In a previous post, I wrote about Google Hotel Finder – an experimental search tool that allows users to find hotels faster and easier. I mentioned that Hotel Finder is one piece to the “planning-a-trip” puzzle, not knowing that Google was cooking up more magic in a few weeks to come. Last week, Google introduced Flight Search. Similar to Hotel Finder, Flight Search allows users to find flights quick and easy.
In April, Google acquired travel software company ITA for $700 million. After the acquisition, many speculated and waited to see how Google would make its stance in the travel industry. On September 13th, Google made its presence by launching Flight Search. With the launch of Flight Search, Google hopes to “build new travel tools that provide faster, more flexible, and more useful results to online travel searches.”
What does this all mean?
Well, now when you search on Google: “flights to [destination]”, a “Flights” link will appear on the left panel of the Google SERP. The “Flights” link directs the user to www.google.com/flights.
When I searched “flights to Miami”, a list of flights (my departure automatically defaulted to NYC airports) appeared and I was able to view a variety of carriers’ round-trip fares. A few listings came up as “unknown price” – but more on that later.
Along with convenience of searching for flights right through the Google interface, Google also prides itself as delivering “super-fast results.” No more waiting for the site to load and “Finding the Best Prices for You!“, nor do you have to deal with 100 different screens opening in different windows so you can “compare” prices.
The user is also able to get a sense of when to travel. When you click on the calendar icon, a graph appears and allows you to compare prices at different times. Below, I’m comparing prices between my desired travel time of October 6 – 10th, as well as the weeks ahead and before my desired time. The dark blue line indicates the week I have chosen, which happens to be the week with the highest price range. The price seems to decrease for the weeks following this time.
Last but not least, Flight Search gives users options and more options! Now that it is getting cold in NYC, I’ve decided that I need a little more warmth – so maybe I’ll head to Miami. But, at the same time, Miami is too much like New York, except with palm trees and warmer climate, in my opinion. So, where else can I go that’s relatively close but warmer? Flight Search gives the user the ability to explore other destinations by filtering by price, airline carrier and flight time. So now, since I want to find another warm destination other than Miami, I can choose a filter for, let’s say – Continental Airlines, within 5 hours of NYC and costs less than $500…. The result: Dallas, Texas (amongst other destinations that came up) – not sure if I had Texas in mind, but it’s an option!
Now, for the Good, Bad and Ugly of the new feature:
- The Good: I did save time in finding flights and I did not have to deal with annoying pop-up windows to compare prices. I also like the fact that I can customize my searches and filter for different carriers, price points, etc.
- The Bad: For now, the user is only given the option to search for flights within the United States. I originally searched for flights to CDG (Charles de Gualle) and was given an error message (hopefully international flight search is in the near future).
- And The Ugly: Earlier I mentioned receiving an “unknown price” box appearing when I searched – I have seen this a few times in the feature. Not sure if this is a glitch in the system or deliberate? But, not being able to view prices takes away from having a flight search tool in the first place, no?
You can learn more about Flight Search here. All aboard!
Tags: Flight Search, Google, Nicole Smith, Travel