Search for flights in google

You can use the google.com website (and only this for now, the local ones are not showing the results) to find flights for a certain departing and returning time.

You simply enter a search in the format “From town1 to town2″ where both towns have to have an airport and direct flights between them.

From New York to London would be a valid request.

Google then shows as the first search result a box in which you can enter departing and returning time and below that box a link to the websites of Expedia, Hotwire and Orbitz.

You simply select one of the three and are forwarded to a booking page where you can book the flight.

Use Google.com to Search for Flights

Google technology is always advancing, much to the frustration of the competition. They feature yet another application from google.com that you can use to find flights for departing and arrival destinations at determined dates and times. You don’t exactly do this from google.com directly. This is the direct URL that will hook you up with this nifty feature:

http://www.google.com/flights/

When you go to Google, enter a flight-related search and then click “Flights” on the left pane of the search results page. You can also enter “Google flights” in the google.com search field and be directed to the URL listed above. Immediately, you will see a map with your present location conveniently entered in the “From” field. Then you enter your destination and a dropdown menu will be presented with different airport options for that city. Of course, both cities need to have compatible direct flights available between them.

Major city airports have flights between the departing city and the arrival city, while more obscure locations will not. The search will only give you results for valid requests. For example, “From Atlanta to Chicago” would be a reasonable search request and “From Chicago to Hot Springs, North Carolina would not be. You can determine the other modes of travel on your own, but Google at least offers you the major connections. Enter the date of departure and the date of return to the point of departure. You can also enter a price that would be ideal and search results will be narrowed down to that price range as long as it is realistic.

You will notice the average prices for the flights from your point of departure (as determined by your IP address) to your destination listed by the arrival points on the map. Below the Depart / Return / Price / Duration field entries, a list of flights available is presented. You will see many options to choose from, depending on the price range that you entered and the duration desired (again, this needs to be realistic).

Takeoff and Arrival times are listed with the expected duration of travel shown between. Airline options are listed and the routes are indicated along with the number of price options based on a minimum price for a round trip that is definitely not first class. The lowest prices are displayed in green and generally have the highest number of available flights. If it is on the company tab, you can dig a little deeper once you track down the specifics and hook up with business class if that is your style.

If you are familiar with air travel, you already know that the duration includes the layover time. You will see the layover city listed under the Route column. If you want a direct flight with no layover, the word “via” will be absent in the listing. Your air travel planning is made easier with just a few mouse clicks thanks to the mighty Google search. Pop open the laptop and within minutes you know your options.

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Author: Martin Brinkmann, Wednesday October 26, 2005 -
Tags:flights, Google, traveling