Author Archives: G. Travelblog

Finding the perfect hotel and flight for your trip

With summer in full swing, and the holiday travel season right around the corner, it’s time to plan those last-minute vacations and start thinking about where you’ll be spending your holidays this year. Today we’re announcing several updates to Google Flights and hotel search on Google to make it easier to find the right flight or the right hotel, at the right price, for your next trip.




Track airfare changes with Google Flights


Want to stay up to date on changing flight fares without having to continually check prices? You can now track fare changes for a date and route combination, or track specific flights in Google Flights, by simply selecting to track prices after you’ve searched for a flight. When prices either increase or decrease significantly, you’ll be notified by email and Google Now cards. This is rolling out over the course of the next few weeks in all 26 countries where Google Flights is available.

Google Flights: tracked flights on mobile and email notification of price change




Find the right hotel at the right price with Google

When it comes to booking a hotel, making the best decision can be stressful. We’re now making it easier for you to find the right hotel at the right price.

Everyone loves a good deal. When searching on Google for “hotels in [location]”, you may now see a "Deal" label indicating that a hotel’s price is lower than usual compared to historical pricing, or if there are discounts to the normal rate for those dates. These deals are automatically identified by our algorithms when we see a significant reduction in price. This will be rolling out globally over the next few months.

You can now filter results according to your preferences, like “Price” or “Top rated”, with one tap on your phone. You can even combine multiple criteria like “Top-rated pet-friendly hotels in San Francisco under $200” when searching for the perfect hotel. This is now available in the US and will roll out globally later this year.



Smart filters and deals in hotel search on Google



If there is an opportunity to save money or find better availability by moving your dates slightly, we may show you Tips. For example, you may see a Tip like, “Save $105 if you stay Wed, Jul 13 - Fri, Jul 15”. If the new dates work for you, simply tap to update your search and take advantage of the savings. We’ll be rolling Tips out globally over the coming months.

We hope these updates make planning your next trip easier and stress-free!

Posted by Richard Holden, VP of Product Management, Travel









Source: Google Travel


Google Flights lands in Malaysia

Whether you’re traveling from Penang to Perth or Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, Google Flights can offer inspiration and help you find the best flights available. Starting today, you can search Google.my or www.google.com.my/flights to quickly and easily compare and book flights — from your mobile device, tablet or desktop. And you’ll be able to see local content and pricing in Ringgit. 
Still trying to figure out where you’d like to visit and the best time to go? Try using our new flexible destination search feature that lets you explore based on dates, destinations and interests like: beaches, adventure travel, honeymoons and food.

Want to get away for summer holiday? Choose “1 week”, “June” and ”Beaches” to see popular destinations — with the best time to visit those destinations and the lowest price available to get there. Scroll through the suggestions and click on one of the tiles that interests you. You’ll see a snapshot of the least expensive flight and hotel options available (with price, stops and duration for flights — and 5, 4 and 3 star ratings noted for hotels).
Another fun and easy way to explore your options is to set your interest and expand the map by selecting “Explore destinations”. You’ll instantly see live prices for destinations that meet your interest category around the world. You can further filter results based on your preferences and personal budget requirements.
Perth sounds nice — and it looks like you can get there on a nonstop flight in under 6 hours.

Once you select your departure and return dates, you’ll be presented with a list of ‘Best flights’; which represents the best tradeoff of convenience and price.
Google Flights can also help you save time when you know where you want to go and when. Say you’re commuting on a popular route — like Kuala Lumpur to Singapore — that has multiple, similarly priced, nonstop flights daily. Enter your origin, destination and dates and we’ll display all the similar flights available on an easy to scan timeline. They’re grouped by airline, price and number of stops which makes it easy for you to consider your options and book the one that best meets your needs.
When you’re ready, simply select your outbound and return flights — and book your flights by clicking on one of the blue partner book buttons.
Our goal is to provide you with fast results as you easily explore where you want to go, figure out the best time to travel, quickly review flight options and book a ticket. We hope you’ll enjoy planning your next domestic or international trip with Google Flights!

Posted by Eugenie Lam, Head of Business Development, Travel

Source: Google Travel


New ways to plan your vacation while on the go

(Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog)
With spring around the corner, it’s time to look forward to sunnier skies—and summer getaways. These days, mobile phones make it easier than ever for you to sneak in vacation dreaming and planning here and there—in line at the coffee shop, waiting at the doctor’s office, or on your way to meet a friend.

In fact, last year, according to our internal data for google.com, we saw a whopping 50% increase in travel-related questions on mobile phones. But even as that number grows, it can be hard to get all the right information in one place on a small screen. There are a dizzying number of questions to answer when planning a trip: What are the best places to visit? What time of year is good to go? What kind of prices can I expect?

Today we’re introducing something to make all this easier: Destinations on Google, which helps you discover and plan your next vacation, right from Google Search on your phone.


Here’s how it works:

Search with Google on your mobile phone for the continent, country, or state you’d like to travel to and add the word “destination” to see an easy-to-browse collection of options. Destinations integrates a deep understanding of all the places in the world with Google Flights and Hotel search, so you can see available flight and hotel prices instantly. So instead of jumping between a dozen links or tabs to get the information you need, you can sit back and scroll—and leave the heavy lifting to us.

To find a vacation that’s just your style, search for a destination and something you’d like to do there, like “spain surfing,” “new zealand hiking,” or “colorado skiing.” We’ll suggest spots that fit with your hobbies and interests.

Say you’re planning to take some time off in June or July, but you haven’t decided exactly when to go. The “Flexible Dates” filter lets you refine your results by month, so you can see when fares and rates are lowest within the time range you want, across multiple destinations.

Want to avoid crowds or bad weather? Select any destination and tap the “Explore” tab to see what the weather is like year-round and when your destination is most popular, based on historic visits from other travelers.

Once you've selected a destination, tap "Plan a trip" to see rates for hotels and flights. We show you highs and lows for the next six months, so you can find the right price tag for you. And as you slide left or right, the results instantly update with real-time fares and rates, pulling from the trillions of flight itineraries and hotels we price every day on Google Flights and Hotel search. You can also tap the pencil icon to customize results further with flight and hotel preferences, including number of stops, hotel class, and number of travelers.

Whether you’ve got five days or 12, don’t fret about figuring out where to go first or which spots you can’t miss. Simply search for “Spain travel,” and click the blue arrow icon to browse the most frequently traveled itineraries. The suggested itineraries are based on historic visits by other travelers to those places, so you can use the wisdom of the crowd and save time researching.

Let Destinations on Google make it smooth sailing to your next vacation. Bon voyage!
Posted by Radhika Malpani, Engineering Director, Travel

Source: Google Travel


Explore, compare and book flights with Google in Portugal


      

Whether you’re traveling from Lisbon to Barcelona or Porto to Ponta Delgada, Google Flights can offer inspiration and help you find the best flights available. Starting today, you can use Google.pt or www.google.pt/flights to quickly explore, compare and book flights — from your mobile device, tablet or desktop. And you’ll be able to search in Portuguese, see local content, and all prices will default to Euros.
If you’re still trying to figure out where you’d like to visit and the best time to go — try using our new flexible destination search feature that lets you explore based on dates, destinations and interests like: beaches, adventure travel, honeymoons and winter sports.

Want to escape the wet, winter weather and head some place warm? Choose “1 week”, “March” and “Islands” to see popular destinations — with the best time to visit those destinations and the lowest price available to get there. Scroll through the suggestions and click on one of the tiles that interests you — you’ll see a snapshot of the least expensive flight and hotel options available (with price, stops and duration for flights — and 5, 4 and 3 star ratings noted for hotels).Another fun and easy way to explore your options is to set your interest and expand the map by selecting “Explore destinations”. You’ll instantly see live prices for destinations that meet your interest category around the world. You can further filter results based on your preferences and personal budget requirements.

Malaga sounds nice — and it looks like you can get there on a nonstop flight in about 2 hours.

Once you select your departure and return dates, you’ll be presented with a list of ‘Best flights’; which represents the best tradeoff of convenience and price. Google Flights can also help you save time when you know where you want to go and when.

Let’s say you’re commuting on a popular route — like Lisbon to Porto — that has multiple, similarly priced, nonstop flights daily. Enter your origin, destination and dates and we’ll display all the similar flights available on an easy to scan timeline. They’re grouped by airline, price and number of stops which makes it easy for you to consider your options and book the one that best meets your needs. 

When you’re ready, simply select your outbound and return flights — and book your flights by clicking on one of the blue partner book buttons.

Our goal is to provide you with fast results as you explore where you want to go, figure out the best time to travel, quickly review flight options and book a ticket. We hope you’ll enjoy planning your next domestic or international trip with Google Flights!

Posted by Nia Stoykova, Head of Business Development, Travel

Source: Google Travel


Explore, shop and book flights with Google in Russia

Whether you’re traveling from Moscow to Yekaterinburg, or Saint Petersburg to New York, Google Flights can offer inspiration and help you find the best flights available. Starting today, you can use Google.ru or www.google.ru/flights to quickly and easily compare and book flights — from your mobile device, tablet or desktop. And you’ll be able to see local content, local currency and search in the Russian language. 
Choose from recommended popular destinations you might like to visit — based on your preferences and previous visits — or set your dates and expand the map to instantly see live prices and explore destinations around the world. You can further filter results based on your preferences and personal budget requirements.
For example, if you choose Yekaterinburg and click on the departure date field, you’ll see a calendar with the lowest fares for the route highlighted for each day. You’ll also see a lowest fares graph below the calendar that shows how prices may fluctuate based on the season, holidays or other events. Scrolling through a couple of months you can quickly see when is a great time to fly.

Once you select your departure and return dates, you’ll be presented with a list of ‘Best flights’; which represents the best tradeoff of convenience and price. You’ll also see similar flights displayed on an easy to scan timeline — grouped by airline, price and number of stops.
When you’re ready, simply select your outbound and return flights — and book your flights by clicking on one of the blue partner book buttons.
Our goal is to provide you with fast results as you easily explore where you want to go, figure out the best time to travel, quickly review flight options and book a ticket. We hope you’ll enjoy planning your next domestic or international trip with Google Flights!

Posted by Terje Tjostolvsen, Head of Business Development, Travel

Source: Google Travel


Google adds trains to Google Flights in Europe

Every year, billions of people travel across Europe for personal and professional reasons — often choosing high-speed rail as a convenient option. Now Google Flights makes it easy to compare the time and cost to ride vs. fly when trains are a logical and good alternative to many flight routes in Europe.

We started by adding train options for routes in Italy and Spain. Today we’re excited to announce a partnership with Deutsche Bahn in Germany to bring their expansive, fast rail service to Google Flights.

This launch lets you use Google Flights to find train options for 56 destinations and nearly 400 routes across Germany and Northern Europe. Popular routes include domestic routes like Frankfurt-Munich and Hamburg-Stuttgart, as well as international routes like Zurich-Frankfurt and Frankfurt-Amsterdam.

"The Google Flights partnership specifically helps us reach international travelers. For many German and European routes, trains are an attractive alternative to flights. Deutsche Bahn´s integration into Google Flights is another step in our partnership with Google already providing train routes and itineraries for Google Maps,” said Mathias Hüske, Head of eCommerce at DB Vertrieb GmbH - Deutsche Bahn AG.

Google Flights also makes it easier to sift through long lists of similar trains. In the same way we group similar flights, trains are grouped together — with departure times displayed across a one-day timeline.

“On many routes the convenience of a train connection from city center to city center can offset travel times to and from the airport. We’re excited to bring European travelers even more options with expansive trains data from Deutsche Bahn,” said Noam Ben-Haim, Senior Product Manager, Travel.

Whether you’re shopping on a mobile device or desktop, Google Flights makes it easy to scan available trains and flights — to quickly determine which is best for you. Give it a try on your next European trip.

Posted by Daria Yartseva, Software Engineer, Google Flights

Source: Google Travel


Tell us what you think about the Google Travel Blog

Hello friends, partners and travel enthusiasts. We know it’s been awhile since our last post. The team has been focused on making the next set of features and travel products that will make your traveling life easier — and we’ve been doing our best to get the word out about all this hard work.

Now we want to hear from you. We’re asking you to answer this super short survey. Tell us what you like and what you would like to see more of on our Google Travel Blog.

If you don’t already do so, you can also follow us on our Google Travel Google+ page and Twitter.

Posted by Cheryl Eisele, Product Marketing Manager, Travel

Source: Google Travel


Get away with Google Flights

(Cross-posted on the Google Official Blog)

While winds howl, frost bites and snow falls, people dream of getting away from it all. Every year around this time, we see an uptick in searches for spring and summer travel from people who have had it up to here with winter. And in the middle of one of the coldest, snowiest, iciest winters on record in the U.S., you better believe people are gearing up to grab their suntan lotion and their carry-ons, and hop on a plane. Enter Google Flights, which makes it easy to plan the trip that’s right for you. Here are a few tips to help you book this year’s dream vacation.

Flexibility is key when finding great dealsThere’s a travel myth that you can always find the best deals on Tuesday. But actually, you can find good deals any day of the week—especially if you’re flexible with your travel dates. Though it’s sometimes hard to pull the trigger because you’re afraid the price will drop tomorrow (or next Tuesday, maybe?), our experience shows it’s usually best to book right away.

Regardless of which day you sit down to plan your trip, you can use the calendar in Google Flights to scroll through months and see the lowest fare highlighted for each day. If you’re planning even further out, use the lowest fares graph beneath the calendar to see how prices may fluctuate based on the season, holidays or other events. You can also set preferences (such as direct flights only) and our calendar will adjust to show you just those flights and fares that fit the bill. Finally, if you can save more by using a nearby airport or flying on a different day, we’ll show you a tip at the top of your results.
Not sure about your destination? No problem
Sometimes, you know exactly where your destination needs to be—say, when you’re taking a business trip, or headed to a wedding or family reunion. But there are times when all you know is that you want to go somewhere. Maybe you want to go somewhere with a beach, but don’t care if it’s in Greece or the Caribbean. Or you want to visit Southeast Asia, but aren’t sure which countries to visit.
Our research shows more than half of searchers don’t know where they’re going to travel when they sit down to plan. With Google Flights, you can search for regions or whole countries, like “Flights to Europe” and “Flights to Mexico." Or, expand the map to scan the entire world and see accurate prices for all the different cities you can fly to, along with filters for your flight preferences. If you’re in a particularly adventurous—or lazy—mood, select the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button on the map and we’ll suggest ideas for where to go based on popular destinations and your past search history.

But… cheaper isn’t always betterWe all love a good deal, but when it comes to choosing flights, cheaper doesn’t always win—and no wonder, when sometimes that means two connections instead of none. On Google Flights, the vast majority of people choose one of the Best flights—considered to be flights that are the best combination of price and convenience. Try it out next time you’re looking for something that fits your schedule, not just your budget.
So once you’ve warmed your hands on that cup of hot cocoa, put them to work on your keyboard or phone. Google Flights is ready to find the best destinations, dates, fares and flights for you to get away from it all.

Posted by Eric Zimmerman, Product Manager, Google Flights (dreaming of warmth from my Boston ice prison)

Source: Google Travel


Google Flight Search lands in Switzerland to help you find the best destinations and deals

Whether you’re traveling from Geneva to Barcelona, Zurich to Sydney, or you’re not sure where to go, Flight Search can offer inspiration and help you find the best flights available. Starting today, you can use Google to quickly and easily compare and book flights — from your mobile device, desktop or tablet. Try searching for [flüge von zürich nach barcelona] on google.ch, ask Google to show you flights from Geneva to Tenerife, or go directly to www.google.ch/flights.

More information and flexible features to help you find the best deals
If you haven’t decided where to travel next, expand the map in Flight Search to scan the entire world and see live prices for all the different cities you can fly. It’s a great way to explore the world around you and find somewhere new to travel.
You can easily find the least expensive time to travel if your dates are flexible; just use the calendar or the lowest fares graph below that shows you when it’s cheapest to fly.
Scan the similar flights timeline to compare available flights — grouped together by airline, price and number of stops. You can also quickly determine which flights are the best tradeoff between price and convenience by looking at those labeled Best flights.

Google can also monitor flight prices for you, to make sure you don’t miss a good deal. Check out your list of saved flights within Flight Search to see if the prices are trending up or down, how often they change and by how much. You can also let the Google app on your Android or iOS keep tabs for you. When the price drops for itineraries you’ve previously searched for on Google, you’ll see a Now card that notifies you of the airfare change.
Want help keeping track of travel itinerary details for upcoming or past trips? Try searching for [My trips] within Google to see a summary of your flight, hotel, car and restaurant reservations — in one convenient place.
Flight Search gives you more information faster, so you can make informed decisions about the best flights for you. Give it a try and let Google help you with all your 2015 travel plans.

Posted by Marek Turski, Tech Lead Manager, Travel

Source: Google Travel


There’s still time to plan an affordable New Year’s Eve getaway

Still looking for somewhere fun to ring in the new year? With a few tips from our experts and money-saving features in Flight Search you can still find a good deal -- even to popular New Year’s Eve destinations like Las Vegas or New York City.

Tools to help you stay on budget

  • Expand the map within Flight Search to see lowest fares for all the different places you can visit and explore your flight options. 
  • Be on the look out for a “TIP” with your flight search results — letting you know if you can save by using a nearby airport or flying on a different day.
  • Consult our calendar to quickly scan the lowest fares highlighted for each day and pick the best date.
  • Use the lowest fares graph below the calendar to see how prices may fluctuate — and find the least expensive time to fly.
  • Choose one of our suggested “Best Flights” in the results, that show you flights with the best trade-off between price and convenience.

Tips to save on flights during the week of New Year’s Eve

  • Consider booking a flight that arrives on New Years Eve. It's less expensive overall, saving you an average of 15%*. Certain destinations such as Fort Lauderdale or Denver may save you an average of 35%*.
  • Return on New Year’s Day. You may have to limit the champagne toasts but, for some destinations like Miami, San Juan, or Madrid, you can save an average of 16%*.
  • Shift your travel plans by two days and save 15%* on average (for example, try leaving on the 29th vs. the 27th). 

OK -- let’s put all this advice into action and show you how you can use Flight Search to find a frugal flight this New Year’s Eve. Let’s say you live in Denver and you want to watch the ball drop in the famed Times Square. In this example, our “TIP” shows you how you can save over $100 by departing a day earlier and returning a day later.


By looking at the calendar and lowest fares graph, you’ll see you can save even more if you arrive on New Year’s Eve and extend your stay a little.


While we can’t guarantee these low fares will last for long, we hope these money-saving tips and features have inspired your sense of wanderlust. What are you waiting for? Use Flight Search to figure out the best flight deals and book your New Years Eve getaway.

Posted by Steve Franklin, Technical Program Manager, Travel

*The above data was obtained on December 15, 2014 by using Google Flight Search for 2-10 day trips, with departure dates of December 26th through December 31st.

Source: Google Travel