Booking flights through Google Flights has become more profitable: the service will refund your money if plane tickets become cheaper

Making sure you're paying a reasonable airfare can often feel like a fool's errand. If you're lucky, you'll catch the wrong rate or an instant sale. But more often than not, you will be thinking and thinking for a very long time. Can anyone really beat airlines at their own game? But then Google comes into play and creates an incredible feature. The edition told in more detail Bloomberg.

Google Flights seeks to change the game. On April 3, the search giant announced a new price guarantee feature that promises to track prices daily and pay customers the difference if their rate drops at any time from booking to departure.

For now, this applies mainly to some US flights operated by Alaska, Spirit and Hawaiian. You can also find international flights from the US, such as the Canadian airline WestJet.

If the round trip itinerary you are booking is eligible, you will see a light blue price guarantee icon displayed above the fare option. You must then book your itinerary directly through Google using the "Book on Google" link in the search results. This means that you enter your information and payment details on a platform hosted by Google, which passes them on to the airline, which then confirms and manages the booking.

“What we want to do is take our pricing information to the next level,” says Jade Kessler, product manager at Google Flights. “We hope to offer this to as many users as possible and expand it beyond Book on Google.”

While there is no official timeline for the expansion, Google says its long-term plan is to roll out the warranty feature on as many U.S. and international flights as possible, through as many carriers as possible.

For discounts, customers will receive email notifications and see payments automatically appear in their Google Pay accounts. From there, they will be able to freely transfer this money to their personal bank accounts. Those who do not have a Google Pay account will receive instructions on how to set it up to access funds.

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Google says it does not charge airlines for booking flights through Book on Google, nor does it receive a percentage from airlines for using this feature; all costs for the price guarantee will be covered by the search giant. Google Price Guarantee complements a suite of consumer airfare tracking tools, including a price chart, an Explore map, and price tracking alerts.

“We hope people will trust Google Flights whenever they need to find a great deal on air travel, and Price Guarantee will help build that trust even more,” Kessler says.

The company has chosen a very opportune time for this novelty, travelers are becoming more sensitive to price levels against the backdrop of inflation and reduce the number of trips. Google started a pilot program for this price guarantee feature in 2019 but put it on hold.

Other ways to save on airfare

Hopper Booking App has perhaps the most comparable tool: its price freeze option has been in place since 2019. It allows customers to pay a fee proportional to the cost of a flight to lock in a fare when they are not ready to book. (A recent search on the Hopper app shows a $30 price freeze fee for a $350 round trip to Peru in June 2023.) If this rate drops, you will need to pay a lower price. Hopper says 55% of people who used the feature last year saved money because Hopper covered the price increase.

Hopper does not currently offer a post-purchase price reduction guarantee for users of its app, but there are other in-app features that help reduce ticket booking anxiety, such as the free View Ride feature that notifies you when a discount is available.

If you prefer to book direct with an airline, it's no secret that US Department of Transportation rule requires US airlines to refund fares if a customer requests one within 24 hours of booking. Tickets must be purchased at least seven days before departure. But using this rule if you find a better rate shortly after booking is not always reliable.

“You run the risk of seeing a lower rate, canceling your previous one, and then rebooking – and the lower rate you saw is no longer available. It can happen very quickly,” says Kerwin McKenzie, aviation industry veteran and founder of Passrider.com.

A more popular tactic is to think of booking airline tickets like depositing money in the bank. McKenzie explains that most U.S. carriers, including Delta, Frontier and United, have waived exchange fees for all but the most basic economy fares and will issue an e-credit so you can reuse those funds to pay for another flight in the future. . This means that you can store your eCredits and use them for future flight bookings.

“Because there have been so many changes in the industry over the last three years, it is always a good idea to contact the airline first, as there are many exceptions. The agent will be able to review your booking online and assess the situation,” McKenzie says.

Southwest continues to offer the best deals among US airlines, allowing you to "reprice" your ticket online if, for example, a sale results in a lower price and the remaining credit is stored in your account for future use.

In other words, until Google automates flight price guarantees for more airlines and routes, you may be stuck in a process that requires patience, effort, and vigilance. How much your time is worth can be the true measure of overpayment.