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Good morning!

This week we’re very excited to share one of our favorite tools to find great deals on airfare, and why YOU should take advantage of it. 

Here’s what we’ve got for you:

• ✈️Google Flights’ Explore tool and new money-saving features 

This past summer Google Flights added A LOT of new features to its platform, and there’s plenty to be excited about.  

What’s Google Flights? 

Google Flights is hands down the best travel search engine for those looking to find cheap flights to anywhere within their budget. A quick search will show you ALL available flights (except Southwest) to a certain location and options to book that itinerary. Not only is it user-friendly, but it’s incredibly powerful for booking flights and often the first place I check when planning a trip as a gauge to compare various airline prices. 

How to run a basic search:

The Google Flights dashboard is simple to navigate. Select your departure city, destination, and date(s) of travel. There are several drop-down menus for round-trip, one-way, or multi-city itineraries, number of passengers, and ticket class. 

Additional Filters Include:

• Number of stops

• Airlines

• Bags

• Price

• And more

Check out TPG's article for more information on performing searches. 

Want to travel somewhere, but need some inspiration?

Look no further than the little-known ‘Explore’ tool which allows users to find getaway deals without a specific destination in mind. 

Start by entering your departure city and click round trip, but don’t select a destination. Instead, click the ‘Explore’ option which will take you to a map with plenty of options for destinations. You can also narrow down your search results by specifying a certain country or region such as ‘Europe’ or the ‘Caribbean.’ 

Still not sold? It gets even better. 

Click on ‘Calendar’ and you can choose between specific and flexible dates. There are options for a weekend, 1 week, or 2 week trip within the next six months. It’s a fantastic option to take advantage of the amazing prices if you have some flexibility on when you can travel. 

Using the ‘Explore’ tool, I can easily view the cheapest available ticket prices for plenty of destinations from my home airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, throughout the next six months. For example, I managed to find and book a round-trip flight to Porto, Portugal in January for $427. Although that may be off-peak travel, you can see how useful the feature is for finding cheap airfare that works with your student schedule. 

Beyond the ‘Explore’ feature, Google Flights’ latest features go even further to help you find the cheapest possible airfare.

So, what’s new with Google Flights? 

Cheapest Time to Book: Google Flights already allows users to see whether current prices are typical, low, or high compared with past averages for the same route. The recent features now provide enhanced guidance so you know exactly when’s the best time to book a flight with the cheapest airfare. 

Price Tracking: Waiting for lower fares before booking, but getting annoyed with having to constantly check and re-check? Users can set up tracking for specific AND flexible dates to be automatically notified by email when prices drop significantly. 

Price Guarantee: Look out for the price guarantee badge that’s currently being piloted. The badge will pop up for certain (not all) flights when Google’s algorithms are confident that you have found the lowest available price. After booking, Google will continue to monitor the price until the flight departs. If the price drops, Google pays the difference between the booked flight price and the lowest ticket price ensuring you’ve received the best possible deal.

Google Flights is an incredibly powerful travel tool when it comes to quickly searching for the best flights and ensuring you get the best deals. Google has stepped up its game with these new features, giving YOU even more reasons to add it to your travel arsenal.

That’s a wrap on this week’s newsletter. 

Until next week, happy exploring! 🌎

Dustin Tran

Founder & Content Lead