• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • RECOMMENDED BOOKS
  • FREE TOOLS
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT

The Fortunate Investor

Investing, Business & Personal Finance For Wealth Builders

  • Save Money
  • Invest Your Money
  • Get Out of Debt
  • Making Money Online
  • Family & Money
  • Taxes
  • Business
  • Retirement
    • Retirement Calculator
Home » 6 Ways Google Flights Can Save You Time and Money on Travel

6 Ways Google Flights Can Save You Time and Money on Travel

December 15, 2019 By Pamela | This article may contain affiliate links. For more information visit our Disclosure

Tweet
Share
Pin
Share
Share

One of the downsides of our loan repayment journey was that my husband and I did not have much time or money allocated towards travel. We would take every opportunity for overtime and side hustle gigs to get rid of our loans quicker and allocate as much financial resources towards clearing our liabilities. This allowed us to pay off $120,000 in 2.5 years, but left us little money for vacation expenses.

However, now that we are debt free and having a fully funded emergency fund, we have started taking vacations regularly and incorporating this expense back into our budget. I found Google flights was a great starting point for novice travelers like myself that want to find affordable flights and accommodation without too much complication. Here are a few features that make Google flights a great tool to use to save money when you travel.

  1. Discover flights

If you’re not sure where you want to go, Discover Trips helps you narrow your search by providing you with the cheapest flights and accommodation. Simply input the month your interested in travelling, the continent you would like to travel to (if you’re not sure you can select ‘everywhere’) and what activities/interests you would like to do while on vacation.

The advantage of this feature is that it requires little information from the user and is great for those that want to travel but have not necessarily narrowed a place to travel too. This feature works best if you are not picky on which time period you wish to travel in a given month.   Here is an example of flight costs from Calgary to different places in Europe for a week in February. Google automatically notifies me that the cheapest time to fly in February is around Feb 27-March 7.

discover trips

Note: These prices are based on Canadian dollars, one adult, round trip.

  1. Price Tracking for Flights

If you are not happy with the ticket prices quoted, have Google flights notify you by email when prices drop considerably so you can take advantage of them before they are gone. Many times airlines will have sales on flights at different times throughout the year. This information may not have been captured when you first went on Google flights as the airline has not provided the sale yet.

Let Google flights notify you when prices drop for your destination for any day of the year or for specific dates you wish to travel.

flightsbest time to book my flight

  1. ‘I’m Feeling Lucky’ button

i'm feeling lucky map

This is probably one of my favorite feature with Google flights. This feature is a quick and lazy way to get Google to do all the work for you. The versatility of this feature is the major reason why I like it. In order to access this feature, users must be in the ‘explore map’ section of the screen (not flights). See below.

Once on this screen, users can either decide to narrow their search by giving Google more specifics about their trip like which dates, maximum price they want to spend on flights (Google flights typically assumes a round trip for 1 adult unless you tell it otherwise), the duration of the trip etc. Then when you hit the “I’m Feeling Lucky”, Google generates a destination point that fits the specifics. Every time the button is clicked, a new destination is generated.

Alternatively, if money and time is not an issue for you, you can opt to set no parameters and still use this feature. Google flights will try and find good deals, but your search will be widened. Below is an example of a destination that was generated through this feature. From Calgary to Orlando, Florida round trip for $390.

us flight map

  1. Prices are quoted after taxes and fees

The prices that Google flights populates is after taxes and applicable fees. That’s huge for budgeting and planning your trip at a glance. If you live in Canada, you know how expensive the landing, airport and environmental fees are, especially when taking domestic flights. That feeling when you realize your flight costs just increased by $300 or more in taxes and fees by the time you checkout. Google flights has no surprises; the price they quote on Google flights is the same (or similar- may be off by a few cents) to the price on the airlines website once you get redirected to checkout. No surprises.

Here is an example for a round trip from Calgary to Montreal. Google flights quotes the price at $536 and West Jet’s final price is $535.10

book track and share

booking with westjet

  1. Quoted in your local currency and ability to change currencies:

Google can determine where you live and quote a price based on your local currency. However, unlike other booking sites where you may be restricted to one or two currencies, Google flights allows you to toggle between numerous currencies.

local currency

  1. Flight sorting feature

choose your flightSometimes getting the cheapest flight deals may come at cost (but not always). Once you know where you want to go, when you want to go and roughly how much you are willing to spend, Google flights provides a list of flight options that fit your price range and date.

To narrow your search even further, you can have your flight options based on categories like price, departure, duration, arrival, airline and stops. Each category option lists results in ascending order. Duration factors in both air time and lay over time and is listed from the shortest duration to the longest duration.

There are many great resources for booking trips, but I found Google flights very intuitive, easy to use and great for novice travelers that want a good deal, but may be intimidated by having so many options. In addition to the standard features that you would find in most travel websites, the features mentioned in this post make Google a top travel flight website.

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post for Google flights.

  • About
  • Latest Posts
Pamela
A 30-something PF bloggers that enjoys savings money, spending wisely, building wealth and helping others do the same.
Latest posts by Pamela (see all)
  • 5 Best Investment Apps in 2020 - December 2, 2020
  • 4 Financial Pillars Everyone Should Have - September 13, 2020
  • 12 Ways to Know You Worry Too Much About Retirement Savings - September 11, 2020

Primary Sidebar

Popular Articles

Should You Use Red On Your Website

Should You Use Red On Your Website?

There are lots of components that come together in regards to effective and attractive web design. … Read More about Should You Use Red On Your Website?

4 Things to Do If You Want to Get Out of Debt

4 Things to Do If You Want to Get Out of Debt

Whether small or significant, debt is something that affects everybody. It could be credit card debt … Read More about 4 Things to Do If You Want to Get Out of Debt

Simplifying The Quest Of The Online Side Hustle

Simplifying The Quest Of The Online Side Hustle

Time and time again these days, we’re bombarded with suggestions for top side hustles that are … Read More about Simplifying The Quest Of The Online Side Hustle

The Benefits of Using A Reciprocating Air Compressor for your Business

How to Establish A Manufacturing Business During 2021

Starting a business takes a lot of time and dedication and growing your business is something that … Read More about How to Establish A Manufacturing Business During 2021

Looking To Improve Your Credit Score Here Is What You Should Do

Looking To Improve Your Credit Score? Here Is What You Should Do

Your credit score tells a lot about you. It is the tool that financial institutions use to gauge … Read More about Looking To Improve Your Credit Score? Here Is What You Should Do

Footer

TOPICS

SAVE MONEY
INVEST MONEY
REDUCE DEBT
MAKE MONEY
FAMILY & MONEY
TAXES
START A BUSINESS
RETIREMENT

THE FORTUNATE INVESTOR

ABOUT US
ADVERTISE
CONTACT US

The Fortunate Investor focuses on personal finance topics to build wealth. Topics include saving money, investing, managing debt, family and money, taxes, making money, college planning, starting a business, coupons and retirement.

SOCIAL MEDIA

FACEBOOK
TWITTER
PINTEREST
INSTAGRAM
YOUTUBE

Copyright © 2021 Fortunate Investor. All Rights Reserved. | Disclaimer & Disclosure | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service