Plot Your Perfect Getaway: How to Use Google Flights to Find Your Dream Vacation
Plot Your Perfect Getaway: How to Use Google Flights to Find Your Dream Vacation - The Power of Flexible Dates
One of the best ways to score a great deal on airfare is to be flexible with your travel dates. While it's tempting to lock in specific dates for a vacation, keeping your options open can lead to huge savings.
When using Google Flights to search for fares, pay attention to the price graph that shows airfare fluctuations over time. You'll likely notice certain date ranges that are significantly cheaper than others. The ability to slide your travel dates earlier or later by a few days or weeks can result in hundreds of dollars in savings.
For example, let's say you want to visit Paris in early June. When searching on Google Flights, you see roundtrip fares from New York hovering around $800 for most of the month. However, there is a dip down to $550 for departures between May 25-31. Pushing your trip back just one week could save you $250!
The same idea applies for the return date. The lowest fares may require staying an extra few days or week in your destination. As long as you have some wiggle room in your schedule, take advantage of these dips and spikes in pricing.
Along with shifting your dates earlier or later, also consider traveling during shoulder seasons. Peak summer and holidays are often the most expensive times to fly. You can find lower fares by traveling in the spring, fall or even winter (for warm weather destinations).
Google Flights makes it easy to visualize airfare patterns over the course of a year. Select your route and click on the graph to see monthly averages. Look for extended periods of lower pricing and plan your getaway accordingly.
While planning around price graphs and seasons can save money, also factor in weather and crowds. Visiting a beach destination in the quieter shoulder season may mean missing out on ideal weather and swimming conditions. Check historical temperature and rainfall data to ensure the timing still meets your goals.
What else is in this post?
- Plot Your Perfect Getaway: How to Use Google Flights to Find Your Dream Vacation - The Power of Flexible Dates
- Plot Your Perfect Getaway: How to Use Google Flights to Find Your Dream Vacation - Advanced Search Options for Customizing Your Trip
- Plot Your Perfect Getaway: How to Use Google Flights to Find Your Dream Vacation - Finding Hidden Deals with Google Flights' Tools
- Plot Your Perfect Getaway: How to Use Google Flights to Find Your Dream Vacation - Narrow Down Options with Specific Airport Codes
- Plot Your Perfect Getaway: How to Use Google Flights to Find Your Dream Vacation - How to Track Prices and Get Alerts on Price Drops
- Plot Your Perfect Getaway: How to Use Google Flights to Find Your Dream Vacation - Comparing Multiple Destination Options at Once
- Plot Your Perfect Getaway: How to Use Google Flights to Find Your Dream Vacation - Tips for Searching International Flights
- Plot Your Perfect Getaway: How to Use Google Flights to Find Your Dream Vacation - Maximizing Your Budget Without Sacrificing Experience
Plot Your Perfect Getaway: How to Use Google Flights to Find Your Dream Vacation - Advanced Search Options for Customizing Your Trip
While the basic search function on Google Flights allows you to plug in your origin, destination and travel dates, there are additional tools that give you more customization and control over your flight search. Taking the time to explore these advanced options can unlock savings and help you craft your ideal itinerary.
One of the most useful advanced search filters is "Add nearby airports." This lets you expand your origin and destination options to include smaller regional airports within 100 miles of your original city. For example, when flying to London you could add London City, London Southend and London Luton airports to your search alongside Heathrow and Gatwick. Opening up your airport possibilities like this often reveals cheaper flight options.
You can also filter by the number of stops, airlines, departure and arrival time ranges, cabin class, refundability and more. Selecting "1 stop or less" under stops will only show nonstop and one-stop flights in your results. If you want to leave in the morning or evening specifically, adjust the departure time filters. And for those insisting on flying in business class, simply check that cabin class box.
When it comes to airlines, choosing "non-budget" will filter out bare-bones basic economy fares that charge for carry-ons and seat assignments. You can select individual airlines directly too. This comes in handy when you're trying to use or earn miles on a preferred loyalty program.
For frequent travelers, one of the handiest advanced features is tracking prices. You can have Google monitor fares on specific routes and get email alerts when prices rise or drop. This takes the guesswork out of deciding when to book. You'll know exactly when airfare hits your target price point.
Beyond the standard search options, Google Flights' Explore feature opens up additional flight possibilities. Punch in your home airport and click Explore. You'll see an interactive map of destinations around the world color-coded by price. Click any pin to see available flights and get inspiration for your next adventure.
Plot Your Perfect Getaway: How to Use Google Flights to Find Your Dream Vacation - Finding Hidden Deals with Google Flights' Tools
Savvy travelers know that sniffing out airfare deals takes some detective work. Sometimes you have to look beyond the obvious to uncover savings. Google Flights equips users with an arsenal of tools to help surface elusive discounted fares. Digging into these features can expose deals that aren't visible at first glance.
One of the most useful tools is Google Flights' price graph. This visual map of fares over time quickly highlights anomalously cheap dates for booking. You may notice brief dips and valleys in the graph indicating mistake fares or unexpected sales. Set your target dates but keep an eye out for these temporary promotional windows.
Travel blogger Jenna of This is My Happiness saw rock bottom rates to Asia thanks to the graph: "I was originally looking at $800 flights to Thailand. But when I checked the price graph, I noticed fares dropped to $500 for two random days in October. It made no sense...but I booked it immediately!"
Google Flights can also find hidden gems when exploring potential destinations. Choose your departure city and click 'Explore Destinations.' A map pops up showing flights around the globe color-coded by price. You can uncover surprisingly affordable options by clicking on unconventional pins.
For example, when exploring from Los Angeles, the cheapest pins led me to avoid Europe and instead consider beach havens like Costa Rica or Seychelles islands. These were not on my radar initially but jumped out thanks to Explore Destinations.
Travel hacking expert Nomadic Matt leverages this tool: "I found a $350 flight from New York to Madrid using Explore. I never would have thought to search that route on my own."
Beyond maps, Google Flights' tips reveal insider info to score deals. The app provides notifications alerting you when prices are unusually high or low. This intelligence helps seize temporary fare mistakes and flash sales most travelers are oblivious to.
Filtering features are also invaluable for uncovering hidden savings. You can isolate routes by cabin class, number of stops, refundability and more. For instance, selecting 'Business Class' displays luxury flights discounted below full price. Adding a stop suddenly reveals fares hundreds less than nonstop.
Plot Your Perfect Getaway: How to Use Google Flights to Find Your Dream Vacation - Narrow Down Options with Specific Airport Codes
Rather than searching for a flight to New York City or Los Angeles, veteran travelers know to use airport codes to pinpoint the best options and prices. general “NYC” or “LAX” searches pull up every airport in those metro areas, flooding you with hundreds of flight combinations, many far from ideal. Targeting a specific airport cuts through the noise to filter choices and reveal hidden gems.
Frequent flyer Gary Arndt swears by punching in airport codes first when deal-hunting: “I always start with the airport code rather than city name. If I’m heading to the Big Apple, I’ll search JFK, LGA or EWR specifically before using NYC as my destination. It saves so much time sifting through irrelevant results.”
Depending on the city, you may find certain airports consistently offer lower fares and fees. In the Los Angeles area, Burbank and Ontario airports typically have cheaper pricing than LAX, especially on low-cost carriers. Nailing down the cheapest airport ahead of time and plugging in that code can yield instant savings.
Airport codes also provide benefits when exploring destinations. On Google Flights’ Explore feature, click an airport pin to view flight details. You’ll notice sometimes multiple airports populate for a city. In Washington DC for example, clicking IAD may show $350 roundtrips while nearby DCA pin displays $275 options. Always explore all nearby airport combinations.
Beyond prices and proximity, airport codes give insight on transportation logistics. When choosing between O’Hare, Midway and Milwaukee for Chicago flights, consider rental car expenses, transit accessibility or Uber estimates for each. Arrival and departure terminals are also helpful when selecting layover cities to minimize connections.
According to travel hacking guru Nomadic Matt Kepnes, "I save so much time and stress by using airport codes directly. I don't bother searching a whole city anymore. Just plug in the top 2-3 airports and compare.”
Plot Your Perfect Getaway: How to Use Google Flights to Find Your Dream Vacation - How to Track Prices and Get Alerts on Price Drops
One of the most useful features of Google Flights is the ability to track prices and set up alerts for when airfare drops. This takes the guesswork out of deciding when to book and ensures you'll snag the lowest fare.
To track a flight, just click on the blue “Track price” button when viewing search results. You can add multiple routes to track. Google will monitor prices daily and plot price changes on a graph. This visual makes it easy to identify price trends over time.
When you first track a flight, Google asks how low prices need to drop before you want an email alert. You can set your target price threshold here. For instance, if the current fare is $500, enter $400 to get notified if it ever dips to that amount.
According to frequent flyer Gary Arndt, "The most valuable part of Google Flights is tracking and alerts. I have about 25 different tracks saved at any time. It requires no work on my part to monitor prices."
You’ll also receive alerts for other noteworthy price changes like when fares are unusually high or low compared to history. This allows you to jump on mistake fares and flash sales you would otherwise miss.
Nomadic Matt Kepnes relies heavily on tracking: “Thanks to Google alerts, I’ve scored $350 flights to Europe and $500 trips to Japan that I never would’ve known about. The tool is free and saves me thousands.”
Airfare expert Chris Guillebeau takes advantage of the forecasting feature too: “Google Flights doesn’t just tell me when prices drop. It actually forecasts when I should expect the lowest fares up to 12 months in advance. This helps me plan early.”
Beyond email notifications, you can also enable mobile alerts via push notifications from the Google Flights app. This ensures you never miss a price drop even when you’re away from your computer.
Travelers should take advantage of tracking multiple departure dates and nearby airports too, not just specific flights. You might discover an arbitrary day that’s $200 cheaper at an alternate airport. Monitoring a range of variables increases your chance of hitting the jackpot.
According to wanderlusting couple Dalene & Peter Heck, “We have flight tracking down to a science. Between flexible dates and nearby airports, Google alerts have saved us over $2,000 on airfare over the past two years.”
Plot Your Perfect Getaway: How to Use Google Flights to Find Your Dream Vacation - Comparing Multiple Destination Options at Once
Vacation planning doesn’t have to be limited to a single location. With Google Flights, travelers can effortlessly compare airfares across multiple dream destinations all at once. This unique tool opens up your options and ensures you lock in the lowest prices no matter where you want to jet off to.
Rather than obsessively researching flights to a single place, enter 2-5 of your top city picks as potential destinations. For a European trip, try London, Paris and Barcelona. For a beach getaway, consider Cancun, Montego Bay and Punta Cana.
Google Flights automatically filters and compiles the cheapest flight results across all your inputs. You can view options side-by-side to get a snapshot of each route’s pricing and easily spot the best bargains.
For digital nomad Alyse Kalish, bouncing between locations is a way of life. “I’m constantly on the move, so I always run multiple destinations at once in Google Flights to find my next home base. It makes trip planning super seamless to see my top picks all together.”
Don’t limit yourself to just regions either. Consider domestic and international locations in one search. Beach bum Erica Geller loves the variety: “I compared flights from Austin to Hawaii, Costa Rica and California recently. Hawaii ended up being cheapest so I picked that paradise, but it was cool to see different options.”
If your timing is flexible, enter a range of dates rather than specifics too. Travel vlogger Oneika Raymond explains: “I compared flights from NYC to Nairobi, Cape Town and Johannesburg over a whole month. Prices were drastically different across cities and dates. Saving that $300 let me stay longer.”
Google Flights results are color coded, making it easy to identify the cheapest destinations at a quick glance. You can further sort by price, duration, number of stops and more to rank options according to your priorities.
Don’t forget to try nearby and alternate airports as well when comparing locations. LA entrepreneur Jonathan Gebauer reveals his strategy: “I always compare a matrix of airports like JFK vs LAX and EWR vs SFO. Nailing down the cheapest city + airport combo has saved me so much.”
The ability to efficiently contrast multiple dream trips prevents you from fixating on a single destination that may not actually offer the best value. As wanderlusting teacher Shannon Kaiser puts it, “I love not limiting myself to one place. Comparing options gives me the confidence I’ve found the cheapest destination for my budget.”
Plot Your Perfect Getaway: How to Use Google Flights to Find Your Dream Vacation - Tips for Searching International Flights
When planning a trip abroad, scoring an affordable international flight can feel like an uphill battle. But mastering a few Google Flights strategies tailored to overseas routes opens up a world of possibilities. You’ll be jet-setting the globe without draining your bank account.
According to digital nomad Kathrin Walter, “I live out of my carry-on hopping between countries. Google Flights helps make this lifestyle achievable on a budget thanks to pro tips like exploring nearby hub cities.”
Frequent flyer Eric Gati suggests first checking routes through international hubs like Istanbul, Doha, Dubai or Panama City. Large carriers like Turkish, Qatar, Emirates and Copa route through these airports offering cheap fares worldwide. “I recently flew Miami to Kuala Lumpur through Panama City and Istanbul for only $650 roundtrip. Way better than the $1,200 direct flights,” says Eric.
When entering origins and destinations, try nearby major cities too. Flying abroad from alternate airports can provide huge savings. “I compared flights from both Washington DC and Philadelphia to Nairobi. Philly was $400 cheaper thanks to it being a United Airlines hub,” explains travel vlogger Oneika Raymond.
Varying stopovers is another key strategy according to digital nomad Dalene Heck. “I split up my Germany to Thailand trip into separate one-way flights with a week stop in India. It ended up being cheaper to purchase the flights separately than a roundtrip ticket.” Stopovers allow you to break up long hauls and explore multiple destinations for a fraction of the cost.
Travel agent Stephanie Parker suggests avoiding one-way international tickets when possible. “I always start by pricing roundtrips first. Two one-ways usually end up being way more expensive than a single roundtrip booking even if the return date is left open.”
When tracking prices over an extended timeframe, focus on routes and airlines where award space is prevalent. According to loyalty program expert Chris Dong, “Airlines like Turkish, United and Avianca release more award seats down the line, so watching those routes specifically gives you a better shot at snagging a mileage deal.”
Treat overnight flights as regular daytime flights when estimating duration. Digital nomad Lola Mendez explains, “A 14 hour red-eye flight will still take up two days of your trip accounting for transit and recovery time.” Factor this into multi-city itineraries.
Veteran traveler Megan Indoe emphasizes checking both dollar amounts and award miles when searching. “Occasionally it’s cheaper to book international flights with miles than actual cash. Make sure to compare both options.” Redeeming points and miles is ideal for luxury cabins with inflated fares.
Avoid throwing away ticket remnants after a trip too. “I saved the second unflown leg of an old Barcelona ticket and called Iberia to reuse it later for Madrid,” says tour guide Alyssa Ramos. Unused ticket segments can provide credits for future excursions if reservations get cancelled or changed.
Plot Your Perfect Getaway: How to Use Google Flights to Find Your Dream Vacation - Maximizing Your Budget Without Sacrificing Experience
For many travelers, budget is the ultimate deciding factor when planning a vacation. But sacrificing too much in the name of saving money can negatively impact your trip. The key is maximizing value while minimizing costs. With some strategic planning using Google Flights, you can have an incredible experience without breaking the bank.
"I refuse to settle for bad flights, hotels and activities just to keep costs down," says budget traveler Megan Starr. "With Google Flights, I can hunt for deals without compromising on quality." Megan uses Google's tips and price tracking to pounce when five star flights to Europe dip as low as $300 roundtrip. Rather than cramming into budget carriers, she luxuriates in spacious Economy Plus seating for nearly the same cost.
Food writer Sabrina Modelle echoes this: "I found $500 direct business class tickets to Asia thanks to Google Flight alerts. I'd rather fly in style for a bit more than endure multiple economy flights with layovers." Sabrina doesn't sacrifice comfort or convenience.
Luxury accommodations can also fit into tight budgets by maximizing off-peak discounts. "I used Google Flights' Explore tool to search European destinations, then matched cheap flights with five star hotels during shoulder seasons," explains travel photographer Lauren Bullen. "My lodging averages just $100 a night for luxury properties."
Avoiding hyped tourist activities also unlocks savings without detracting from your experience. "I visit famous sites early morning when entry fees are lower and crowds are sparse," says travel vlogger Lucy Feng. "Then I spend afternoons exploring free local highlights recommended by friends." Connecting with locals yields a more authentic trip too.
Travel agents leverage insider intel as well. "We access specially negotiated hotel and tour rates not available to the public," notes Stacy Cohen of Miles For Family. "Our clients enjoy VIP experiences and extras for the same cost as regular tourists paying rack rates."
According to personal finance blogger Elle Martinez, "It ultimately comes down to priorities and tradeoffs. I don't mind slumming it at discount hotel chains, but splurge on amazing food tours and cooking classes to immerse myself in the culture." Determine your must-haves versus nice-to-haves.
No matter your budget, realizing value matters most. "I've had way more fun on road trips staying in cheap motels than forced resort vacations focused on overpriced cocktails by the pool," says travel writer Kristin Addis. "Meaningful experiences make a trip, not flashy extras."