How to Use Google Flights
Welcome to Google Flights for dummies :) This is the number one way I search for flights and will soon become your best friend for researching flight prices.
To get started, the link you need is: www.google.com/flights
Something to note, Google Flights is simply a search engine showing you an amalgamation of flight prices and information. It is not an OTA - or an “Online Travel Agent” like Kayak or Travelocity. You cannot book on Google Flights, but this is no problem. It will direct you to the airline’s website, which is the safest way to book your flights.
Let’s get started…
Homescreen Basics
Once you’re on the homescreen, you can toggle the basic information:
departing airport
arrival airport
round-trip, open-jaw, or one-way
fare class (economy, business, first, etc)
dates / length of trip
You can toggle the ticket type - round trip, one way, or multi-city/open-jaw. Open-jaw or multi-city tickets are great if you’re visiting multiple cities and countries on one trip. I’ve written about it more in-depth here if you’re curious.
You can also toggle the fare class, as seen above. If you want to see the cheapest flights, look at economy. If you want a bit more lux and comfort, look at premium economy and above.
And my favorite part, you can view in calendar mode. Be mindful of the length of trip at the bottom of the calendar view, as this affects the pricing. Take some time to toggle between the length of the trip and the dates to maximize your price! You can see here the vast difference in prices by week and by day even.
Selecting Your Flight
Once you select your dates, your next page will open up with all of the flight options. Typically, the best flights (meaning shortest flight times, least amount of and shortest layovers, for the lowest price) are listed at the top - as you can see “Best” is highlighted.
If you don’t care about the length of your flight, you can toggle to “Cheapest”
On this page, there is a lot of info. Starting from the left side, you can see the logo for the airlines - we have American Airlines, United, and then Delta - which you can see is also written out beneath the flight times.
Next over, you see the flight times. The first time listed (for example, 2:43 pm) means you will be leaving Memphis airport at 2:43 pm. The next number (7:00 am+1) is the arrival time at the destination airport. For the all of these flights, it is an overnight flight, as you can tell by the “+1” next to the arrival time.
You can click the arrow on the side next to the price to see the flight path broken down, including the travel time, layover time length, flight number, airplane type, and ticket price - this gives you the most comprehensive view of your flight. On the right side underneath “Select Flight,” you’ll see what is included in your flight + basic information, such as if wifi is available, if there are screens on the back of the seats, the legroom and carbon emissions.
Once you select your departure flight, you will automatically be directed to returning flights. You have the same functionality on this page of being able to see the flight time, path, inclusions, etc.
Once you have selected the flight you’d like to move forward with, you will be directed to this page. Be sure to confirm all the information is correct:
dates
times
cities (departure, arrival, and return!)
price
On the same screen below the flight information, you have your booking options. This breaks down how much each fare costs and what is included. Depending on your priorities, you may want to change the fare option.
Then at the bottom of this screen, you will see the graph for average flight prices. For me, this is irrelevant as I keep an eye out for the not-your-average cheap flight. This is a good tool though if you’re looking for a random flight and you want to see if it is historically cheaper.
Once you are ready to book your flight, you will go back up to “Booking Options” and click “Continue” on the fare option you’d like. This will then redirect you to the airline’s website where you will book through them.
Extra Features
Some icons to be aware of are the luggage icons next to the price. The one above shows you get one carry-on, but no checked bag (you pay extra for a checked bag). Some allow one carry-on and one checked bag, some don’t allow any carry-on luggage at all and you must pay to check a bag.
Be sure to check the luggage information before you buy, because sometimes the luggage price once accounted for is more expensive than just opting for the next fare ticket (meaning, it may be cheaper to book a Premium Economy with luggage and seat selection included than a Basic Economy ticket and pay for luggage and/or seats).
You also have all of these options at the top of the page underneath the departure city, arrival city, and dates.
Stops means how many layovers you want filtered out. So if you want a nonstop direct flight, you would click this filter and select “nonstop only” if there are any options available.
Airlines will filter out which airlines you want to book with. If you have loyalty to any specific airlines, or you want to avoid an airline (side-eyeing you, Aer Lingus), then you can make those selections here.
Bags will show you flights where a carry-on bag is included.
Price gives you the option to select a limit of how much you’re willing to pay for a flight and will show you flights accordingly.
Times gives you options for both your outbound and return for departure and arrival times. For example, if you want to leave after your work day, you can toggle to only show flights after 5 or 6 pm. If you want to arrive first thing in the morning at your destination, you can toggle to not show any flights arriving after 10 am.
Emissions will give you the ability to select flights with less emissions only.
Connecting Airports allows you to select which airports you’d like to have a layover at. This can be a good option if you’d like to try a stopover program or you want to shop at a specific airport store or visit a specific airport.
Some airlines offer stopover programs, which will give you a long (24-hour or longer) layover in a city to allow you to explore. TAP Air Portugal and Turkish Airlines both offer these features for no extra cost to your fare.
Duration will allow you to toggle how long you want to be flying for. No one wants to fly for too long, but some travel days are quite extreme. This give you the option to decide your limit and will show you any flights within that frame.
Things to Notice
Be sure to check the airport code. Memphis is lucky that our airport code is MEM. Paris has 2 major airports and their codes are CDG and ORY. Be sure to know which airport you are arriving to and departing from so there is no chance of you missing your flight.
Some cities have multiple airports, like Paris mentioned above. Try to be mindful of how far the airports are from the city and see how best to get to and from the airport.
Some flights have a “Book Separate Tickets” notice - meaning your ticket is on one airline going one way, and another for the return (for example, maybe Spirit is the flight to Orlando, and American Airlines is the flight returning home). You cannot miss this option as it is is big red letters. This isn’t an issue, but something to note since you’ll be coordinating with 2 separate airlines for check-in, luggage, boarding passes, etc.
I’ve written a post on some expert and deep-dive features available on Google Flights here.