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Google Flights: How the Google Flights search engine works

 

Google Flights: How the Google Flights search engine works

What is Google Flights

Google Flights is Google's own tool that is used to organize one or more flights and have all the information in this regard centralized on the page itself. When we are going to organize a flight , the ideal is to have as much information as possible before flying, especially regarding the destination to which we are going. Google Flights was born for the same purpose and with a few clicks we will see everything related to the place where we are going to travel; from hotels, rentals, trips, tourist sites to visit ... any information that may be helpful will be offered by Google instantly.


First of all, we must clarify that this service is offered by Google and, therefore, we will need an active Gmail account.


How to use the Google Flight search engine

 To start, we will only have to go to the page https://www.google.com/travel/flights and first we will see how to create a trip. 

If you have activated the location of the device you are using, it will automatically set the origin for you. The typical fields of Destination and round trip date appear immediately. When selecting a flight date , you will see that an extra window appears with information about when it is cheaper to travel , ideal if your dates are flexible since the difference is often overwhelming.


When you give it to travel, it will take you to another page where all the flights it has found appear, ordered by relevance. We can see in detail each one of them, as well as the regulations of the selected flight. During flight selection, Google Flights informs you whether the price is good or not , based on regular and nearby flights.


When you acquire the round trip you will be redirected to another external page, where the process is to complete the personal data, payment method and verify that everything is correct. On this other page it also lets you modify some flight parameters such as checking in additional bags, choosing a flexible rate for changes or cancellations, flight insurance ...


Google Flights as an information center of our destination

 This we have seen so far is the usual process of buying a flight, but Google Flights goes further and offers much more extensive information . For example, from the home page we can click on Explore, in the menu on the left. On this page we can set a maximum price to see what flights are available without going over our budget.


In addition, on the left we see a list of destinations with two prices, the top one is the flight price and the bottom one is the accommodation price, in case we need it.


On this same page, at the top of the map, we can choose various filters such as certain airlines, stopovers, schedules and flight duration . Everything is designed so that we do not have to resort to any other website. As we said, the information is highly centralized around Google Flights .


The next thing we will see is the information that Google offers about the destination. In our case, we have selected Oslo, in Norway, and by clicking What to do (in the menu on the left), we will enter a window with a lot of information about what to visit, where to go, and highlights of the place we are going. On this page we can save an itinerary that we think is appropriate to have the places we want to visit just one click away.


If we go down on that same page we find interesting options about which places to visit, based on filters of our preferences such as outdoor places, ideal for children, local favorites, art and culture, history ... There are even predefined itineraries depending on the time that Let's spend in the city


The next section is the Hotels section, where Google Flights tells us first-hand what is available regarding accommodation in the destination city . It is all very intuitive and offers useful information instantly. By just selecting one, we can go to the official website if we want more information about it, although Google already offers us enough. As always, it is possible to filter by prices so that it does not get out of hand.


How to plan your trip with Google Flights

We have saved the Google Flights trip planner for last . This page is accessed through the left menu, at the top where it says Travel. In this section we can plan several trips at the same time , either concatenated or simultaneously (for different people, for example). To begin we click on Create a trip, at the bottom right.

Now we can quickly customize our trips, selecting where we want to go, the time we will spend in that place and what will be the next place to visit. At the end we see a list of what we have selected as a summary, we click Save.


Then it will take us to the page of our travel itinerary , where everything is saved. Also, you should know that Google will save each and every one of the sites you visit . If we now go to any of the previously visited sections, we can gradually add to each destination where we will stay, sites that we will visit ... all in a personalized way for each of the trips we have planned in this last step. In addition, Google Flights collects information from the weather forecast for those days in each destination and adds it on the cover so that we can get an idea of ​​the weather during our stay.


However, from this page it is possible to select all of the above. For this we choose one of the destinations we want to inquire about and we will see that below on the same page we will see everything related that we have discussed previously.


Once we have everything selected, this will be saved in our Google account , so we will always carry it with us and we can quickly consult it.


Summary of what Google Flights offers

In short, Google Flights is a powerful tool for search and travel planning . It has a wide search engine for cheap flights with filters and indications on whether they are well priced on the selected day, in addition to advising on when they are cheaper and to which destination it is best to travel.


After that, it also allows you to select the accommodation and save a travel itinerary and places to visit in each place where you stop for a few days, so that you do not get distracted and remember everything you planned from your sofa. home.

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