feature on Google Flights will automatically notify you if flight fares are significantly low. The feature can be used only if you log in to your Google account. You can track prices for specific dates like the week before Diwali or for a close friend's wedding. If your dates are not specific, enable “Any dates” feature to receive emails about deals anytime in the next three to six months.
Guarantee badge
If you come across a colourful price guarantee badge while searching for flights, it means that Google Flights is confident the ticket fare won’t get any lower before your journey. When you book one of these flights, Google says it will monitor the price every day before takeoff. However, if the fares go down despite the guarantee, the price difference will be paid back to you via Google Pay.
Price guarantee badges are part of a pilot program currently available only for select Book on Google itineraries departing from the US. The feature will be rolled out to other countries, including India, later.
Other trends
Besides the above tools, Google Flights will also provide you booking trends to help with your budget travel. In 2022, Google shared money-saving tips based on historical pricing trends and the tech giant says most of the insights from the previous year are relevant in 2023 as well. For example, Google suggests that taking a layover or avoiding weekend departures will help you save flight fares.
