Google Flights

Hey Y'all!

So I know I've been away for a few weeks... I had some personal family issues that kept me away. Maybe I'll share that with you guys later but for right now, I'm back!

How was everyone's summer? Did you guys take any exciting vacations? How about stay-cations? Anyone?

My sister recently got married! In Jamaica! It was her and her new husband's first time leaving the country... and their first time flying!

That's right... you read that correctly. My sister and her new husband had never flown before! I'm just as shocked as you guys lol. I mean here she is with a sister who has flown more times than I can count and she's just now getting her wings!

Now I'm just messing with them and teasing because I know there is plenty of people, even some of you that have never flown before. Some of you probably have only flown once. Maybe the only times you've ever flown were scheduled by a travel agent? The first time I ever flew was in a group so my flight was scheduled for me. I didn't have to learn how to plan a flight until I had a couple of flights under my belt.

Today, with the influence of my sister and new brother-in-law, I hope to share some flight wisdom. Specifically my new favorite site. Google Flights.


What is Google Flights?

Google Flights is a website operated and owned by, you guessed it, Google, with the intent to help travelers, like you and me to

"...find the best deals and routes for air travel." *

 Now you're probably asking, why not use Expedia or one of the other well known sites travelers use to booking flights? Don't they promise the best deals too? Yes, they do. I love Expedia, I use it every time I book a hotel, but I prefer Google Flights when I book a flight.

Why Google Flights though? Because you ACTUALLY know you're getting the best deal. Not because Expedia or Travelocity told you so. You can see it with your own eyes ya'll!

You see, Google Flights does show you the best deals! After you select your departing airport and arriving airport, Google Flights will show you on a calendar the cheapest flights of every day in green. This is especially great when you have wiggle room for selecting departure dates!

Let me show you how it works.

Google Flights Home Screen

 Okay, this is what Google Flights home screen looks like. You'll see it's pretty simple. Pretty easy to navigate (another reason to love it). Everything you need to know is there at the very top. That's it.

At the top it has the options of Round trip, One way, or Multi-City to choose from. Just to be clear for first time travelers here:

Round trip: a ticket that allows a person to travel to one place and then return back to the place he or she left *

One way: a ticket that allows a person to travel to one place *

Multi-City: a ticket that allows a person to travel to more than two places

 You can also choose between economy and first class seating, how many adults, children, or infants are flying in the top right hand side. We'll come back to economy and first class seating later.

Let's work an example of how AWESOME Google Flights is with a One Way Ticket. Let's say I'm flying from Washington D.C. to Orlando, FL... in September. I'm looking for the best deal remember? Google Flights is going to show me the best deal on flights and show me the best day to fly. (This is great if my day to fly is flexible, but not everybody is that lucky.

What I'm going to do is open Google Flights, you can type google flights into your address bar up top or www.google.com/flights. I'll take a screen shot of what I selected from there to make it easier but I'm going to select One way at the top once the website opens. Then I'm going to select Washington D.C. as the departing city and Orlando, FL as the arriving city. Next, I'm going to click on the calendar to choose my date to fly out. Since I want to fly out in September, I'll choose the month of September. Now, here's the best part. The calendar on Google Flights is going to show me the cheapest flight price of every day. The days lit up in green are the cheapest days of the month and the recommended flight days.

Selecting Your Dates

Still with me? Everyone up to speed? Great! What happens now? Well when you pick your date, Google Flights gives you a list of every flight flying out of your departing city into your arriving city (or if you were specific, departing airport and arriving airport. For this example, I choose September 12th. Let's see what airlines where flying. Not only does it show you the airlines but the times of the flights as well, just in case a certain flight doesn't work with your schedule.

Flights Available September 12

Google Flights is that easy! And Round trip is just as easy as One Way! You just select your departing date and arriving date on the calendar and viola! Same thing! Just make sure to pick your departing date first before it will load the accurate flight prices when picking your return trip.  The price you see on the calendar will be your round trip airfare price (not the price of a ticket there and ticket back, no worries.)

Round Trip Selection

In the above screenshot, I selected a round trip ticket from Washington D.C. to Orlando and it was just as easy. It showed me that departing and returning in September was cheaper than returning in October would be.

How do you book your flight?

Booking your flight through Google Flights is a piece of cake. After you select your dates and you are looking at the list of available flights to choose from, click on the flight that you want to take! When taking a round trip flight, you'll actually select two flights, one for departing flight and one for return flight.

And here is the SECOND reason I love Google Flights... when the booking page opens, it actually compares Google Flights with Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline, Orbitz, CheapOair! And guess what, if you had booked through any of those other sites, you'd of paid more!

Google Flights does find the best deals and routes for air travel!

THANK YOU, GOOGLE FLIGHTS!


I hope this helped y'all with your own future flight planning and made it much easier!

Happy Travels,

The Bultena Family

* "Get Started with Google Flights." Google Flights Help. Google, 2016. Web. 21 August 2016.

* "Definition of Round-trip Ticket." round-trip ticket. Merriam-Webster, 2015. Web. 21 August 2016.

 * "Definition of a One-way Ticket." one-way ticket. Merriam-Webster, 2015. Web. 21 August 2016.