If you often fly on popular air routes -- like Los Angeles to San Francisco -- you’ve probably faced the challenge of sifting through long lists of nonstop flights, all with similar prices. In fact, routes like these have over 50 nonstop flights every day. While having all the information in one place is convenient, the choices can be overwhelming -- especially on a mobile device.

Now Flight Search offers a new way to shop for flights on popular routes that makes it much easier to scan available flights and quickly determine which is best for you. Instead of displaying every flight individually, Flight Search groups together similar flights, then displays those departure times on a one-day timeline. Flights are grouped by airline, price and number of stops -- and Best flights highlight those options that are the best tradeoff between price and convenience.

To use the timeline, tap on a circle to select a single flight. Alternatively, tap anywhere else in the similar flights box to expand the full list of individual flights. You can then select a specific flight, or tap on the similar flights box again to collapse the list.

We think this unique display will make it easier and faster to find the best flight possible, whether you’re shopping on a mobile device or desktop. Timelines only appear on busy air routes with many similar flights. Give it a try on your next business trip or vacation on one of these busier routes.

Posted by Peter Balsiger, Software Engineer, Travel